business planning in marketing

• What demographics will most likely need/buy your product or service?
• What are the psychographics of this audience? (Desires, triggering events, etc.)
• Why are your offerings valuable to them?

It can be helpful to build a buyer persona to get in the mindset of your ideal customers and be crystal clear on why you're targeting them.

5. Marketing Strategy

Here, you'll discuss how you'll acquire new customers with your marketing strategy. You might consider including information on:

• The brand positioning vision and how you'll cultivate it
• The goal targets you aim to achieve
• The metrics you'll use to measure success
• The channels and distribution tactics you'll use

It can help to already have a marketing plan built out to help you inform this component of your business plan.

6. Key Features and Benefits

At some point in your business plan, you'll review the key features and benefits of your products and/or services. Laying these out can give readers an idea of how you're positioning yourself in the market and the messaging you're likely to use . It can even help them gain better insight into your business model.

7. Pricing and Revenue

This is where you'll discuss your cost structure and various revenue streams. Your pricing strategy must be solid enough to turn a profit while staying competitive in the industry. For this reason, you might outline:

• The specific pricing breakdowns per product or service
• Why your pricing is higher or lower than your competition's
• (If higher) Why customers would be willing to pay more
• (If lower) How you're able to offer your products or services at a lower cost
• When you expect to break even, what margins do you expect, etc?

8. Financials

This section is particularly informative for investors and leadership teams to determine funding strategies, investment opportunities, etc. According to Forbes , you'll want to include three main things:

• Profit/Loss Statement - This answers the question of whether your business is currently profitable.
• Cash Flow Statement - This details exactly how much cash is incoming and outgoing to provide insight into how much cash a business has on hand.
• Balance Sheet - This outlines assets, liabilities, and equity, which gives insight into how much a business is worth.

While some business plans might include more or less information, these are the key details you'll want to include.

Keep in mind that each of these sections will be formatted differently. Some may be in paragraph format, while others will be in charts.

Sample Business Plan Templates

Now that you know what's included and how to format a business plan, let's review some templates.

1. HubSpot's One-Page Business Plan

Download a free, editable one-page business plan template..

The business plan linked above was created here at HubSpot and is perfect for businesses of any size — no matter how many strategies we still have to develop.

Fields such as Company Description, Required Funding, and Implementation Timeline gives this one-page business plan a framework for how to build your brand and what tasks to keep track of as you grow. Then, as the business matures, you can expand on your original business plan with a new iteration of the above document.

Why We Like It

This one-page business plan is a fantastic choice for the new business owner who doesn’t have the time or resources to draft a full-blown business plan. It includes all the essential sections in an accessible, bullet-point-friendly format. That way, you can get the broad strokes down before honing in on the details.

2. HubSpot's Downloadable Business Plan Template

One of the major business expenses is marketing. How you handle your marketing reflects your company’s revenue. We included this business plan to show you how you can ensure your marketing team is aligned with your overall business plan to get results. The plan also shows you how to track even the smallest metrics of your campaigns, like ROI and payback periods instead of just focusing on big metrics like gross and revenue.

Fintech startup, LiveFlow, allows users to sync real-time data from its accounting services, payment platforms, and banks into custom reports. This eliminates the task of pulling reports together manually, saving teams time and helping automate workflows.

When it came to including marketing strategy into its business plan, LiveFlow created a separate marketing profit and loss statement (P&L) to track how well the company was doing with its marketing initiatives. This is a great approach, allowing businesses to focus on where their marketing dollars are making the most impact.

“Using this framework over a traditional marketing plan will help you set a profitable marketing strategy taking things like CAC, LTV, Payback period, and P&L into consideration,” explains LiveFlow co-founder, Lasse Kalkar .

Having this information handy will enable you to build out your business plan’s marketing section with confidence. LiveFlow has shared the template here . You can test it for yourself.

2. Lula Body

This fictional business plan for an art supply store includes everything one might need in a business plan: an executive summary, a company summary, a list of services, a market analysis summary, and more. Due to its comprehensiveness, it’s an excellent example to follow if you’re opening a brick-and-mortar store and need to get external funding to start your business .

