RACE Growth System 90-day planning template

Rapidly turn your digital marketing strategy into an action plan

How will this RACE 90-day planning template help me and my business?

We believe that it's essential for all businesses today to have a defined digital marketing plan, aligned with marketing and business strategies. Our research suggests that despite the importance of digital media in influencing leads and sales, many businesses don't have a defined plan. This can be a big issue, since in our experience, the always-on marketing activities such as paid and organic search, social media marketing, email marketing and website optimization are often neglected.  In our free digital marketing planning template, we explain what to audit to identify digital marketing strategy priorities. 

Once you have a defined digital marketing strategy, it's vital you translate your strategy into action. That's where our 90-day planning template fits in. 

Planning your marketing in 90-day intervals is powerful because it helps you focus on a shorter and more manageable timeframe, compared to planning for a whole year. This approach allows you to execute strategic initiatives from your annual plan within a practical period, that is more feasible than a 30-day timeframe.

Committing to regular, continuous improvements to your marketing and 'always-on' lifecycle digital marketing offers a useful technique to gain better results from digital marketing.

This 90-day planning download is aimed at getting you started with your first 90-day plan by providing a structure for you to evaluate and define your Opportunities, Strategies and Actions. 

Who is this template for?

The examples in this template are aimed at smaller businesses and startups where typically, the owner or one person is responsible for marketing. However, the 90-day planning process recommended is relevant for larger businesses to review their approach to always-on customer lifecycle marketing. 

Like our digital marketing planning template, this download is relevant for anyone involved with shaping and implementing future digital marketing direction for their business or clients, including:

• Company owners and directors, particularly if working in smaller businesses and startups
• Digital marketing managers and marketing managers
• Consultants or agency account managers
• Digital marketing executives looking to expand their knowledge of digital marketing strategy and planning

For premium members, our digital marketing toolkit includes more detailed 90-day planning templates based on reviewing performance using key performance indicators (KPIs) and prioritizing 25 key customer lifecycle activities across RACE.

How is this resource structured?

We start by introducing the acclaimed RACE Growth System. Then, for each of the three-steps, you will enter your Opportunity, Strategy and Action prompted by examples for a small business to make your 90-day plan.

• How to use this RACE planning template
• Why do you need a plan?
• The RACE Growth System
• The OSA Process
  • Step 1: Opportunity
  • Step 2: Strategy
  • Step 3: Action
• Next steps

This resource also includes a link to download a free editable PowerPoint template version which you can customize for your business.

Resource Details

• Authors: Dr. Dave Chaffey and Stuart Miller
• Format: PDF template structured around our RACE Growth System with accompanying editable PowerPoint template.
• Recommended related resources:
  • Our free digital marketing templates have been written to be used with  other premium resources, including our Word or Powerpoint digital marketing plan workbook and Digital marketing plan example for creating annual plans
  • Our certified RACE Practical Digital Strategy Learning Path explains  how to review and improve five key activities for each part of RACE. This helps businesses rapidly create a roadmap to improve performance from these 25 key customer lifecycle activities.

About the author

Dr. Dave Chaffey

Dave is co-founder of Smart Insights and creator of the Smart Insights RACE Planning Framework. He has consulted and trained for many businesses including large international B2B and B2C brands including 3M, BP, Barclaycard, Dell, Confused.com, HSBC, Mercedes-Benz, Microsoft, M&G Investment, Rentokil Initial, O2, Royal Canin (Mars Group) plus many smaller businesses.  For his full profile, or to connect on LinkedIn or other social networks, see the About Dave Chaffey profile page on Smart Insights. Dave is author of 5 bestselling books on digital marketing including Digital Marketing Excellence and Digital Marketing: Strategy, Implementation and Practice. He has been recognized by the Chartered Institute of Marketing as one of 50 marketing ‘gurus’ worldwide who have helped shape the future of marketing.