The annual marketing template that costs $0 and kills $100,000 agencies 📋

Written on 01/01/2026
Tom Orbach
Now it’s yours.

In 2021, a startup hired me to consult on their marketing strategy.

Before I arrived, they had done an “annual strategy workshop” with some fancy marketing agency (that cost them more than $10k). Five full days. Whiteboards. Hundreds of sticky notes on the wall.

The office literally looked like THIS when I arrived:

At the end of the week, the agency handed over a 90-page PDF.

  • Brand archetype: “The Explorer”

  • Target persona: “Ambitious Amy”, 34, lives in Brooklyn, drinks oat milk

  • Marketing channels: LinkedIn + email

  • Mission and vision: locked in

Literally 90 pages of fluff.

I fucking hate marketing agencies.

It’s expensive, it’s distracting, and it doesn’t help you sell anything.

When I asked the CEO what the team was actually doing on Monday, he just stared at me. “I have no idea”, he said. “We spent $15,000 and I still don’t know what to do next”.

I told him to delete the PDF.

Then I opened a fresh Google Doc and started from scratch:

What would a marketing strategy document look like if it only included stuff that's ACTUALLY practical and actionable?

That question became a 12-page template I’ve been obsessed with ever since. It has sections I’ve never seen in any strategy doc - like a viral stunt filter to kill bad ideas before you waste money on them, and an “inspiration board” for tracking marketing you’re jealous of so you can steal it properly.

Every channel gets a row with budget, owner, and KPIs. Every launch gets a full checklist. Every team member knows exactly what they own.

And today, I’m sharing it with you.

It’s built in a Google Doc, not a fancy slide deck, because strategy should be lived in, not performed.

Here’s what you’re getting:

  1. 📋 The full 12-page marketing strategy template (keep it forever)

  2. 🎯 Fill-in-the-blank sections that make everything super actionable

  3. 🧨 My viral stunt filter (how I decide which big ideas are worth trying)

  4. 📊 Channel-by-channel planning so nothing falls through the cracks

  5. 🗓️ The quarterly habit that stops this from becoming another forgotten doc

First things first, download the template using this secret link:

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