One of its most notable sections is its market analysis summary, which includes an overview of the population growth in the business’ target geographical area, as well as a breakdown of the types of potential customers they expect to welcome at the store. This sort of granular insight is essential for understanding and communicating your business’s growth potential. Plus, it lays a strong foundation for creating relevant and useful buyer personas .

It’s essential to keep this information up-to-date as your market and target buyer changes. For that reason, you should carry out market research as often as possible to ensure that you’re targeting the correct audience and sharing accurate information with your investors.

6. Curriculum Companion Suites (CSS)

If you’re looking for a SaaS business plan example, look no further than this business plan for a fictional educational software company called Curriculum Companion Suites. Like the business plan for the NALB Creative Center, it includes plenty of information for prospective investors and other key stakeholders in the business.

One of the most notable features of this business plan is the executive summary, which includes an overview of the product, market, and mission. The first two are essential for software companies because the product offering is so often at the forefront of the company’s strategy. Without that information being immediately available to investors and executives, then you risk writing an unfocused business plan.

It’s also essential to front-load your company’s mission if it explains your “Why?” In other words, why do you do what you do, and why should stakeholders care? This is an important section to include if you feel that your mission will drive interest in the business and its offerings.

7. Culina Sample Business Plan

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How to Write a Business Plan for Your Franchise This vital step can make the difference between success or failure in the franchise world.

By Clarissa Buch Zilberman • May 8, 2023

You're set on becoming a franchisee . You may think it's time to call a franchisor, tell them you're interested, and get funding from your local bank , right? Wrong.

If you're considering buying a franchise, you'll need to write a thorough business plan before moving forward.

A business plan is a detailed document that describes how your business will achieve its goals. Consider it an essential tool for any business owner — including franchisees!

Sound daunting? It can be. But it's a crucial and necessary step in starting your own business. Plus, becoming a franchisee means that the franchisor will provide some of the strategies, plans and overall business information , with some minor tweaks for your specific market.

Here's how to get started.

Related: Considering franchise ownership? Get started now and take this quiz to find your personalized list of franchises that match your lifestyle, interests and budget.

Start with comprehensive research

Before you can begin writing your franchise business plan, you need to gather information about your franchise business . Research the industry, market trends and competitors in the area. You should utilize a SWOT (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats) analysis of the business, as well.

Next, research the franchisor's history, vision, mission and values . This will help you understand the franchisor's expectations and see if your goals align with the brand. You may have already done a lot of this research when narrowing down your franchise choices .

Related: The 4 Biggest Myths About Franchising

Define your business concept and target market

Your business concept should include details about your product or service , pricing strategy, location, unique selling proposition and market advantages.

Much of this information will be supplied by your franchisor. However, make sure to tweak it correctly for your specific location and audience .

Develop a financial plan

A financial outline is a critical component of your franchise business plan. It should include details about your startup costs, ongoing expenses , revenue projections and profitability.

You should also share cash flow, balance sheets and income statements here. With these documents, you can readily identify any gaps in your business and develop strategies to address them.

Related: 10 Tips to Go From Employee to Boss, From Franchisees Who Did It

Outline your marketing and sales strategy

You may get a headstart from your franchisor on the marketing and sales strategy . This is where you'll want to include more information about your target audience, marketing channels and tactics to promote your business.

From a sales strategy perspective , include your pricing strategy, sales team structure and sales targets that are tailored to your area.

Develop an operations plan

Your operations plan should include details about your day-to-day work, staffing requirements and supplier relationships. You should also outline any technology and equipment needs, inventory management and quality control procedures , some of which your franchisor may dictate.

Create a management team and personnel plan

Your management team and personnel plan should detail the leadership structure of your business, each team member's role and responsibility and the qualifications and experience needed for each position.

You should also outline a staffing plan , which will include your recruitment strategy, employee benefits and training and development programs.

Create an executive summary

An executive summary is literally a summary of your business plan that will provide all the necessary information to someone who only has a few moments to review your business plan. It should summarize the key points of your franchise business plan and research.

