Where Do I Start With a Marketing Plan for a Medium Sized Business?

Being asked to create a marketing plan for a medium sized business can feel like standing at the base of a mountain. You know the climb will be worth it, but where do you even take the first step? Businesses in this range, between 10 and 100 million in revenue, have resources, ambition, and expectations. That combination can be exciting, but it also means the plan needs to be thoughtful, practical, and measurable.

The good news is that building a plan does not require reinventing the wheel. It requires asking the right questions, setting clear direction, and putting structure around the company’s goals. A medium sized business does not need the complexity of a Fortune 500 marketing department, but it does need focus.

Start With the Big Picture

The first step is always clarity. Before talking about websites, ads, or social media, take a step back and ask: what is the company actually trying to achieve?

This is where conversations with leadership matter. Some companies want to grow revenue by 20 percent in the next year. Others want to expand into new geographic markets. Still others may care less about growth and more about brand credibility or customer retention.

A marketing plan only works if it is tied to these larger goals. Without them, marketing risks becoming a series of disconnected activities that look busy but accomplish little. With them, every tactic, whether it’s building a new website or launching an ad campaign, has a clear purpose.

Example: A regional construction supplier we worked with had just crossed the 50 million mark in annual revenue. The leadership team was split: sales wanted more leads, while operations wanted to slow down growth to manage supply chain issues. Their marketing plan had to balance these competing priorities. Instead of simply chasing new business, we built a plan focused on strengthening their reputation with existing clients while slowly introducing campaigns in new regions. By tying marketing to the broader company vision, the plan was realistic, supported by all departments, and ultimately sustainable.

Know Who You’re Talking To

Once the goals are clear, the next step is understanding the audience. For medium sized businesses, the audience is rarely one dimensional. There may be multiple buyer groups, each with their own needs.

Take, for example, a software company. Their marketing may need to appeal to both the technical users who care about features and the executives who care about ROI. Or consider a healthcare services company: they might market to both hospital administrators and individual patients. Each group requires different messaging.

Medium sized businesses also face an interesting competitive dynamic. Larger companies may dominate brand recognition but lack personal service. Smaller companies may offer flexibility but lack scale. A medium sized business has the chance to position itself as the best of both worlds, established enough to be trusted, nimble enough to be responsive.

Example: A family owned food distributor in the Midwest found itself squeezed between national giants and small specialty shops. By studying their audience, they realized restaurants wanted the reliability of large suppliers but also the personal relationship and responsiveness of small ones. Their marketing plan leaned into this positioning. They created content highlighting their customer service team, produced videos of local chefs talking about the partnership, and made their website more transparent about ordering processes. Within a year, they increased retention and won contracts that would have otherwise gone to national competitors.

Strategy Before Tactics

It’s tempting to jump straight into tactics, launching ads, redesigning the website, posting on social media. But a marketing plan works best when it begins with strategy. Strategy is about making choices: which channels to prioritize, how they connect, and how they support the company’s goals.

The company website should almost always be at the center. It is the first impression for most prospects, the place where conversions happen, and the anchor for search visibility. A poorly designed or outdated site will undermine every other marketing effort.

Paid media campaigns on platforms like Google or LinkedIn offer targeted visibility. For medium sized businesses, they can provide consistent leads, but they need careful management. Without tracking and refinement, budgets can disappear quickly.

Content marketing is a long term investment. Blogs, videos, and case studies build authority and improve search rankings. Video in particular can make a medium sized business look bigger and more credible. Customers trust what they can see, and a well produced video demonstrates quality in a way text alone cannot.

The key is balance. Short term tactics like paid ads deliver immediate results, while long term strategies like SEO and content build momentum over time. A strong plan does both.

Budgets, Measurement, and Alignment

Medium sized businesses usually have more budget flexibility than small companies, but every dollar still matters. A strong plan outlines how funds will be divided and what results are expected.

This is where measurement comes in. Marketing should not be vague. Key performance indicators like cost per lead, return on ad spend, or website conversion rate show whether the plan is working.

Alignment across the company is equally important. Sales needs to know what campaigns are happening so they can follow up. Leadership needs updates to stay confident in the direction. Operations needs to prepare if demand suddenly increases. A marketing plan that lives in isolation will struggle. A marketing plan that connects all departments will thrive.

Example: A manufacturing company with about 75 million in annual revenue had historically left marketing to a small in-house team. Their campaigns looked good on the surface but weren’t producing measurable results. We helped them create a plan tied directly to sales metrics. Paid ads were tracked down to cost per lead, content was measured by website traffic, and email campaigns were tied to actual revenue. The shift in accountability not only improved results but also helped the marketing team earn more trust internally.

Keep the Plan Flexible

A marketing plan should not be carved in stone. Markets shift, technology changes, and customer behavior evolves. What works today may not work tomorrow.

The most successful plans are the ones that adapt. By building in regular reviews, monthly or quarterly, the company can see what is working, adjust budgets, and try new approaches. Flexibility is especially valuable for medium sized businesses. Unlike massive corporations, you may not have unlimited resources. But you do have the ability to pivot faster than the big players when opportunities arise.

Marketing at this level is less about doing everything and more about doing the right things consistently. A plan that is clear, measurable, and adaptable will outperform one that tries to cover every possible channel without focus.

Final Thoughts

So where do you start when you’re tasked with creating a marketing plan for a medium sized business? You start with the big picture. You get clear on the company’s goals, you understand the audience, and you position the business where it can win. You choose strategy before tactics, set measurable outcomes, and keep the plan flexible enough to evolve.

Real world examples prove the point. Companies that tie marketing to their vision, understand their audience, and measure results consistently outperform those that treat marketing as an afterthought. For medium sized businesses, marketing is not just another expense. It is the growth engine that keeps the company moving forward.