A marketing communications plan is almost always recommended; typically 10-15 pages: a summary of your business including competitive activity; challenges and opportunities; goals; objectives; strategies including target audience(s), positioning, messages and media; tactics including detailed plans of execution (interactive, advertising, promotion, publicity, sales presentations, staff training and sponsorships), a budget and timetable.

Several reasons for a plan:

• You have a record of why marketing decisions were made.
• You have prioritized your marketing budget.
• New opportunities can be evaluated against a carefully thought out plan.
• Your plan can be modified (annually) without starting over.