MARKETING

The annual plan that still holds up in March.

In Q4 we write your marketing plan for the coming year together. On an A3, with ICP, channel mix, budget and quarterly targets that hold up in the boardroom. After that we stay involved monthly, so the plan is still guiding in March instead of sitting in a drive.

Book a call Take the Maturity Scan first

What you get in Q4

01
ICP & positioning Who you serve, what you promise, who you do not.
02
Channel & budget mix Where your budget and hours go, with justification.
03
Annual plan on an A3 Goals, campaigns, owners and deadlines for 4 quarters.

ICP lives in people's heads, not on paper

Sales and marketing say they have the same picture in mind. In interviews it turns out there are three different versions. Who are we writing content for, who does sales target, which segmentation is in HubSpot.

Budget spread across six channels

Present everywhere, strong nowhere. LinkedIn, Google, content, events, webinars, partnerships, each getting a small slice. No channel ever crosses the minimum learning threshold.

Marketing reports MQLs, sales looks at deals

Two dashboards, two stories. In a typical audit we see marketing reporting 400 MQLs while sales accepts 60. Nobody knows whether the marketing contribution is growing, because the CRM architecture does not align with the funnel definitions.

The plan is annual, the market is weekly

Written in January, overtaken in March by a product launch, an AI shift or a competitor. No quarterly review moment means no course correction, means back to gut feel.

Approach

From annual document to a working rhythm.

Four to six weeks to write the plan, then a fixed rhythm: monthly review on leading indicators, quarterly sprint, twice-yearly recalibration. We work with the leadership of marketing and sales at the same table.

01 Q4 (Oct-Nov)

Write the marketing plan

Discovery with sales and customers, ICP and positioning sharpened, channel mix between demand generation and pipeline acceleration with budget confirmed, annual roadmap with four quarterly targets on an A3.

Wat je krijgt A3 plan with ICP, channel mix, budget and quarterly targets.

02 Every month

Review on leading indicators

Pipeline contribution, channel CPL, MQL-to-SQL ratio and velocity in HubSpot. We adjust on data, not on gut feel.

Wat je krijgt monthly report with adjustments for the next four weeks.

03 Every quarter

Sprint planning and focus

What worked, what did not. Next quarter target, new campaign priorities and which experiments we stop. The plan stays, the tactics shift.

Wat je krijgt quarterly sprint plan with owners and deadlines.

04 Twice a year

Recalibrate ICP and positioning

Customers shift, competitors shift, AI changes your market. Twice a year we check whether the base assumptions still hold.

Wat je krijgt updated ICP and positioning, with justification.

Who helps you

Three specialists on your engagement.

We do not write a marketing plan from an ivory tower. From the first session you are working with the people who will also execute the plan.

Carel Schrier

RevOps Lead / Strategist

Runs the discovery, sharpens ICP and positioning and connects marketing goals to pipeline. Writes the A3 and stays involved until Q1 is running.
Kim Loonen

Consultant & online marketer

Translates the plan into HubSpot dashboards, workflows and quarterly sprints. Keeps the monthly review moments running.
Dante Zwanenburg

Content & Ads specialist

Translates the plan into campaigns. Writes campaign copy, builds funnels in HubSpot and optimises ads in Google and Meta once the plan is in place.

Case · B2B mid-market

From an 80-slide deck in a drive to an A3 that still guides in March

A B2B organisation in the mid-market came in with a marketing plan of 80 slides, written in December, opened in January, never looked at again. The ICP was different in every meeting. Our RevOps Maturity Scan showed that the problem was not in the tactics but in the foundation. Marketing reported 400 MQLs per quarter, sales accepted 60, and the board received two different stories.

In five weeks we rewrote the plan on an A3. Discovery with sales and five customers, ICP sharpened, channel mix reduced from six to three channels with a realistic budget. Four quarterly targets tied to HubSpot dashboards on leading indicators. In March the plan was still the tool being used to steer, not a PDF sitting in a drive.

What clients usually ask.

Straight answers to the questions we hear before almost every marketing plan engagement.

When do you write the plan? Can that be done mid-year too?

Preferably in October or November, so you can start in January with budget and team commitment. Mid-year is possible too, but it becomes more of an H2 correction than a full annual plan. Many clients do a recalibration of two to three weeks every Q4.

How long does writing the plan take?

Four to six weeks. Week 1 discovery and interviews with sales and customers, week 2 ICP and positioning, weeks 3 to 4 channel mix and budget, weeks 5 to 6 annual roadmap and board presentation. It can go faster, but then you lose sharpness.

We already have a plan. Can you review it?

Yes. A review takes two weeks. In one session we show what is there, where the sharpness is missing and which three or four choices still need to be made. In practice roughly 60% of the existing plan is usable and the rest needs to be sharper or cut.

How does the plan stay alive after delivery?

The plan lives in HubSpot with dashboards on leading indicators. A monthly review moment, a quarterly sprint planning. In a RevOps-as-a-Service retainer we run this rhythm alongside you. Outside a retainer, we hand over the rhythm to your in-house marketer with a short training.

Ready to start?

Ready for a plan that survives?

Start with a conversation. We look at your current strategy, team and goals, and give an honest scope. Even if the outcome is that you can sharpen it yourself.

Book a call Take the Maturity Scan