As a business owner, you might not have a lot of time to be in marketing mode. You have other pressing tasks. Even with time pressure, you need to have at least some idea where your marketing is going.
One of the best tools for getting a handle on your marketing campaigns is a marketing calendar. Here are a few steps for creating a basic marketing calendar:
Review Your Target Customer – 6 mins.
Go over your customer profile, such as:
- Age
- Occupation
- Family Status
- Income Level
- Geographical Location
- Preferred websites, social channels, etc.
- Online habits
- Relevant psychographic information
Think about what have been the best ways to reach your target. Is it social media, postcard mailings, email campaigns, TV, webinars, etc.?
Review Your Marketing Goals – 10 mins.
Your goals should be S.M.A.R.T. (Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant and Timely) marketing goals that you’d like to achieve in the next year. Keep your goals to about three to start, as that is a manageable number for most businesses
Evaluate your current status – number of leads, revenue, customer acquisition rate, customer retention rate – and strive to improve those. Remember to make them specific. Instead of “increase website traffic,” try something like “10 online leads a week.”
Review Your Main KPIs (Key Performance Indicators) – 3 mins.
In order to know if your marketing efforts are giving you a
return on investment, you need to be able to measure them properly. Review how
you will measure your results.
Look at Peak Sales Times of the Year - 10 mins.
Look at financials for the past few years. Most businesses have patterns. If you have a higher ticket item, see when
people begin researching options and when they actually buy. You want to be visible during the entire process.
Create a Marketing Calendar – 30 mins.
Start with a calendar with the holidays mapped out. Many business promotions revolve around the holidays. If appropriate, add these to your calendar.
Next, highlight peak sales times and lead times for when decisions are made. Schedule promotions for these times.
Create a simple Excel spreadsheet to include the recurring marketing tasks you currently do, or ones you’d like to start such as a monthly newsletter or blog post.