How to create a marketing roadmap for 2025
A marketing roadmap is a clear, strategic plan that outlines your high-level marketing goals and the steps you can take to achieve them. But if you're a coach, consultant or small business owner, the idea of creating a marketing plan might feel overwhelming (and I know the word ‘strategy’ can often send shivers down the spine of any new clients)!
I’m pleased to share that plans and strategies don’t have to be overwhelming and scary. They can be simple, doable and even exciting! It’s not about doing more, it’s about doing what matters most.
Think of a marketing roadmap as your guiding light for business growth. After all, you’ve probably heard this quote before:
“If you fail to plan, you are planning to fail” Benjamin Franklin
So let’s look at how to build your 2025 roadmap in a way that feels simple, authentic and aligned with your values, goals and strengths.
But first - why do you need a marketing roadmap?
Just as a physical roadmap helps you reach your destination with confidence, a clear marketing roadmap gives you direction, accountability and confidence that every action you take in your marketing is aligned with your big-picture goals. Instead of relying on random tactics or reacting to the latest trend, a roadmap sets out a proactive approach that will free up your time, energy and resources.
It needs to answer 3 basic questions:
Where are you now?
Where do you want to be?
How are you going to get there?
Grab something to take notes and let’s get started.
Step 1: Where are you now?
Before you start looking to the future, it’s essential to understand where you are now. Auditing your marketing gives you clarity on what’s working and what needs improvement. Take a moment to review and reflect on your business:
What worked well over the past year? What are you most proud of?
What didn’t go to plan? What did you learn from that?
What have you learned about your clients, market or offers?
Then ask yourself:
What can I stop doing? What am I doing that’s no longer working for me, annoys me or no longer serves my best interests? And no, you can’t stop marketing!
What can I start doing? What do I WANT to start doing that would improve my situation? (NOT what you think you SHOULD do).
What shall I continue doing? What am I doing well that I want to carry on with? How could I incorporate more of this into my business?
Step 2: Where do you want to be?
Now it’s time to dream a little. Take yourself forward to this time next year - imagine you’ve had a successful year in business and you’ve achieved everything you set out to do.
What does that success look like for you? How do you feel?
What’s your annual, quarterly or consistent monthly revenue?
Who are you working with? What have you helped them achieve?
What products, services or programmes have you launched?
What are you known for? What are you like as a business owner?
What is it for you? Write this down in as much detail as possible as it will guide everything that follows.
Step 3: How will you get there?
Start by mapping out your high-level priorities and goals for 2025 and how you will measure success. Save the detail for later.
Strategic Priorities
Reflect on your vision for this time next year and break it down into a few high-level priorities.
Consider the core things that will significantly impact the growth or development of your business. This could be increasing awareness of you and your brand, greater audience engagement, consistent lead generation, increased revenue, exceptional service delivery etc.
For example, if your big-picture vision is to become a recognised expert in your field, one of your strategic priorities might be raising your profile through speaking, writing or social media.
Goals & Outcomes
From there, focus on smaller, actionable goals. Goals are the specific, measurable outcomes that fall under each priority. Goals should be clear and time-bound, so you can track progress and celebrate small wins along the way.
For example, if your strategic priority is to expand your client base, your goal might be to gain 10 new clients each quarter.
Metrics & Measures
Decide what the important metrics are for you to monitor so you can assess if you are on track and making progress.
For example, if audience engagement is a priority and you’ve set a goal of sending a monthly newsletter, you can measure open rates or click through rates of your email or content downloads.
Step 4: Map your client journey
Marketing is a process of communication. It’s about consistently finding enough people who are in need of what you are selling and encouraging them to buy from you rather than someone else. But how do you do that? Here’s a simple way to think about the client journey:
Awareness: How will you raise your profile so new people can discover you? This could be blogging, social media, speaking or networking.
Interest: How will you nurture relationships and build trust with your audience? Consider free resources and lead magnets, newsletters or private groups.
Desire: How can your audience get a taste of what it’s like to work with you? Offer discovery calls, 1:1 meetings, paid events or low cost offers.
Action: What will encourage people to say yes to working with you? Testimonials, enticing offers or added value.
Retention: How will you keep clients coming back? Deliver exceptional service, offer premium content or encourage referrals.
I wrote a whole blog post last year on Mapping the Client Journey - go take a look for more ideas.
Step 5: Plan & prioritise in a way that works for you
I’m a big fan of plans (you may have guessed), but not complex, fixed plans that end up gathering dust.
Big-picture milestones & dates
Start with a calendar and identify any major milestones such as launches, campaigns or events for the year. Make sure to add in annual holidays or time off with the kids, as well as personal events.
Then break the year into quarters and set a specific focus area for each 3-month period. This is where you can go into more detail around what you will do on a monthly and then weekly basis.
Take consistent action
Focus on quality over quantity. Ask yourself, what can I realistically commit to and how will I measure success?
Planning tools
How you keep track comes down to your own preferences. I personally love Notion and Trello for storing my detailed plan as I can use them on the go, but I still rely on good, old fashioned pen and paper for my daily and weekly actions. You could create a document or spreadsheet to stay on top of your plans, or use your calendar. It’s important to find something that works for you.
Creating a marketing roadmap doesn’t have to be overwhelming or complicated. It’s about aligning your goals with actions that feel right for you. Start small. Take imperfect action. And most importantly, keep showing up as your unique, brilliant self.
What’s one action you can take today to start building your roadmap?
Maybe it’s writing down your vision for 2025 or choosing one marketing tactic to focus on. Remember, small, consistent steps lead to big changes.
If you’re not sure, or want to talk this through in more detail, book in for your free 30-minute strategy call.
