Celebrate the New Year with a... Marketing Calendar?

I get the impression that most people view marketing plans as something they know they are supposed to have but probably gets pushed aside until very last minute... or until never. I'm willing to bet that most small businesses don't have have one that they actually use.
(If your company still doesn't have a working marketing plan, please send me an email. I will send you an easy, 5-step guide for creating a marketing plan!)


Today, I'd like to focus on a very under-used part of a marketing plan: the marketing calendar. Even if you're still struggling with the details of your marketing plan, a marketing calendar can help you turn talk into action.


Start by gathering your marketing team to talk about what you need to accomplish in the upcoming year and be sure to include talk about how your year is structured. For example, we know that patient deductibles are renewed in January and (usually) met by December, which means Q4 is a great time to focus on accessories and follow up with patients. We know holidays like Mother's Day, Father's Day and Grandparent's Day are great times for gift giving and may be a good time to target cash sales to caregivers/families. Also think about how your company operates: are there times of the year when certain products sell more? Are there any big events taking place this year that may require marketing? Take advantage of that information in your marketing!


Once this discussion gets going and ideas are flowing, start plugging details into the calendar. Put the important and non-flexible dates in first so you can work around them. Be sure to note holidays, marketing themes, product focuses and sales. List the marketing materials you will need, including how much production time you will need to execute them. (For example, if you are running an ad in the newspaper be sure to find out when the ad is due to the publication and how much time you need to put it together.) This will be a living document for you to use as a tool - don't be afraid to move things around and change your mind a few times in the process!


Your marketing calendar can be nothing more than a theme for each month or detailed enough to contain the whole year's media buy. The important part is to include enough information to keep your team on task and make sure it keeps you on top of your marketing. And if you have any questions, call me: 248.227.6930