Marketing Calendar
The calendar is an essential tool for business. We rely on calendars to keep track of appointments, to schedule tasks, and to manage time. But have you considered using one to plan your marketing efforts?
The media has always done this. Newspapers, magazines, television and radio use editorial calendars to schedule special programming and supplements to coincide with sweeps month or advertising promotions. It would be hard for a media outlet to stay competitive without an editorial calendar. Small businesses can benefit by applying this concept to their promotions. By using a calendar to plot your marketing strategies, your business will run more smoothly and your efforts will be more likely to pay off.
Your marketing calendar will serve as a map to guide you toward your goalsóone that will get you there on time and with minimum stress. The calendar will help you coordinate your efforts. With it, you are more likely to be realistic about your time and energy, which in turn will help you make wise decisions. Your calendar will help you stay organized and be pro-active. Your marketing is more likely to get done when you take the time to identify what you want to do and when you want to do it.
To develop a marketing calendar, incorporate it into your current time management system. Some people find it easiest to use a wall calendar, others like a desk calendar or a computerized program. You'll also need a contact management software program. Be sure to maintain your database weekly. Update contact names and addresses with new information like job or title changes. If you use direct mail, use a bulk rate permit number to save money, but only if time is not a factor. And always specify return address requested. It's easier to maintain your database when undeliverable mail is returned to you.
Plan your efforts by first identifying your market and then letting it determine how to proceed. Which events and opportunities will help you accomplish your goals? Is it in your best interest to attend an association meeting that your clients are involved with? Think strategically about where you need to be. Consider what business you're in and the natural cycles of your industry. Once you have identified the events and activities to target, mark them on your calendar.
Now, think about the marketing ideas you want to implement. Determine how to accomplish these, assign each a date for completion, then work backward from your deadline. Also, be sure to examine your ideas to see whether any can be used to achieve more than one goal.
An example of a marketing effort for a retailer would be to send customers a Thanksgiving Day card about two weeks before the holiday shopping season. The retailer would have to get started on this project no later than September in order to meet with a designer and hire administrative help to update the database program or list of contacts. By the time the card is designed and printed, the mailing list updated, the envelopes addressed and stamped, and the card mailed, holiday shopping season is just around the corner. By planning the mailing well ahead of time, the retailer will see faster and more significant results, with fewer headaches.
Think about who you want to reach, when you want to reach them, and how you're going to do it. Then mark it on your calendar. When you plan your marketing efforts and merge them smoothly with your other responsibilities and commitments, they are more likely to pay off.
Nancy Michaels is the owner of Impression Impact, a company that creates and produces informative, insightful and interactive "how-to" seminars and products for the small business and entrepreneurial marketplace. Please send your questions, comments or suggestions to Impression Impact, 60 Thoreau St., Concord, MA.
