1. Understanding the Business
When building a marketing plan, the first step is always to understand the business thoroughly. This is not just a formality. It provides the foundation for everything that comes later.
Start by looking at how long the company has been operating, what it has achieved, and what has stood out throughout its development. This helps you understand the company’s internal strengths while also identifying information that can be used directly in marketing communications. For example, Katinat built a network of 72 coffee shops across Vietnam in just three years, many of them in prime locations. Facts like these can become strong points in marketing content.
Next, look at the company’s vision and mission. These influence its culture, customer service, and overall communication direction. Understanding the company’s core values helps keep its content direction consistent. For example, if a coffee chain aims to expand across Vietnam while proving that Vietnamese coffee can compete with products from around the world, its communication should reflect that ambition.
The business philosophy is equally important because it affects how the company approaches customers and delivers value. Neyul Marketing, for example, prioritizes practicality and the value it can bring to the business community, shaping an approach where providing value comes before pursuing commercial benefits.
Internal capabilities such as the team, sales network, and production capacity also directly affect the marketing budget and what can realistically be implemented. A company with a strong sales team covering Central and Southern Vietnam and a factory with high production capacity can use these strengths to support communication and trade marketing activities.
Finally, you need a basic understanding of the company’s products or services. If its core product is resort real estate in Southeast Vietnam, particularly Lam Dong, the marketing plan should take these characteristics into account from the beginning.
2. Understanding the Market and Industry
Once the business itself is clear, the next step is to analyze the market and industry.
Start with the broader market environment, including macroeconomic factors such as interest rates, government policies, and economic fluctuations. These factors can directly influence consumer behavior. For example, Vietnam’s real estate market slowed during 2023–2024 amid economic difficulties and tighter policies. When the FED announced an interest rate cut on September 19, 2024, this could be seen as a positive signal for capital flows to gradually return to the market.
Every industry also has its own business cycle. Understanding that cycle makes it easier to align marketing activities with actual demand. For example, the construction industry typically enters its peak season from the middle of Q3 through Q4. Marketing activities may therefore need to accelerate from the beginning of Q3, which means planning should already begin in Q2.
Competitors should also be analyzed from several perspectives, including business performance, marketing, and branding. Vietnam’s fashion industry, for example, is highly competitive in both sales and marketing, yet there is still no single brand that completely dominates the market.
3. Products and Services
A strong understanding of the product is at the core of any marketing plan.
You need to examine product categories, portfolios, differentiators, pricing, and how the offering compares with the market. For example, imagine a real estate company offering land plots and serviced apartments in suburban areas. Its products have clear legal documentation and larger floor areas, but prices are 150–200% higher than the market. This creates both a strength to communicate and a challenge that marketing needs to address.
Pricing and customer segments also need to be clearly defined. A premium apartment targeting business owners and high-income customers willing to spend more than VND 5 billion will require a very different marketing approach from a mass-market property.
Analyzing strengths and weaknesses also helps shape communication. A central location and modern design may be strong selling points, while a significantly higher price than competitors may need to be explained or repositioned.
Packaging and service processes can also affect the customer experience. Poorly designed packaging or basic presentation, for example, can weaken the first impression of a product and reduce the effectiveness of marketing.
4. Customer Insights
Customer insight is one of the most important parts of marketing planning.
The first step is to segment customers into groups such as existing customers, current prospects, and potential future customers. In real estate, for example, existing customers may be people who have already purchased an apartment, while prospects are people currently considering a purchase.
Insights should be built from real data, including internal business data, user behavior across marketing channels, and external sources. If customers aged 20–25 account for 65% of sales and most of them are students purchasing laptops for studying and gaming, the content strategy should reflect those needs.
These insights can then guide both content and channel selection. For example, useful long-form website content combined with SEO may work well for a particular male customer segment.
5. Assessing the Current Marketing Situation
Before developing a new plan, businesses should evaluate their existing marketing activities.
Content should be reviewed to determine whether it is persuasive and strategically consistent. Content created without a clear direction and based mainly on short-term trends is unlikely to generate sustainable results.
Marketing channels should also be assessed to identify strengths and weaknesses. A website may rank well in search but fail to direct visitors toward conversion pages, while social media channels may only be performing at an average level.
Other factors, including staffing, should also be considered. If the company lacks a designer, for example, its visual content may not be properly optimized, making this a role worth adding to the team.
From there, the business can define areas for improvement, such as rebuilding its content system, developing stronger marketing channels, or refreshing its brand identity.
6. Business and Marketing Objectives
Objectives give the marketing plan a clear direction. They should reflect what the business actually wants to achieve and provide a foundation for decisions about content, channels, resources, and budget.
Marketing objectives should also connect with broader business goals rather than operating separately. Whether the priority is increasing brand awareness, generating traffic, improving engagement, acquiring customers, or increasing sales, the objectives need to be clear enough to guide the activities that follow.
7. Marketing Content Plan
Content is at the core of any marketing plan because it is how a business communicates with its customers. A strong content plan does more than attract attention. It helps build trust and encourages customers to take action.
