How do I build a marketing plan for 2027?
A good marketing plan fits on one page and can be checked every month. Here is the structure we use for 2027.
- What should a marketing plan include?
- How detailed should it be?
- How do we plan when budgets are flat?
Build your 2027 marketing plan backward from the revenue target: how much new pipeline marketing must create, for which customers, through which channels, at what cost. Fit it on one page with the target, ICP, message, channels, budget, tests and monthly metrics. Plan for flat budgets: Gartner's 2026 survey found marketing at 7.8% of revenue and 56% of CMOs short of the budget for their plan.
| Section | What to write |
|---|---|
| Target | New ARR, marketing-sourced share, pipeline needed |
| Customer | ICP and the one segment to win first |
| Message | Positioning statement and three proof points |
| Channels | Proven channels to scale, one or two to test |
| Budget | People, programs, tests and tools as separate lines |
| Tests | Each with a question, budget and pass mark |
| Metrics | Pipeline, CAC, payback, reviewed monthly |
Start with last year
Before you plan 2027, list which channels produced pipeline last year and what each cost. Most good plans are mostly last year's working channels, scaled, plus a few deliberate tests.
Plan for change in buying
Buyers increasingly research with AI. Gartner's 2026 research found 45% of B2B buyers used generative AI during a recent purchase. Include work that makes your company show up in AI answers, such as clear comparison pages and customer proof, alongside search and paid.
Review it monthly
A plan that isn't reviewed becomes a document. Set a monthly 30-minute review of the metrics and a quarterly re-plan where money moves.
- A plan with no revenue target.
- Twenty channels listed with no priorities.
- No tests, so the plan only repeats last year.
- A 40-page document nobody reads.
- No monthly review scheduled.
- Built backward from new ARR.
- One page, with an appendix if needed.
- Proven channels plus deliberate tests.
- Budget split into people, programs, tests and tools.
- A monthly review already in the calendar.
What founders and researchers say
We read the threads, surveys and reports so you don't have to. Each card is our summary, linked to the source.
Budgets are flat at 7.8% of revenue and 56% of CMOs lack the budget for their strategy. {Y} plans need clear priorities.
Read the release →45% of B2B buyers used AI in a recent purchase and 67% prefer a rep-free experience. Plans should cover how buyers research without you.
Read the release →Marketers sharing plans often say the most useful ones are short, tied to revenue and reviewed monthly. Long plans get filed and forgotten.
Browse the threads →Community summaries describe recurring themes across many threads. They are not quotes from individual posts.
Read next
Go deeper in the ShoutEx guides, or check the original sources.
Bring your numbers. We'll tell you what we would do, even if it isn't us.
Book a call →Follow-up questions
When should we build next year's plan?
Start in October or November so the budget is agreed before January.
How detailed should the plan be?
One page for decisions, with channel plans and calendars in an appendix.
What if the budget isn't approved yet?
Plan in tiers: what you will do at the base budget and what extra spend would add.