Basics7 min read
The One Page Marketing Plan: Fill It In Tonight
A one page marketing plan you can fill in tonight: nine boxes, a worked example for a real kind of shop, and the rule that keeps it alive after this week.
The plan you have is probably a notes app entry dated three Sundays ago. Every template you find is either a blank page of headings or a 40 page document nobody finishes. Nine boxes on one page, a worked example filled in beside you, and one rule for reviewing it. Nine short lines, one per box. Yours can be done tonight.
This page uses the same nine box shape the book made famous. What the book summaries skip is what to write in each box, with a worked example for a dog grooming studio.
Why one page and not a proper plan
Because plans get written once and read never. A 40 page marketing plan goes in the drawer. The one page plan is the one you use.
Write your marketing down for the nine decisions it forces. Most owners run marketing by habit and mood: they post when it is quiet, spend when someone calls, and change everything when a month is slow. Nine written decisions replace that with something you can defend, hand to anyone who helps you, and check against one number each month.
A business plan answers where the company is going. This answers only one question: how does your marketing get customers, and keep them?
The nine boxes
One page, three rows of three, in the order a customer moves through you. Strangers, buyers, regulars. Fill them in that order, because each row feeds the next.
1. Who. Who exactly buys from you. Name a street, a situation or a moment you can picture. "Dog owners in Leaside with no time to brush" beats "pet owners" every time.
2. Message. The one line a customer would repeat to a neighbour. Write the line only your business can write. "Booked before noon, back by five, coat done right" is a message. "Quality service, caring staff" is wallpaper.
3. Media. Where those people already are, and how often you will show up there. Two channels done weekly beat six done never. Name the count: three posts a week.
4. Lead nurture. What happens between someone finding you and buying. Most small businesses skip this box entirely. It can be one thing: a reply with two questions, sent the same day.
5. The offer. The first yes, made easy: a reason to start now instead of someday, without reaching for a discount. "First grooms" is a start. "$15 off the second groom" is a reason to come back, which is smarter than a reason to try you once.
6. The sale. The exact moment money changes hands, and what you say there. Owners who script the sale close it. "Book again before they leave" is a sale plan. A smile does not book the next appointment.
7. The onboarding. The first days after they buy, when they decide whether to come back. A text two days later asking how the coat is wearing. A card in the bag with your rebooking link.
8. Keep them. What makes the second and tenth purchase happen. A reminder cadence, a regular's perk, a card in every bag. Whatever it is, write the interval on it.
9. The review. When you sit down and check the whole page. This box is the one that keeps the other eight alive, and it gets its own section below.
A worked example: a dog grooming studio
Blank boxes are where plans die. The page below is filled in for a one person grooming studio. Copy the shape, not the content.
Who: dog owners in Leaside, no time to brush.
Message: Booked before noon, back by five, coat done right.
Media: Instagram and Google, three posts a week. Before and after photos do most of the work.
Lead nurture: a same day reply with two questions: breed, and last groom.
The offer: $15 off the second groom, booked at the first.
The sale: book the next appointment before they leave with the dog.
The onboarding: a text two days later asking how the coat is wearing.
Keep them: a card in every bag with the rebooking link and the studio's Google page.
The review: first Monday of every month, 20 minutes, one number checked.
Notice how short every entry is. If a box takes a paragraph, it is not decided yet. One line per box is what keeps the page a tool you can use. There is no content calendar on it, and no funnel diagram or brand pillar wheel. Nine sentences a customer could feel.
The one rule for reviewing it
Pick one number and check it on the same Monday every month.
The number is enquiries or orders. Followers, likes and impressions stay out of it. For the grooming studio, the number is first grooms booked. Yours might be online orders, booked consultations or walk-ins who mention the page.
The rule has two halves. Change one box at a time. Then use the number to decide where to look: if it moved after you changed a box, that box is the first place to look, and if it did not, look somewhere else. Owners who rewrite the whole page every month never learn anything from it, because three changes at once leave you unable to tell where to look first.
Some months nothing you control moves the number. Search engines and platforms decide what they show, and a slow month is not always a broken plan. Use it to steer next month.
How to finish your page tonight
You have the shape, the example and the rule. The work left is nine short lines, one per box.
Start with the boxes you can answer in one line and skip the ones you cannot; a blank box you notice is worth more than a filled box you invented. Boxes one and two are usually the hardest, and they are the two that make every other box easier. If the message will not come, read your five star reviews and find the words your customers already use.
If you would rather the making part be handled: Nouna (https://nouna.io/product) is an AI marketing department, a CMO and eight channel specialists that reads your website and makes finished posts, emails and articles every day, which covers most of what these nine boxes ask you to produce. You can start free with no card (https://nouna.io/start) and see real work on your own business before deciding whether any of it earns a plan from $149 a month (prices here, https://nouna.io/pricing).
Fill your nine lines tonight, then send the page to whoever helps you run the shop and put the first Monday of next month in your calendar. And if box 3, the media calendar, is the box that keeps emptying, the one week plan in our guide to marketing automation for small business sets the repeating half of it up in five days (https://nouna.io/blog/marketing-automation-for-small-business).
Fill your nine lines tonight, then send the page to whoever helps you run the shop and put the first Monday of next month in your calendar.
FAQ
- What is the one page marketing plan?
- A single page with nine boxes that record the nine decisions of your marketing: who you serve, your message, your media, lead nurture, the offer, the sale, onboarding, retention, and when you review it. Fill it in during one sitting, then check it monthly.
- How long does it take to fill in?
- The work is nine short lines, one per box. If an entry takes a paragraph, the decision is not made yet: cut it back to one line and move to the next box.
- What number should the plan be reviewed against?
- Enquiries or orders. Followers and impressions stay out of it. Check it on the same day every month, change one box at a time, and read the number as a signal for where to look next.
- Is this the same as the nine box plan in that book?
- It follows the same three by three shape, which organizes marketing by the customer's journey from stranger to regular. This version adds worked copy for a real kind of shop and a monthly review rule, which is the part most summaries leave out.