A 90-day advertising plan for a small business

Key takeaways

An advertising plan for a small business fits on one page and runs in three months. Month one measures what you already do. Month two tests social media against one traditional channel. Month three compares them and sets the mix for the next quarter.

• Month 1: audit spend, add tracking, fix the free basics.
• Month 2: run two tracked tests in the same area.
• Month 3: compare cost per customer and set the split.
• Repeat every quarter with one new test.

What is an advertising plan?

An advertising plan is a short document that says who you want to reach, through which channels, with what message, for how much and how you will know it worked. It turns a list of bookings into a set of decisions with dates attached.

• Social media marketing vs traditional advertising: what works better for SMEs?
• A one-page social media strategy template you will use

What do you need before day one?

You need three numbers and one description: what a customer is worth in gross profit, how many new customers you want, what you can spend each month, and who your best customers are and where they live. Without these, a plan is a wish list.

• Ideal customer profile for social media: define yours
• How much does advertising cost a UK small business?

What happens in month one?

Month one is measurement and foundations. Spend little and learn a lot.

• List every advertising cost from the last year.
• Add a code, number or address to each current advert.
• Start asking every enquirer how they heard of you.
• Complete your listings and ask for ten reviews.
• Score each channel on the GBL Channel Fit Scorecard.

• The advertising channel scorecard: pick where to spend
• How to track offline advertising: six methods that work
• 'How did you hear about us?' Asking the question properly

What happens in month two?

Month two is testing. Run your highest-scoring social option and one traditional channel in the same area with the same offer. A typical pairing is paid social at £300–£500 a month and a leaflet drop at 6p to 15p per household. Change nothing else.

• How to test an advertising channel in six weeks
• Leaflets vs social media ads: which wins local customers?
• The minimum budget to test an advertising channel properly

What happens in month three?

Month three is the decision. Let the tests finish, then work out cost per enquiry and cost per customer for each. Put about 70% of next quarter's budget behind the winner, 20% behind the runner-up if it was close and 10% towards a new test.

• Cost per lead by channel: comparing social media and offline
• How to split a marketing budget between traditional and digital

What does the one-page plan contain?

Keep to six headings.

• 1. Goal: new customers per month.
• 2. Audience: who and where.
• 3. Message: one line and one offer.
• 4. Channels: lead, support and test.
• 5. Budget: by channel, by month.
• 6. Measures: cost per enquiry and per customer.

• Consistent advertising across channels: one look everywhere

Who does the work?

Name one owner for the plan and one person who answers enquiries. If nobody has the hours, decide that now. Most UK SMEs using an agency pay £950–£2,500 a month for managed social media, and staff time costs about £16.27 an hour at the April 2026 National Living Wage.

• In-house versus agency social media for UK businesses
• Is social media marketing free? The real cost of 'free'

What can knock the plan off course?

Three things: a salesperson's deadline offer, a quiet week that prompts panic changes and nobody recording enquiries. Protect the plan with a rule that nothing new is booked until the current test has reported.

• Advertising mistakes small businesses make, and the fixes
• How to negotiate advertising rates as a small business

Is 90 days long enough?

It is long enough to judge response channels and to see early signs from unpaid social media. It is too short for radio, outdoor or sponsorship, which should be judged over six months or more. Treat the first 90 days as round one.

• Advertising payback period: how long until it pays for itself?
• Brand building vs sales activation: the small business view

What does this look like in practice?

A pattern we see with firms that complete a first 90-day cycle: the result matters less than the habit. Once enquiries are logged by source and one test runs each quarter, advertising stops being an argument and becomes a routine.

• See client work
• Social Media Marketing for UK businesses

Next step

Write the six headings on one page and fill in what you already know. The gaps are your month-one jobs.