Get started by outlining your business plan

A franchise business plan, at the minimum, should include the following sections :

• Executive Summary: This section provides a brief overview of your business, your mission statement, goals and target market.
• Company Description: This section includes more information about your business, such as what you do or sell, your company history and your management team.
• Market Analysis: This section analyzes the market for your products or services, including your target market, competition and competitive advantage.
• Operations Plan: This section describes how your business will operate, including your location, your marketing and sales strategies and management and staffing plan.
• Financial Plan: This section projects your business's financial performance, meaning your revenue, expenses and profit.
• Appendix: This section includes supporting documents, such as financial statements, marketing materials and legal documents.

A business plan will help you succeed

Writing a franchise business plan is a critical step in becoming a successful franchisee . It requires comprehensive research, a well-defined business concept, a solid financial plan, a strong marketing and sales strategy, a detailed operations plan and a competent management team.

Remember: It's a living document, so be sure to update it regularly as your business grows and changes. This will ensure that your plan always reflects the current state of your business.

Tackle a business plan logically and seek help from an expert or your franchisor, as necessary. Then you're off to get your loan, finish your applications and open your doors !

Related: Is Franchising Right For You? Ask Yourself These 9 Questions to Find Out.

Entrepreneur Staff

Freelance Writer, Editor & Content Marketing Consultant

Clarissa Buch Zilberman is a writer and editor based in Miami. Specializing in lifestyle, business, and travel, her work has appeared in Food & Wine, Realtor.com, Travel + Leisure, and Bon Appétit, among other print and digital titles. Through her content marketing consultancy, By Clarissa , she leverages her extensive editorial background and unique industry insights to support enterprise organizations and global creative agencies with their B2B, B2C, and B2E content initiatives. 

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How to Write the Marketing Plan in Business Plan?

A marketing plan in business plan is one of the very important sections of a business plan. Marketing is done to spread awareness about your business and its product/service. 

An effective marketing strategy helps you achieve early success. 

Use this article to write an effective marketing plan section in a business plan. 

What is a marketing plan?

A marketing section of a business plan gives you a roadmap to organize, execute and track the progress of your marketing efforts. 

Your marketing plan helps you align your marketing efforts with your business goals. It gives your marketing effort a direction and you can evaluate your efforts at any point.

Types of marketing plan 

A perfect type of marketing plan in business plan will depend on your business, your goals, and how soon you want to achieve them. 

We have outlined some marketing plans that most businesses need to use. Since this is the age of the internet, we have also included online marketing plans and digital marketing plans.

Quarterly or Annual Marketing Plans 

These are your business marketing plans with a timeline. Every business has its quarterly, bi-yearly, and yearly goals. You will use these goals to monitor the effectiveness of your marketing efforts over time.

Paid Marketing Plans 

Paid marketing plans include online advertising, buying billboards, or marketing on vehicles. Pay Per Click marketing and social media marketing for your small business.

Social Media Marketing Plan 

Social media marketing plan for business plan can be done in two ways. You can hire a team and raise awareness about your business by sharing regular updates. 

You can also do paid marketing on social media. You will need to invest in buying ads on that social media platform and pay for a team of social media marketers.

You can also leverage these effective digital marketing channels for your business. 

Content Marketing Plan 

A content marketing plan is about attracting potential customers to your website with the help of SEO. You create value for your potential customer first and then by extension, market your business. It can be offline in the form of free workshops etc or online in the form of guides and resources.

Product Launch Marketing Plan 

A product lunch  sales and marketing plan in business plan  will help you decide on the marketing tools, tactics, and tracking you will do when launching a new product or service.

You can also hire WiseBusinessPlans Digital Marketing Services to run successful marketing campaigns for your business. 

Wish it was Easier?

Learning takes time, Market will not wait for it. Hire a professional business plan writer and get a top-notch, investor-ready business plan for your business idea. 

Marketing Plan vs Marketing Strategy

The difference between a marketing plan and a marketing strategy is simple; a marketing plan is what methods, tools, and tactics you will use for marketing, and a market strategy in business plan is how you will implement your plan.

