Mother's Day Marketing

How are you marketing for Mother's Day? Try using this awesome flyer!

I am a HUGE fan of the marketing calendar. It keeps your marketing plans organized and helps you remember to plan in time for holidays! We all laugh when we see Christmas decorations around Halloween time, however, there is truth in those big-box store merchandising strategies. It takes some planning ahead to promote a holiday-based sale.

The good news? There is just enough time to put something together for Mother's Day 2012. (I will save you the Google search... this year Mother's Day falls on May 13) Using a statement stuffer is a great way to inform current patients of some great deals. You may also consider leaving a flyer with your referral sources to generate some new leads. The addition of a coupon is another great incentive to motivate people into your showroom.

Even better news? You've got Laboratory Marketing on your team. The Mother's Day statement stuffer flyer that you see above can be used one of two ways:

1. Use this as a guide to create your own Mother's Day flyer with the resources you have.

— OR — 

2. An even easier option. Use this flyer but with your own logo, product choices and contact information.  I'm offering my own Mother's Day sale: this flyer complete with your company's custom information for only $75! Please send me an email for details and questions.

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