10 Questions To Create A Strategic Marketing Plan For The Entire Year

Need a strategic marketing plan that sees you through the year to your ideal revenue goal? Start by asking yourself these crucial questions. 

We tend to dream big at the start of the year. The goals are fresh, motivation is high, and it’s easy to say, “This is the year we’ll finally hit that revenue number.” 

But by February, reality tends to settle in. The daily grind kicks back up, and suddenly, those big dreams start feeling out of reach.

Here’s the truth: big goals don’t happen by accident. They need a plan—a strategic, intentional marketing plan that keeps you moving forward all year long. Without one, even the best ideas can get lost in the shuffle. 

That’s where these 10 questions come in. They’re designed to help you uncover what’s missing, focus on the right priorities, and avoid the common pitfalls that can hold your business back. 

If you’ve ever felt like you’re working harder than is necessary but still not hitting your revenue goals, these questions are for you.

And here’s the best part: you don’t have to figure it all out on your own. These questions are just the beginning—and if you’re ready to dive deeper to create your strategic marketing plan, we’re here to help.

Create A Strategic Marketing Plan For The Entire Year With These 10 Questions

1. Is your annual revenue goal ambitious yet achievable? 

Choosing the right annual goal can sometimes feel like standing on a teeter-totter. Lean too far one direction, and you’ve sunk into comfortability; lean too far the other direction, and you’ve lost your footing as you reach too high and get discouraged too quickly. To complicate matters further, we also have to strike the balance between that well-researched, achievable number and the slightly ambitious number that feels good when you say it out loud. We often find that, in addition to having a clear system to reach your ideal number, it also helps to talk it out with someone you trust–someone with a fresh perspective and your best interests at heart. 

2. What personal goals will push you to level up professionally?

What’s your why? So often we choose a revenue goal without really knowing why. It’s what we need to make, or it’s what we think we should make to feel successful. Then we forge ahead, running on sheer will. But when will and motivation dry up, we need something to fuel us, to keep us going when our goals feel out of reach. Personal goals–buying a house, saving for a vacation, sending your kids to college–drive us in ways that a meaningless number can’t. Start by asking yourself why you want to hit your revenue goal, and keep asking why until you’ve arrived at an answer that feels buoyant and exciting. That’s how you’ll turn a strategic marketing plan into a well-accomplished revenue goal. 

3. Do you forecast your profitability throughout the year? 

Once you’ve landed on the right number and remembered why you’re working so hard to get there, it’s time to forecast your profitability throughout the year–to create a month-by-month roadmap to achieving your annual goal. It starts by breaking down your big goal into monthly benchmarks and translating those benchmarks into customer targets. (After all, if you only focus on attracting money, you’ll never attract people.) If you’ve been falling short of your annual revenue goal–even with monthly benchmarks and sales targets–you may be missing some simple tricks that can change everything. 

4. Do you know your numbers?

With your goals fully mapped out, tracking is the next crucial step in your strategic marketing plan. After all, you can’t meet your annual goal if you don’t know where you’re at on a month-by-month basis. It’s also much easier to course correct or pivot when you’re actively tracking your revenue. But you’d be surprised how many business owners don’t know how much they’re actually making each month, or even each week. Like everything in business, revenue tracking requires a simple yet effective system that allows you to stay on top of the big picture, while still working in the details. 

5. How do you determine your marketing budget?

Is your first thought, “What marketing budget?” Don’ worry, you’re not alone. Most businesses don’t create a marketing budget until they’re “big enough” to need one. But that’s precisely what keeps brands stuck and stagnant. Even if your marketing budget is $10 a month, you still need to define it; otherwise you’ll spend money you don’t have, or you’ll skip out on opportunities because you assume you can’t afford them. How do you know what you can’t afford if you don’t have a budget? With the right planning, even a $10 marketing budget can open the door to some crucial networking events here in Santa Clarita. 

6. Are you nurturing and leveraging the strengths of your team?

Getting all your numbers figured out is the first and most essential step to getting business on track for the entire year. Once you have the nuts and bolts of your strategic marketing plan in place, however, you’ll need the support required to execute that plan successfully–you people you can count on. At SchlickArt, we like to start by identifying our strengths, as well as the strengths of our team, using the research-backed Gallup assessment, CliftonStrengths. Not only does it invite us to learn more about each other, but it also helps us see where we need to call in extra support. 