Learn how to develop an effective marketing strategy with this detailed guide. 

How to Write a Marketing Plan for a Business Plan?

Follow these simple steps to write a marketing plan in business plan.

Business Mission

Write your business mission statement and translate it into the efforts the marketing department will make. 

For example, your business mission is to help people with home gardening. Your marketing department version will be to attract people who want to do home gardening.

These are performance indicators. These metrics will help you evaluate performance and progress. An example of KPIs for marketing is customer visits to your website, social media page, or brick-and-mortar store.

Create Buyer Personas

A buyer persona is a short description of your average customer. When you have no data, a buyer persona will describe the customer you want to attract.

Decide on Marketing Strategies and Content

Go through the marketing strategies you can use and select the one that will produce the best return on investment for your business. 

Similarly, think about the content type that is attractive to your target audience . For example, video format may attract your audience or you may need to share more about your business on social media to grab their attention.

Define Marketing Plan Scope

Define the scope and limits of your marketing plan. Clearly mention what your marketing team will do and will not do. 

This will help you save time, cost, and effort in wasted resources.

Set Marketing Budget 

You can only spend a set amount on marketing. Set your marketing budget and be creative in that budget to produce the best return. 

Your budget is directly related to your marketing goals. Set your marketing budget in a way that does not hamper marketing efforts. 

Know your Competition 

Knowing and profiling your customer helps you market better. See what are strong spots of competitors’ marketing plans, are and how they are attracting audiences to make a plan to compete effectively. 

Appoint your Team & their Responsibilities

Decide on job roles for your team. Set their KPIs, marketing channels they will manage, what content they will create, etc.

Bonus Tip: Here is a step by step guide on how to write a marketing plan executive summary with example and template.

Example of Marketing Plan in Business Plan PDF

See this example of a marketing plan in a business plan to understand how it is done. You can create your marketing plan in the same way.

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It is a very useful guide. I was wondering If your site offers marketing plan writers for businesses. If any, kindly reply.

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Brush up on the basics of digital marketing

Digital marketing allows brands to gain insights about their customers and connect with them in precise and personal ways. And it’s a more efficient and affordable way to reach your target audiences than with traditional marketing efforts. Whether it’s using channels like social media or email, optimizing content for search engine optimization (SEO), or building a full content marketing strategy, digital marketing should be a part of every marketer’s strategy.

Before diving into digital marketing, let’s address a common misconception. Terms like online and internet marketing often get used interchangeably with digital marketing. While related, there are subtle differences. Along with outlining the differences between these terms, this post will cover:

What is digital marketing?

The history of digital marketing, the benefits of digital marketing.

• Learn more about digital marketing

Digital marketing is using digital devices and channels — like computers, smartphones, and other digital media — for marketing activities like promoting products or brands. It includes online channels like email, social media, and SEO, but also others like electronic billboards, TV, and radio.

Importantly, digital marketing is not the same as online or internet marketing. Instead, these terms are a subset of digital marketing. Let’s explore these terms further.

Digital marketing

As the umbrella term, digital marketing uses any digital channel, including television, radio, and digital billboards, as well as any marketing methods that rely on a phone, tablet, or computer and the internet. Marketing that requires the internet also falls into the more specific category of online or internet marketing.

Online or internet marketing

A subset of digital marketing, online or internet marketing includes email, social media, SEO, and pay-per-click (PPC). These terms are interchangeable.

Not too long ago, channels like radio, TV, and electronic billboards sprung up as the original forms of digital marketing. They acted as one-way conversation with a captive audience, similar to print advertising. And while these original techniques are still used today, they are now considered offline digital marketing techniques that lack some of the features and benefits of modern digital marketing tools.

Modern digital marketing came into its own in the late 1990s with the rise of the internet. As people started to engage with brands and each other online, marketing expanded into a vast landscape of digital content. Marketers no longer drove the discussion. Instead, consumers became empowered to be publishers, critics, style makers, and trendsetters. Audiences’ attention spans shortened as they gained the ability to click away from any content at any moment.

