RACE Framework: 90-Day Marketing Automation Plan

Most UK solopreneurs don’t have a marketing problem. They have a sequence problem.

You can write decent posts, send the odd email, maybe run a few Meta ads when work is quiet. But leads come in bursts, and marketing slips the moment you’re busy delivering. That’s not a motivation issue—it’s a system issue.

The RACE Framework (Plan → Reach → Act → Convert → Engage) is useful because it forces your marketing into a simple lifecycle. For one-person businesses, it’s even more powerful when you treat it as an automation blueprint: what gets done once, what runs weekly, and what happens automatically.

This article shows how to apply the RACE Planning Framework and the OSA (Opportunity–Strategy–Action) improvement process to build a 90-day marketing automation plan that keeps leads moving even when you’re client-facing.

Why RACE works for UK solopreneurs (and why most plans don’t)

RACE works because it’s action-oriented and measurable. It doesn’t start with lofty brand statements; it starts with what a prospect actually does: discover you, interact, enquire/buy, then come back.

Most solo businesses get stuck in “Reach”—posting on LinkedIn, running a few SEO tasks, trying to be consistent on Instagram. Visibility feels productive. But leads don’t appear just because you posted.

RACE fixes that by insisting you build:

• Reach activities that reliably bring the right people in
• Act steps that capture interest (email sign-ups, enquiries, downloads)
• Convert steps that remove friction from buying
• Engage steps that turn buyers into repeat customers and referrers

And the part people skip: Plan. Planning isn’t paperwork; it’s deciding what you’ll measure and what you’ll automate so you’re not reinventing your marketing every Monday.

Snippet-worthy truth: Marketing automation without a framework just automates chaos.

Plan: turn your marketing into a weekly “operating system”

Answer first: The Plan stage is where you decide your numbers, your cadence, and your automation rules—before you touch tools.

If your goal is leads (and for most UK SMEs it is), planning should start with a simple funnel model you can run in 30 minutes each week.

The minimum viable KPI set (for lead generation)

Pick one primary metric per stage, plus one “quality check” metric.

• Reach KPI: sessions from organic/social/paid (by channel)
• Act KPI: conversion rate to lead (form fill, booked call, email signup)
• Convert KPI: lead-to-customer rate (or sales conversion rate)
• Engage KPI: repeat purchase rate or reactivation rate

Quality checks:

• Reach quality: % of traffic landing on service pages (not just blog)
• Act quality: lead-to-qualified-lead rate
• Convert quality: time-to-close
• Engage quality: unsubscribe rate / spam complaints (email)

For solopreneurs, I’ve found the biggest sanity-saver is setting targets as ranges, not perfection:

• “2–4 qualified enquiries per week”
• “30–60 new email subscribers per month”

What to automate in the Plan stage

Create a “single source of truth” dashboard and a weekly checklist.

• A simple reporting view (GA4 + CRM + email platform)
• A weekly 20-minute review routine: what grew, what dropped, what’s blocked
• A backlog of tests (one test per fortnight is enough)

If you don’t do this, you’ll spend your time arguing with your own anecdotes.

Reach: automate consistency without becoming a content machine

Answer first: In Reach, your job is to generate predictable discovery from a small number of channels you can sustain.

For UK solopreneurs, “every channel” is a trap. Choose two Reach engines:

1. One owned engine (SEO/content or email list growth)
2. One rented engine (LinkedIn, Meta, Google Ads, partnerships)

A practical Reach stack for one-person businesses

Here’s a common combination that works well in the UK professional services space:

• SEO content built around “service + location” and “problem + outcome” searches
• LinkedIn for distribution and credibility
• Optional: retargeting ads (small budget) to stay visible to warm visitors

What to automate in Reach

Automation doesn’t mean more posting. It means less decision-making.

• Content calendar templates: recurring formats (case study, myth-bust, tip, FAQ)
• Scheduling: batch-create 6–12 posts and schedule them (weekly cadence)
• Repurposing rules: one article → 3 LinkedIn posts → 1 email → 1 short video script

A realistic target: publish one useful “pillar” piece per month, then repurpose it across channels for 3–4 weeks. That’s consistent enough to compound.

Act (Interact): where leads are won or lost

Answer first: Act is the stage where you turn attention into a measurable next step—usually an email signup or a booked call.

Most solopreneur websites are polite brochures. They’re easy to read, hard to act on.

Act fixes that by making micro-commitments obvious:

• download/checklist
• pricing guide request
• “get a quote” form
• webinar signup
• book a 15-minute fit call

Build one “Act” asset that does heavy lifting

If you only build one thing this quarter, build a lead magnet that pre-qualifies.

Examples that work well:

• A “cost range” guide (filters out low-budget leads)
• A “readiness checklist” (filters out premature leads)
• A “template pack” tied to your service (attracts doers)

Keep it short. The goal isn’t to impress; it’s to start a relationship.

