The Goldilocks Plan: A 5-Step Guide to Building a 90-Day Marketing Plan That Actually Works

If you're a UK small business owner, your most valuable assets are time and focus. The problem is, most marketing "plans" steal both. The annual plan is a fantasy, and "no plan" is just chaos. You end up posting a random picture on Instagram, feeling busy, but getting no closer to your goal.

It's time for a better way. The 90-Day Marketing Sprint is a framework that forces clarity. It's short enough to be agile but long enough to get real, measurable results. It's how you turn chaos into a predictable engine for growth.

Here's the simple, 5-step process for building one.

Step 1: Set Your ONE "North Star" Goal

This is the most important step. If you try to chase five rabbits, you catch none. For the next 90 days, your entire team needs to be obsessed with one primary goal. Everything else is a distraction.

You can't "do social media," "run ads," "fix the website," and "launch a podcast." You have to choose. Your "North Star" for the next 90 days might be:

• Lead Generation: "Get 20 qualified leads for our B2B service."
• Brand Awareness: "Reach 500,000 people in the Cheshire area to announce our new shop."
• Product Launch: "Sell 100 units of our new e-commerce product."
• Audience Building: "Grow our email list by 1,000 engaged subscribers."

Pick one. Be specific. Make it a SMART goal (Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, Time-bound). "Get more leads" is a wish. "Get 20 leads from LinkedIn at a cost of £50 per lead by January 31st" is a goal.

Step 2: The 30/60/90 Framework (The Plan Itself)

Now you break your 90-day goal into a 3-part action plan. This is how you eat the elephant, one bite at a time.

Month 1 (Days 1-30): Audit, Research & Plan

This is your "learning and building" phase. You don't launch anything big; you get your foundations right.

• Audit: Where are you right now? Look at your data. What's your current website conversion rate? What was your best-performing social post last quarter? What's your biggest "leaky bucket" (e.g., your terrible landing page)?
• Research: Who is your exact customer? Get beyond "women aged 30-50." What are their real-world problems? What language do they use? Where do they hang out online (Hint: it might be LinkedIn or Mumsnet, not TikTok)?
• Plan: Based on your goal, define your tactics. If your goal is "20 B2B leads," your plan might be "Write 4 high-value blog posts, run a LinkedIn ad campaign to a free webinar, and create a 5-step email nurture sequence."
• Build: Start creating the assets. Write the blog posts, design the ads, build the landing page.

Month 2 (Days 31-60): Execute, Launch & Promote

This is "Go Time." All the work from Month 1 gets pushed live. This is the month of action and consistency.

• Launch: Hit "publish" on the landing page. Turn on the ad campaigns (with a small, test budget!).
• Promote: Execute your content plan. Publish your blog posts. Send your emails. Post on social media consistently.
• Establish Rhythm: This is key. The goal is to build a system. If your plan is to post 3 times a week, do it. This month is about building the habit.
• First Data: Start watching the data roll in. Don't panic or make huge changes yet. Just watch.

Month 3 (Days 61-90): Analyse, Optimise & Scale

This is where you win. You now have 30 days of real-world data. Your "gut-feel" is replaced by proof.

• Analyse: Look at your dashboard. What's working? Is Ad Version A beating Ad Version B? Is that one blog post driving all your leads? Is no one clicking your email?
• Optimise: Be ruthless. Cut the losers, feed the winners. Pause the ads that aren't working and shift the budget to the ones that are. Change the email subject line and try again.
• Scale: You've found a winning formula. Now, with 30 days left, you hit the accelerator. Increase the ad budget, send a follow-up email to non-openers, and promote your best content even harder.
• Review: In the last week, hold a "What Did We Learn?" meeting. What worked? What failed? This review is the first step of your next 90-day plan.

Step 3: Define Your Channels & Budget

A plan is not a plan without resources. You must be realistic.

• Channels: Don't be everywhere. Based on your goal and audience research (Step 1), pick one or two primary channels. If you're a B2B consultancy, that's probably LinkedIn and your Blog. If you're a local artisan bakery, it's Instagram and Google Business Profile. That's it. Master those.
• Budget: Be brutally honest. What is your actual budget for this sprint? This includes ad spend, software (e.g., email marketing), or freelancer costs. A £500 budget requires a very different plan (e.g., organic content, local SEO) than a £5,000 budget (e.g., Google Ads, video production). Write the number down.

Step 4: Assign Clear Ownership

A plan with no owner is a wish list. Even if you're a one-person business, you need to assign tasks. If you have a small team (e.g., a VA, a freelancer), be specific.

Good ownership is not "Sarah handles social media." Good ownership is "Sarah is responsible for posting 3x Reels and 2x carousels on Instagram per week, and will report on engagement and reach every Friday."

Who is responsible for:

• Writing the content?
• Running the ads?
• Checking the data?
• Replying to comments and DMs?

Put a name next to every task.

Step 5: Write Your "One-Page" 90-Day Plan

Here's the best part. Your 50-page annual plan is useless. Your 90-day plan should fit on a single page. This is your dashboard, your compass. Pin it above your desk.

Here's a simple template to follow. Just copy this into a document and fill it in.

Your One-Page 90-Day Plan Template

• Sprint Theme (e.g., "B2B Lead Generation"): _________________
• North Star Goal (SMART): "Get 20 qualified leads via LinkedIn by Jan 31st."
• Key KPIs (How to measure): 1. Cost Per Lead (CPL) 2. Landing Page Conversion Rate 3. Webinar Sign-ups.
• Target Audience: "UK-based Finance Directors in companies of 20-100 employees."
• Primary Channels: "LinkedIn & Email Marketing"
• Total Budget (90 Days): "£2,000"

Month 1 (Days 1-30): Audit & Build

• Action: Conduct audience research (interview 3 clients).
• Action: Write 4x "problem-solving" blog posts.
• Action: Create "7 Mistakes FDs Make" lead magnet (PDF).
• Action: Build webinar landing page.
• Owner: [Your Name]

Month 2 (Days 31-60): Execute & Launch

• Action: Launch LinkedIn Ad campaign to lead magnet.
• Action: Publish 1x blog post per week.
• Action: Run A/B test on ad copy.
• Action: Promote webinar sign-up to email list.
• Owner: [Your Name]

Month 3 (Days 61-90): Optimise & Review

• Action: Analyse ad campaign CPL (pause losers).
• Action: Double budget on winning ad creative.
• Action: Host the live webinar & send replay.
• Action: Hold review meeting to plan next sprint.
• Owner: [Your Name]

This Plan Works. But It Takes Work.

That's it. It's not magic, but it's close. This framework forces you to be focused, realistic, and accountable. It transforms marketing from a "cost" you feel bad about into an "investment" you can track.

But building the plan is one thing. Executing it—writing the blogs, managing the ads, analysing the data—all while running your business, is another.