To compete for customers’ attention, brands have since evolved their marketing strategies to include digital experiences that are tailored to customers’ specific behaviors and needs — all on their favorite channels. And this includes the online digital marketing channels that most people are familiar with, including:

• Pay-per-click (PPC) advertising
• Email marketing
• Content marketing
• Search engine optimization (SEO)
• Short message service (SMS) marketing
• Social media marketing (SMM)
• Search engine marketing (SEM)

While there are benefits to all forms of digital marketing, online digital marketing delivers the greatest impact. For example, let’s compare personalization through offline digital marketing and online digital marketing channels. With offline digital marketing, a business may choose to advertise on a radio station that targets certain demographics. They can run television ads during programs that attract certain audiences or create digital billboard messaging that’s more dynamic than analog billboard messaging. But none of these channels offer the same level of personalization as online digital marketing techniques.

Let’s look at some of the benefits modern digital marketing offers that traditional marketing does not.

• Affordability. Modern digital marketing tends to be cheaper than traditional marketing methods. Consider the cost of creating a website or social media account versus buying billboard space to attempt to reach the same audience.
• Reach. The internet enables you to reach people all around the world, whereas putting an ad in a newspaper or running a commercial on TV only reaches one country or area.
• Personalization. Segmentation goes a long way toward personalizing your marketing message to specific demographics. Traditional marketing methods were slightly customizable, while modern digital marketing offers highly personalized experiences.
• Flexibility. Modern digital marketing allows you to continue using the marketing efforts that are working to deliver the best ROI — and ditch the ones that aren’t.
• Measurability. Businesses can now track where their traffic and conversions are coming from and use those insights to make data-based decisions. While a newspaper ad used to go out to the world and a business would hope it would bring in customers, businesses can now see how many people visited their blog page and how many of those visitors clicked through to the product page.

Plan your next move and learn more about digital marketing

Digital marketing is an essential part of any marketing strategy. It allows your brand to personalize your message to a specific audience and then measure how well that message performed. Any changes can be made quickly for relatively low costs, allowing you to build relationships with your customers by delivering just the right experiences. And if you want to expand your customer base, you can reach customers across the world almost instantly.

We’ve just scratched the surface. Explore these resources to learn more about digital marketing:

• Digital Marketing Strategy: 11 Essential Must-Know Marketing Strategies
• Marketing Channels: An Essential Digital Guide
• Why Digital Marketing is Crucial — No Matter the Size of Your Business

Adobe can help

Any great marketing strategy needs to be delivered by a great marketing tool. Adobe Marketo Engage uses powerful B2B and B2C marketing automation to boost every aspect of your customer engagement — across any channel. It also allows you to bring your marketing and sales teams together on one platform to efficiently attract, segment, and nurture leads from just discovering your brand to becoming your biggest fans.

To get started, watch the product overview video or take an interactive product tour .

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Brands Embracing Pride Month Confront a Volatile Political Climate

Target became the latest company to adjust plans for marketing supportive of the L.G.B.T.Q. community after it faced backlash from some customers.

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By Jordyn Holman and Julie Creswell

For years, Pride Month, the annual celebration for L.G.B.T.Q. Americans, has afforded companies a marketing opportunity to tap into the buying power of a group with growing financial, political and social clout.

Yet, while these efforts have always faced some opposition, brands and marketers say the country’s current political environment — especially around transgender issues — has made this year’s campaigns more complicated. This week Target became the latest company to rethink its approach after facing criticism for its Pride collection, which included clothes and books for children that drew outrage from some on the right.

The retailer moved its Pride displays — including rainbow-striped collared shirts, yellow hoodies reading “Not a Phase” and baby clothing and accessories — from the entrances of some Target stores around the country and placed them in the back.

Target said it was concerned “about threats impacting our team members’ sense of safety and well-being while at work” after some customers had screamed at employees and thrown the Pride-themed merchandise on the floor.

