A 90-day marketing plan for an SME is a short list: one measurable objective, the systems that have to talk to each other in order to measure it, three channels at most, one number to look at every week. In 2025, according to Istat (the Italian national statistics institute, "Imprese e ICT", companies with at least 10 employees), 42.7% of companies analysed their data, 21.1% of SMEs used a CRM and 59.0% of companies used social media. Most SMEs have more channels than numbers. A 90-day plan is how you reverse that ratio.
This guide sets out a four-step method for writing and running a quarterly marketing plan in a company with few employees and systems already in use. It isn't a shrunken annual plan: it's a different way of working, in which the quarter is the unit of decision and the data in your business systems is the starting point, not the last chapter.
Every figure carries its source and year in the text. The author's opinions are flagged as such.
What "marketing plan" means for an SME
Three definitions, because these words get used in different ways:
- Objective: a number, a date, and a system in which that number can be read. "More customers" isn't an objective; "20 new qualified opportunities in the CRM by 15 December" is.
- Channel: the means by which the company reaches customers (site, email, social, field sales, trade fairs). Every channel produces data in some archive: if that archive isn't connected to the centre, the channel isn't measurable.
- KPI: the number you look at every week to decide whether to carry on or change course. Three is enough for 90 days.
The traditional annual plan fixes budgets and channels for twelve months; in an SME, where one trade fair or one new customer changes the priorities within a month, the quarter is the horizon in which a decision can be taken and checked.
Why 90 days and not 12 months?
Because in 90 days you can close a full cycle: set up, execute, measure, decide. The comparison with the annual plan is in the table.
| Aspect | Annual plan | 90-day plan |
|---|---|---|
| Objectives | Many, often qualitative | One, measurable in a system |
| Channels | All the ones available | Three at most, connected to the data centre |
| Review | At year end | Every week, on three numbers |
| Decision | Renew the budget | Carry on, correct or stop |
The table is the author's simplification, not a figure: a well-made annual plan can have the same properties. In SME practice, though, it rarely does.
What data you need before writing the plan
A plan can only be measured if the systems that generate the data are connected. Istat 2025 shows how uncommon that still is:
| Indicator (Istat 2025) | Value | What it means for the plan |
|---|---|---|
| Companies that analyse their data | 42.7% (26.6% in 2023) | More than half decide without numbers |
| SMEs with CRM software | 21.1% | Four in five have no centre in which to read leads and opportunities |
| SMEs with ERP software | 48.8% | Half have the order system: that's where to start |
| Companies on social media | 59.0% | The channel is there; it's rarely connected to an order |
Source: Istat, "Imprese e ICT", 2024 and 2025; population: companies with at least 10 employees; SMEs as classified by Istat.
The method: four steps in 90 days
- Weeks 1–2: one objective, three numbers, one centre. Pick a single commercial objective and the three weekly KPIs (for example: new leads by source, open opportunities, closed orders by campaign). Check where they can be read: if there is no system in which the three numbers are readable, the first two weeks go on connecting the CRM and the ERP, not on producing content. How to do that is in Integrating CRM and ERP in an SME.
- Weeks 3–4: three channels, no more. Choose the channels that already generate orders, plus one to test. Every channel has to write into the centre: a form on the site that creates a lead in the CRM, an email campaign tracked through to the order, a rep who records the visit. A channel that doesn't write into the centre doesn't go into this quarter's plan.
- Weeks 5–12: execute, and read the numbers every Monday. Thirty minutes a week on the three numbers, with one question: carry on, correct or stop. Corrections are made to the channel, not to the objective.
- Week 13: decide the next quarter. Keep what produced readable orders, stop what isn't measurable, add one new thing only. The next quarter's plan takes an hour to write, because the data is there.
When it isn't worth it
This is my judgement, not a figure. The 90-day plan isn't worth it if the company doesn't yet have a system in which at least one commercial number can be read: in that case the first quarter goes entirely on connecting the systems, with no campaigns. It also isn't worth it when the sales cycle runs beyond six months (plant, large contracts): the quarter measures the intermediate steps, not the orders, and the KPIs have to be chosen accordingly.
What a 90-day marketing plan costs
We don't quote figures: they depend on the channels chosen and on how connected the systems already are. The spend has three lines.
- Connecting the systems (if it's missing): CRM–ERP–site integration, one-off. It's the line that makes everything else measurable.
- Channels: media budget and content production for three channels at most. The most visible line and the easiest to cut or raise each quarter.
- Oversight: half an hour a week for whoever reads the numbers, plus whoever corrects the channels.
A plan that spends everything on the second line and nothing on the first produces activity without numbers.
Frequently asked questions
How many channels should an SME's marketing plan have?
Three at most in a quarter: two that already generate orders and one on trial. Every channel has to write its data into the company centre (a CRM integrated with the ERP), otherwise it isn't measurable and it doesn't go into the plan. The number of channels grows in later quarters only if the earlier ones produced readable numbers.
Which KPIs should you look at every week?
Three: new leads by source, open opportunities by stage, closed orders by campaign or channel. They're the three numbers that connect marketing to sales. If one of the three can't be read in your systems, the quarter's first job is to make it readable.
Do you need a CRM to run a 90-day plan?
You need somewhere to read the three numbers. In SME practice that's a CRM integrated with the ERP, which according to Istat 2025 is used by 21.1% of SMEs. The others can start with the ERP and a spreadsheet, knowing that leads and opportunities will stay invisible until the centre exists.
What happens if the objective isn't reached by the end of the quarter?
You look at the three numbers to see where the flow stopped: few leads (channels), few opportunities (qualification), few orders (offer or sales). The next quarter works on the blockage, it doesn't start again from scratch. A missed objective with readable numbers is worth more than a met objective with no idea why.
In short
A 90-day marketing plan for an SME is one objective, three numbers, one data centre and three connected channels at most. The first two weeks make the numbers readable; the next ten are for executing and correcting; the last is for deciding. With 42.7% of companies analysing their data (Istat 2025), working in measured quarters is still a competitive advantage rather than standard practice.
The first step, working out where the three numbers can be read in your systems, is what we do in every analysis. To get started, tell me how you work today.
Sources
- Istat, "Imprese e ICT", 2025 (press release, December 2025). Population: companies with at least 10 employees. Figures on data analysis, CRM, ERP and social media.
- Istat, "Imprese e ICT", 2024, for the comparison on data analysis (26.6% in 2023).
A note on the nature of the figures: the percentages are verified Istat data; the method, timings and judgements on what is worth doing are the author's assessments based on experience, not statistics.
Sergio Selvelli, 15 September 2026. Rewritten and expanded from the first version.