Content direction should begin with the core message, tone of voice, and communication style. For example, if Monova positions itself around product value, consumer health, and social responsibility, all of its content should reflect these principles regardless of format. This keeps the brand from sounding inconsistent across different channels.
The content plan should clearly define the types of content that need to be produced, from in-depth website articles to shorter content for social media and e-commerce platforms. Each format serves a different purpose. SEO content may focus on generating long-term traffic, while social content may prioritize engagement and brand awareness.
The media plan translates these ideas into visual formats such as flatlay photography, lookbooks, production-process photos, packaging photography, company videos, and internal videos. These assets make the content more visual while creating a stronger emotional connection with the audience.
Design and creative execution also need proper investment, from developing visual concepts to refreshing existing content assets. Product images featuring key selling points, concept-based photography, and moodboards can all help create a more consistent and professional brand presence.
Marketing campaigns should then be structured around specific periods. For example, Q1 might focus on engagement and building a foundation, Q2 on customer experience and traffic, Q3 on offline activities, and Q4 on sales. This prevents content from becoming disconnected and ensures that every period has a clear purpose.
8. Marketing Channel Development Plan
Content is only one part of marketing planning. Choosing and developing the right channels is equally important. Even good content will struggle to perform if it is distributed through the wrong channels.
The first step is to define the role of each channel. A website and SEO, for example, can serve as core channels for generating long-term traffic and supporting conversions. Social media can play a supporting role by increasing awareness and maintaining brand presence, while platforms such as Shopee or direct sales channels can focus more heavily on conversion.
This classification prevents businesses from spreading resources too thin and helps them concentrate on channels that create the most value.
Channel development should also follow a clear timeline. In Q1 2025, for example, a business might focus on redesigning its website, improving on-page SEO, and expanding SEO content while maintaining basic social media activity to preserve its presence.
More importantly, each platform needs its own strategy based on user behavior. The same content should not simply be copied across every channel because users interact with and expect different things from each platform.
9. Implementation Timeline
A timeline turns a marketing plan from a collection of ideas into concrete actions.
Long-term timelines are usually connected to strategic objectives. For example, Neyul may aim to become one of Vietnam’s leading trusted marketing service providers within the next three years. Objectives like this give the overall marketing strategy a clear destination.
A medium-term timeline, typically around one year, can focus on solving core operational issues, such as stabilizing the marketing department, establishing channel management processes, and completing the content system.
A more detailed monthly or quarterly action plan then ensures that individual tasks are completed on schedule. The first month might focus on developing and approving the plan, the second on completing recruitment, followed by channel development and ongoing management.
Breaking the timeline into smaller stages also creates clear milestones for measuring performance and making adjustments when necessary.
10. Marketing Team Plan
Even a strong marketing plan will be difficult to execute without the right team.
Businesses should identify the roles needed at each stage. A Marketing Manager may be responsible for the overall strategy, an SEO Specialist for website content and keyword performance, a Graphic Designer for visual assets, and the Content Marketing team for content across different channels.
Responsibilities should be defined beyond job titles. An SEO Specialist, for example, may not only write content but also be accountable for keyword rankings and website management.
Staffing costs should also be estimated for each role and each stage of the plan. This helps the business allocate its budget properly and avoid resource shortages during implementation.
It is also important to understand that a marketing team is not simply a group of people “creating content.” It is a system of different roles working together, and one missing function can affect the performance of the entire department.
| Position | Quantity | Main Responsibilities | Monthly Cost |
|---|---|---|---|
| Marketing Manager | 1 | Develop and manage the overall marketing strategy; manage budget and team; report results to management | VND 15–20 million |
| SEO Specialist | 1 | Write and manage blog content; manage and optimize website content and keywords | VND 10–12 million |
| Graphic Designer | 1 | Responsible for visual design and marketing assets | VND 10–12 million |
| Content Intern | 2 | Content support | VND 4–6 million |
| Content Marketing Specialist | 2 | Monitor and report social media performance; write and manage social media content | VND 16–20 million |
| Technical PR | 1 | Responsible for technical and technology-related marketing content | VND 10–12 million |
| Total | VND 65–82 million |
Responsibilities for each team member should be clearly defined. For example, an SEO Specialist may be responsible for keyword ranking results as well as website management, administration, and security. The SEO Specialist can also support other marketing department tasks when they fall within their role and capabilities.
11. Marketing Budget
Budget determines whether a marketing plan can actually be implemented.
Budget planning should cover long-, medium-, and short-term periods. For example, a business might allocate VND 10 billion to marketing over the next three years, VND 3 billion for 2024, and VND 700 million for Q1 2024.
This makes costs easier to control while helping the business prepare its cash flow and prioritize important activities.
The budget should also be tied directly to objectives. Spending more does not automatically lead to better results; what matters is allocating money to the right activities. If the objective is to increase traffic, SEO and content may deserve greater investment. If the priority is sales, the budget may need to focus more heavily on advertising and conversion optimization.
Most importantly, the budget should remain flexible enough to adapt to actual performance. Marketing is not a fixed plan. It is an ongoing process of testing, learning, and optimization.