Among the items angering some customers was a one-piece, tuck-friendly swimsuit — a bathing suit that has extra material for the crotch area for individuals who want to conceal their genitalia. Some critics erroneously claimed that the swimsuit was being sold to children; Target said it was available only in adult sizes. The collection also includes children’s books about transgender issues and gender fluidity.

One woman recorded a TikTok video in a Target store on Monday in which she became angry at seeing a greeting card that read “So Glad You Came Out” and a yellow onesie that said “¡Bien Proud!”

“If that doesn’t give you a reason to boycott Target, I don’t know what does,” she said.

In a statement, a company spokeswoman said, “Given these volatile circumstances, we are making adjustments to our plans, including removing items that have been at the center of the most significant confrontational behavior.” She added that the company, which has been selling Pride Month merchandise for a decade, remained committed to the L.G.B.T.Q. community “and standing with them as we celebrate Pride Month and throughout the year.”

While Target said its decision had been made in the interest of employee safety, many said its actions — along with a conservative backlash against Bud Light after it worked with a transgender influencer — might alienate the community it was seeking to support. And those who criticized Target and Bud Light in the first place may now feel further emboldened to attack inclusive initiatives by other companies.

“We’re in a new space here with safety and employee safety being threatened by policy and purpose,” said Vanitha Swaminathan, professor of marketing at the University of Pittsburgh. “I can’t say that you can disregard employee safety. That’s very core to what a company has to do. At the same time, Target can still, from a policy standpoint, be supportive of their initial stance. It’s sad to see that we’ve reached this point in our culture wars.”

Marketing campaigns around Pride Month in June have become routine for many companies, with opposition cropping up at times. Last year, for instance, Pizza Hut faced calls for a boycott after it recommended “Big Wig,” a book featuring drag performers, as part of its children’s summer reading program.

Yet companies and marketers say the political climate makes this year different — primarily because a number of Republican-led states have introduced and passed legislation restricting transition care for transgender minors and adults, and transgender rights has become a galvanizing issue for many conservatives.

GLAAD, the L.G.B.T.Q. advocacy group that works with more than 160 companies, is considering having communications professionals in its GLAAD Media Institute work with brands that are planning Pride Month celebrations so they can better respond to criticism.

“We do feel like we’re at a moment where, with the politicization of trans and gender-nonconforming folks, that we probably need to assemble a Pride war room for brands so that we can push back,” Sarah Kate Ellis, the group’s chief executive, said in an interview.

On Thursday, GLAAD and six other advocacy groups called on Target to return to its stores and its website any Pride merchandise it had removed and to release a statement “in the next 24 hours reaffirming their commitment” to the L.G.B.T.Q. community.

When faced with criticism and social media calls for boycotts in the past, most companies learned that the declarations of outrage soon faded away.

Then Bud Light happened. Owned by the beer giant Anheuser-Busch, Bud Light continues to struggle with the fallout from a social media campaign in mid-March with the transgender influencer Dylan Mulvaney. After calls for a boycott of the beer, sales in the four weeks ending in mid-May dropped more than 23 percent from a year earlier, according to data from the research firm NIQ and Bump Williams Consulting, which works with the alcoholic beverage industry.

In some markets in the South, such as Jacksonville, Fla., and New Orleans, Bud Light’s sales were down 40 percent in those four weeks.

Anheuser-Busch, which in recent years has released rainbow-hued bottles and cans of Bud Light for Pride Month, did not respond to a question about its plans for this year.

Some marketing and communications consultants said the negative reaction to Bud Light’s campaign with Ms. Mulvaney was a product of the beer’s generally more politically conservative customer base. Companies like Nike or Starbucks can more easily create products or campaigns around gay and transgender issues or Pride Month because their consumers tend to be younger and more progressive, said David Johnson, the chief executive of Strategic Vision PR Group in Atlanta.

“When they embrace the gay or transgender community, it’s not out of line with their core beliefs,” he said.

A number of companies are moving forward with their Pride Month plans. In June, the Coors Light Denver Pride Parade will weave its way through the city. Advertisements for a one-piece Adidas swimsuit created by the South African queer designer Rich Mnisi feature a transgender man as the model. Levi’s has a campaign showing a half-dozen gay and transgender people talking about how they show up while wearing the company’s denim and tops.

