How to promote your business with a simple marketing plan
If you run an independent or small business, promoting what you do can easily become something you mean to “get round to” but never quite do properly. It turns into rushed social posts, the odd email and good intentions that never turn into something structured.
You don’t need a complex strategy or a huge budget to see progress. You need a clear idea of who you want to reach, what you want to be known for, and a simple marketing plan you can actually keep up with.
This guide walks through how to promote your business with a straightforward marketing plan that fits around real client work.
Step 1: Know who you are trying to reach
Marketing is much harder if you are vague about who you want to work with.
Answer in plain language:
Who are your best clients or customers
What kind of work do you want more of
Where do these people spend their time and attention
Examples:
A local trade might focus on homeowners in specific neighbourhoods who want careful, tidy work rather than the cheapest quote.
A café might focus on people who live or work nearby and want a calm place to sit, work or meet.
A consultancy might focus on marketing managers in growing companies that need ongoing support, not one off tasks.
Keep it to one or two core groups. Your messages and channels will be built around them.
Step 2: Decide what you want to be known for
Your marketing plan becomes clearer when you choose a focus.
Finish sentences like:
“We are the business people think of when they need…”
“We are known for doing…”
“We are the ones who care most about…”
For example:
“We are the carpet fitters people think of when they want a careful, long lasting job.”
“We are the café people think of when they want a quiet, well designed space to work.”
“We are the studio people think of when they need branding that feels honest and practical.”
This becomes the thread that runs through your website, emails, posts and proposals. Your simple marketing plan is essentially a way of repeating this focus in useful, different formats.
Step 3: Choose one or two main channels
Most independent and small businesses run into trouble by trying to be everywhere. They post on multiple social platforms, think about email, worry about blogging, and end up doing very little with any consistency.
Start by choosing one or two primary channels based on where your audience actually is:
Local trades, shops and cafés
One main social channel such as Instagram
Optional: simple email list or SMS for regulars
Studios, consultancies and B2B services
LinkedIn
Email newsletter
Optional: longer form content on a Resources or blog section
Your website sits underneath everything as the place you send people when they want to know more or get in touch.
Write your chosen channels down. For now, this is your whole playground.
Step 4: Decide what you will share in each channel
Your marketing plan needs a content menu. Without one, every post or email feels like starting from zero.
Useful recurring themes:
Work in progress and finished projects
Show what you actually do, who you do it for and what the result looks like.
Before and after stories
Help people understand the difference between “before working with you” and “after working with you”.
Answers to common questions
Turn questions you get all the time into posts, emails or short articles.
Behind the scenes
Share process, thinking and the care that goes into your work. This builds trust.
Reviews and testimonials
Put kind words in places you control, not just on third party platforms.
Helpful tips related to your service
Short, practical advice that positions you as someone who understands their world.
For each chosen channel, pick 3 to 5 content types you are willing to show regularly. That is your menu. You are not trying to be original every time, you are cycling through the same useful themes.
Step 5: Turn it into a simple weekly and monthly rhythm
Your marketing plan becomes real once you give it dates.
Start small. Examples:
Example rhythm for a local service business
Google Business Profile > One photo or short update per month
Instagram > 2 posts per week (for example, one project, one behind the scenes)
Resources > 1 article per month answering a real client question
Example rhythm for a consultancy or studio
LinkedIn > 2 posts per week (one insight, one small case or example)
Email newsletter > 1 email per month
Resources > 1 article per month that supports your positioning
Write yours down as a simple commitment, for example:
“One article a month, one email a month, two posts a week.”
If you can keep that up, you will already be ahead of most similar sized businesses.
Step 6: Connect your marketing back to your website
Promoting your business is not only about being visible. It is about giving people somewhere clear to go next.
Check:
Does every social profile link to the most relevant page on your site
Do you sometimes link posts back to case studies, service pages or guides
Does your email footer link to your website and main channels
Does your Google Business Profile link to a page that feels current and clear
Your channels should feel like routes that point into a small number of strong pages, not like separate islands.
Step 7: Track a few simple numbers
You do not need complicated analytics for a simple marketing plan. A few numbers, checked monthly, are enough.
Examples:
Website
Views of your services page
Views of your contact page
Views of any key articles you publish
Email
Open rate
Clicks to your site
Replies
Social
Profile visits
Saves
Link clicks
Google Business Profile
Calls
Website clicks
Direction requests
Note them down each month in a simple sheet. Over time, you will see which channels are worth your energy and which ones you can drop or reduce.
Step 8: Review and adjust every quarter
Every three months, set aside a short block of time to review:
What felt easy to keep up
What you kept avoiding
What actually led to enquiries or useful conversations
What did not seem to move anything forward
Use that to adjust your plan slightly. You may double down on what works, drop a channel that is not doing anything, or tweak your rhythm.
The plan should support your business, not become another source of guilt.
Key takeaways
A useful marketing plan for an independent or small business does not need to be complex. It needs to be realistic and repeatable.
Start by being clear about who you want to reach and what you want to be known for.
Choose one or two main channels where your ideal clients already spend time, instead of trying to be everywhere.
Build a simple content menu around real work, real questions, proof and behind the scenes, then cycle through it.
Turn this into a light rhythm you can keep up, such as one article a month and one or two posts per week.
Make sure your website is the place everything points back to, so interest can turn into enquiries.
Track a handful of simple metrics monthly and review your plan quarterly, adjusting based on what actually brings in good conversations and work.
If any of this has you thinking about your own business or where to take things next, feel free to get in touch.
Visit our contact page, book an intro call, or fill out the enquiry form and we will reach out shortly.
Email: hello.homerun.co@gmail.com