What to automate in Act

This is where marketing automation earns its keep.

• Instant delivery + welcome email: send the asset immediately
• 3–5 email nurture sequence: teach, demonstrate, invite
• Lead routing rules: “If they click pricing → tag as warm”
• Booking workflow: reminders, reschedules, no-show follow-ups

A simple Act sequence that converts without feeling pushy:

1. Day 0: deliver the resource + one sentence on who it’s for
2. Day 2: a quick win they can implement in 10 minutes
3. Day 5: a short case study (numbers if you have them)
4. Day 8: common mistake + fix
5. Day 12: invite to a call (or a clear next step)

Convert: remove friction, don’t “sell harder”

Answer first: Conversion improves when you reduce uncertainty and time cost—especially for time-poor buyers.

For many UK SMEs, conversion happens partly offline (calls, proposals, approvals). RACE explicitly allows for that, which makes it more realistic than frameworks that assume everything is eCommerce.

The three conversion blockers to fix first

1. No clear offer: prospects can’t tell what you actually sell
2. No proof: you claim results but don’t show evidence
3. Slow follow-up: enquiries sit in an inbox while you’re delivering

What to automate in Convert

• Speed-to-lead: auto-reply that sets expectations (“We reply within 1 business day”)
• Qualification form: collect budget/timeline/problem before a call
• Proposal templates: standard scope blocks + optional add-ons
• Pipeline nudges: automatic follow-ups at day 3 and day 7

One opinionated take: if you’re solo, don’t offer unlimited custom proposals. Productise 2–3 packages. You’ll close faster and deliver better.

Engage: turn one-time buyers into your easiest lead source

Answer first: Engagement is where your marketing becomes cheaper over time—because repeat customers and referrals cost less than cold acquisition.

This stage is the difference between a business that constantly hunts and one that compounds.

What to automate in Engage

• Post-purchase onboarding: “what happens next” email sequence
• Check-in cadence: 30/60/90-day follow-ups
• Review requests: triggered after delivery milestones
• Referral prompt: simple script + when to ask
• Newsletter that’s actually useful: monthly is fine, weekly if you enjoy it

A strong Engage habit for solopreneurs: maintain a “past clients” segment and send a quarterly value email with one practical insight and one soft CTA.

Use OSA to build your 90-day RACE plan (without overthinking it)

Answer first: OSA (Opportunity → Strategy → Action) turns RACE from a diagram into a working plan you can execute in 90 days.

Here’s a simple way to apply it.

Opportunity (Week 1–2): run a fast audit

• Which channel produced the most qualified leads last quarter?
• Where do people drop off: traffic → lead, lead → sale, or sale → repeat?
• What’s your current speed-to-lead (hours/days)?

If you only find one issue, you’ve won. One-person businesses don’t need 25 initiatives—they need one bottleneck removed at a time.

Strategy (Week 3): pick 2–3 priorities you’ll commit to

Good solopreneur strategy is selective. Choose priorities like:

• Improve Act conversion from 0.6% to 1.2% by creating one lead magnet + nurture
• Cut speed-to-lead from 48 hours to 6 hours with automated routing
• Increase Engage repeat work by adding a 90-day post-project sequence

Action (Weeks 4–12): execute in sprints

A realistic 90-day sprint plan:

• Sprint 1 (Weeks 4–6): build Act asset + landing page + first 3 nurture emails
• Sprint 2 (Weeks 7–9): tighten Convert (forms, pipeline follow-ups, proposals)
• Sprint 3 (Weeks 10–12): Engage automations (onboarding, review, referral)

Operational rule: If a task repeats more than twice, template it. If it repeats monthly, automate it.

A simple RACE automation checklist (copy this)

Plan

• Weekly KPI dashboard
• Weekly review checklist
• One test queued for the next fortnight

Reach

• Monthly pillar content
• Weekly scheduled social posts (batch)
• Retargeting audience built (even if you don’t run ads yet)

Act

• One lead magnet + landing page
• 3–5 email nurture sequence
• Booking + reminder workflow

Convert

• Qualification form
• Proposal template + follow-up schedule
• CRM pipeline stages defined

Engage

• Onboarding sequence
• Review + referral triggers
• Quarterly reactivation email for past clients

What to do next (and what to stop doing)

If you’re building a one-person business in the UK, RACE is a practical digital marketing strategy framework because it stops you fixating on visibility and forces you to build the steps that create enquiries, sales, and repeat work.

Start small: pick one bottleneck and design the automation around it. If you’re getting traffic but no leads, focus on Act. If you’re getting leads but no sales, fix Convert. If you’re booked out but revenue is lumpy, build Engage so your past clients become your easiest pipeline.

What’s the one part of your customer journey you’re currently doing manually that you never want to do manually again in 2026?