But a number of other companies are being much less forthcoming about specific Pride Month plans. And some L.G.B.T.Q. advocates criticized Target for seeming to cave to pressure. (The company’s decision did come as employees in the retail industry have faced increasingly aggressive behavior from customers since the start of the pandemic.)

Target also removed a Pride line from Abprallen, an L.G.B.T.Q. fashion and accessories company based in London, some of whose designs have been criticized for depicting satanic symbols like pentagrams and a shirt that reads “Satan respects pronouns.” Abprallen did not respond to a request for comment.

“We’ll find out in the next week which companies are continuing to make a push and do Pride Month campaigns,” said Matt Skallerud, the president of Pink Media, which specializes in L.G.B.T.Q. online marketing. “If companies we know have been supportive of Pride Month don’t show up this year, their absence will be noticed, and I’d be concerned that could harm them.”

Advocacy groups are wary that all of this could create a chilling effect, especially when it comes to attaining a broader representation of L.G.B.T.Q. people in advertising.

“White gay men are the one segment that are most likely represented on our screens, whether it’s programing or ads ,” s aid Lisette Arsuaga, co-founder of the Alliance for Inclusive and Multicultural Marketing. “We now started moving forward with a greater representation of all of the letters within the L.G.B.T.Q.”

The overall consumer sentiment for seeing trans representation on TV and in advertising hasn’t changed, according to recent GLAAD research. In a survey that was conducted in February, GLAAD said, 75 percent of people who did not identify as L.G.B.T.Q. were comfortable seeing those people represented in marketing campaigns. That figure held steady from 2020.

“You can absolutely roll out an ad campaign and include L.G.B.T.Q. folks in it,” Ms. Ellis of GLAAD said. “And at the same time, there is this political right-wing arm that you have to be aware of when you’re doing it and just be prepared for.”

Jordyn Holman is a business reporter covering retail for The Times. She previously worked at Bloomberg News, where she covered retail and diversity in corporate America. @ JordynJournals

Julie Creswell is a New York-based reporter. She has covered banks, private equity, retail and health care. She previously worked for Fortune Magazine and also wrote about debt, monetary policy and mutual funds at Dow Jones. @ julie_creswell

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7 strategies to make digital marketing more effective for financial advisors

Advisors have many options when it comes to marketing their business online. The key is  choosing one that can maximize client recruitment and lead to achievement of a firm's strategic goals.

Over 40% of advisors landed more clients via social media marketing and nearly one-third plan to increase their website spends in 2022, according to a survey by Broadridge Financial Solutions . Having a defined marketing strategy is associated with more positive business outcomes, the study found, yet only 28% of advisors have one in place. 

Read: In scramble to comply with SEC marketing rule, advisors wrestle with ambiguities

For Lou Calabrese, chief marketing officer at the wealth management firm Robertson Stephens in San Francisco, social media, email marketing and a website are the main digital marketing tactics advisors have to invest in. Calabrese said advisors should be spending around 10% to 15% of their time on marketing strategies. 

"This is your way of getting new businesses in the door other than the traditional waiting like referrals, introductions from clients and centers of influence," Calabrese said. 

The survey found that 30% of advisors plan to increase marketing spend over the next 12 months, especially on websites and social media. Currently, advisors spend around 3% of their business revenue on marketing, while chief marketing officers report an average marketing spend of 8.7%. 

"It's a loop," said Rebecca Hourihan, founder of 401(k) Marketing, a marketing firm in San Diego for retirement plan advisors. "Advisor shares an email, social media post or content marketing, and then people like it, comment and share it and that loops back to that advisory firm in the form of referrals, happy clients, more favorable introductions and easier time to meet in person."

Read: Marketing trap: SEC warns new advisors of their compliance shortcomings

Scroll down the cardshow to see tips and tactics from marketing experts on how financial advisors can grow their businesses.

Align with the business 

Create a digital image, know the audience , diversify and customize content, adopt new technologies , track the data , evaluate the strategy .

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