How to create your first marketing strategy on one page

A marketing strategy does not need to be a 40-page document. For most businesses, one clear page is enough to start. Here is how to write it.

A good marketing strategy answers four questions: who are we trying to reach, why should they care, where will we reach them, and how will we know it is working. If you can answer these clearly on one page, you have a strategy.

1. Describe one customer in one sentence

Resist the urge to say "everyone". Pick the customer most likely to buy first. For example: "Working mothers in Lagos who want healthy home-cooked meals but have no time to cook on weekdays." A specific customer makes every other decision easier.

2. Write your positioning line

Complete this sentence: "For [customer], we are the [category] that [main benefit], unlike [alternative]." It forces you to say what makes you different in words a customer would understand.

3. Choose two or three channels

Go where your customer already spends time. A business selling to young professionals might start with Instagram and WhatsApp. A business selling to companies might start with LinkedIn and email. Doing two channels well beats doing six badly.

4. Set one goal you can measure in 30 days

Make it a number: 50 new WhatsApp enquiries, 20 sales, 300 email subscribers. Then decide what you will check each week to see if you are on track.

5. Put it on one page

Customer, positioning, channels, goal and weekly checks. Share it with anyone who works on your marketing, and review it every month.