7. How do you get your team invested in your goals?

With a deeper understanding of your team, you can begin delegating with intention and purpose. However, just because you need your team to take on certain tasks doesn’t necessarily mean they’ll be excited or eager to do so. Getting your team invested in your strategic marketing plan requires effort and, sometimes, a little creativity. The goal is to help people get excited, while giving them a sense of ownership in the process. When everyone feels like they’re working toward something bigger together, your team will reach peak success. 

8. Are you focusing on what truly moves the needle?

Your year is planned, your team is humming along, and … then come the distractions. Bumps in the road. Obstacles you didn’t expect. Opportunities you never dreamed of. Life happens while we’re making plans. That means we need to hone our ability to determine the top priority and park the rest. It’s so easy to get wrapped up in the daily grind or coaxed off-track by the latest “shiny object” marketing trend. But as the leader, your vision needs to be solely focused on one thing: that year-end revenue goal. With a structured strategic planning approach, you can stay on track regardless of the distractions that come your way. 

9. How do you structure your strategic planning meetings?

Even with a full calendar of regular meetings and strategy sessions, it’s easy to get stuck in “planning mode,” spending more time talking than executing. Plans will just stay plans if we don’t pull them out and work on them. At SchlickArt, we have a number of tools and processes in place to ensure that plans become tasks and deadlines that, ultimately, are completed with efficiency and success–because we’ve been there, too. We know how hard it can be to stay the course, to turn a marketing plan into consistent action. It’s taken us years of practice and perseverance to figure out what works for us. We’re happy to help you chart the best course for your team, too. 

10. Are you leveraging your slow months and creating passive income?

Even with all the planning in the world, we can’t control all outcomes, including our marketing campaigns and sales. That’s why it’s necessary to prepare for the down months. While there are ways to do that with your profitability forecasting, passive income is another great way to ensure you meet your revenue goal at the end of the year–regardless of what’s outside your control. Your strategic marketing plan will be all the stronger for it. 

The Bottom Line

Here’s the thing: building a strategic marketing plan doesn’t have to be overwhelming, and you don’t have to figure it out on your own. It’s not your fault if you’ve been winging it—most business owners are so busy running their businesses that they don’t have time to step back and plan. But that’s exactly what keeps you from hitting those big goals.

The good news? Accountability and support make all the difference. Whether it’s setting realistic goals, creating a clear roadmap, or building systems that actually work, you’ve got what it takes to get there—and we’re here to help.

If you’re ready to create a clear, strategic plan for your business, we’d love to guide you. Sign up for a Strategic Planning Session with SchlickArt, and let’s make this year your best one yet.

Visual Marketing Education 

At SchlickArt, we know your marketing visuals are only effective if you actually use them. That’s why we help you create powerful photography and video – and then we teach you how to share it. With each session, we’ll give you our best tips based on your specific marketing goals. We provide the education and resources you need to brand your content, integrate it into your marketing strategy, post it with intention, and maximize engagement along the way. 

If you want even more tips and resources, we have an educational blog, newsletter and video channel to help you dive deeper, as well as professional presentations, workshops, and coaching sessions if you’re ready to take action and level-up your marketing now.

About SchlickArt 

SchlickArt, a luxury visual marketing company based in Santa Clarita, started in March 2012 with the simple idea that empowerment creates a kind of authenticity that shines through every camera lens. Built on a philosophy–rather than a product, service or person–SchlickArt has rapidly evolved, meeting fractional CMO, business and strategy planning, professional portraiture, business photo and business video needs as diverse as the community we capture. It’s the desire to take care of you, the client, that drives us at SchlickArt. 

Kirsten Quinn

A lover of strong coffee and yellowed pages, Kirsten Quinn-Smith is a professional content writer and owner of WordSmith Content Marketing here in Santa Clarita. She believes great content can forge a loyal, authentic and beneficial relationship between you and your audience – and grow your business. With each piece of writing, Kirsten's goal is to position you in the content spotlight through audience-centered, strategy-based writing that actually sounds like you. Why? Everyone has a story, and every story deserves to be heard.

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