Marketing calendars are used by many businesses to help keep sales pipelines full of new prospective customers. Small businesses may just keep a simple calendar with handwritten items on the dates that marketing efforts need to be completed. These items might include attending a trade show, sending out an email campaign, or placing a buy for a magazine advertisement. Larger corporations typically have a more detailed marketing calendar planned out a year in advance. Regardless of the size of the business a good marketing calendar does have to have some key elements to assure the monthly activities in which the business is investing are paying off.
Here are a few things you need to include in your marketing calendar in order to maximize your return on your marketing investment:
1. List all of the activities you plan to do by month. Activities should include efforts like direct mail, keyword search, media buying, PR, attending trade shows and networking events, and anything else you think will help bring awareness to your business and generate qualified leads.
2. Estimate how much it will cost each month to execute each activity. If you don't have enough information about the cost of an activity, make an educated guess and make your estimate higher than you believe it will really be.
3. Estimate the number of prospects the activity will expose your brand or message to and record these in the calendar as "impressions". For example, you may send out a press release and an industry trade publication prints it. In this scenario, the number of subscribers to the magazine would count as the number of "impressions".
4. Estimate the results each activity will bring to your company in the form of revenue. Usually this is measured in the form of new customers with an average annual value associated with the revenue this customer represents to your business. Depending on the activity, the results of the effort may assist in retaining an already existing customer for a longer period of time. The value of this activity may be a more challenging number to represent, but still make an effort to assign revenue to the effort. For example, hosting an open house for your business may bring in both new prospects and current customers. If the activity results in one new customer who will spend $5,000 over the next 12 months and 10 current customers with a combined value to your business of $50,000, you might want to represent the activity as having a $15,000 return. Remember, when completing a marketing calendar, you will likely include activities that you have done in the past. By doing so, you will have a results history to reference when filling in the numbers. Marketing activities that you have not done before should have results represented in the form of goals you would like to achieve for the investment you are making.
5. Summarize your totals. Each month, you should be able to see the total number of marketing activities you have going on, how many people will be exposed to your business, and what type of results you will be achieving. Reviewing and updating these totals with actual numbers will allow you to look at your marketing history and make better decisions about the types of activities you should spend more time and energy doing.
Long-term Marketing Calendars can really impact the bottom line. In the short-term, it will help hold your team accountable to completing tasks and keeping the sales and marketing efforts in motion. If done properly, a Marketing Calendar will keep you on budget and force activities to be tied into results. The Marketing Calendar is the one part of your overall marketing plan that needs constant updating. Be sure to add impromptu marketing efforts that may have not made the calendar originally. These marketing efforts need to be tracked as well, and by putting them in the calendar, you will have a record of the activity for future consideration.
Doug has served several companies as a CEO, Vice President, Director of Business Development and Sales Manager. Doug has launched three start-ups of his own, grew revenues of a large radio station group 614% in three years, and did time at a large Marketing Agency in Indianapolis prior to starting Edge Marketing.
Doug serves as the Ringmaster for Edge Marketing overseeing the business operations. His passion is helping small businesses and start-up companies achieve their goals.
Qualifications:
Executive Director of Entrepreneur's Alliance of Indiana
Board Member of Rainmakers Marketing Group Inc.
Board Member of the Business Marketing Association for Indianapolis
Dale Carnegie Certification
Radio Broadcaster
Coupons have proven themselves to be highly effective sales tools... Read More
Most businesses target only people "ready-to-buy". These hot prospects are... Read More
Recently, I discussed a loyalty card system with a vendor... Read More
The Tale of Two Dentists...Dr. Namel and Dr. Ivory are... Read More
Have you clearly defined your target audience? These are the... Read More
Do you own a business and need ideas on how... Read More
There are several color formats and systems available for mixing... Read More
Our business environment has changed dramatically. Companies must now be... Read More
It is my belief that if anyone is to suceed... Read More
1) They don't fully understand it.Perception: Marketing is advertising. Reality:... Read More
Discipline Is Important.I recently read an article about why discipline... Read More
Many people have asked me what was the secret to... Read More
Being inconsistent when it comes to marketing your business can... Read More
Pre-note: In this article, teleclass is an example used to... Read More
My wife likes to shop at the local Safeway. Is... Read More
Yesterday I was sitting on a train going into London... Read More
One of the best ways for potential clients to find... Read More
Are you spending more time trying to get new clients... Read More
The Building Blocks to Successful MarketingIt's More than Sales and... Read More
One rule in direct mail is that your letter sells... Read More
Marketing can be expensive. It doesn't have to be, but... Read More
If you sell a technical product or service, you probably... Read More
This article is meant to be a brief review and... Read More
Have you ever studied your best donors and wished you... Read More
I bet you thought the movie "Daddy Daycare" was a... Read More
Do you want to successfully market your business franchise online?... Read More
Do you know your audiences? I mean really know... Read More
You are an expert. You have lots of content -... Read More
A brochure can be a great promotional tool, whether it... Read More
How many of your customers are loyal customers? More importantly... Read More
Rule Number One when writing marketing materials is "Know Your... Read More
One of the most cost effective marketing strategies you can... Read More
Subtle adj. Showing or making, or capable of showing or... Read More
Little Kids Ask Until They Get What They Want.Mom, Mom,... Read More
Everything you've ever learned about marketing and advertising is WRONG.... Read More
When marketing your practice, as well as designing your brochure,... Read More
"Both the market and the distributive channel are often more... Read More
Let's talk about how to keep your postage costs down.So... Read More
Trade show booths are one of the best direct contact... Read More
Hello everyone! Have you ever been curious about something, and... Read More
Secret #4 - Get very comfortable asking for paymentOne of... Read More
Not all benefits are created equal. Knowing which ones to... Read More
As a business professional, you probably realize the value of... Read More
There aren't many things in life that you would get... Read More
While focused, strategic networking is usually the most efficient way... Read More
Remember the baseball cards kids traded while... Read More
Giving away free bonuses is an important website marketing secret... Read More
What does an old Russian joke have... Read More
Marketing is actually very simple. It involves telling people what... Read More
One of the most powerful, yet over looked weapons in... Read More
A person or business that might buy from you is... Read More
Most business people want to see improvements in sales and... Read More
Being inconsistent when it comes to marketing your business can... Read More
This newsletter is full of opportunities staring you in the... Read More
Subtle adj. Showing or making, or capable of showing or... Read More
We all know we can pay a magazine or a... Read More
"Brochure" is French, and it comes from brocher, meaning to... Read More
Here are 7 simple marketing tips to help you boost... Read More
The world of marketing has changed. With increasingly better educated... Read More
Dear Friend,You're ripping me off.How? You may be thinking, "We... Read More
There's really only one thing that separates Image advertising from... Read More
Most companies ask themselves this question: "How much will this... Read More
Most professional copywriters would say that headlines account for 80%... Read More
How many times has someone you've called said, "Why don't... Read More
Some people are happy with just a business card. For... Read More
1. Focus your fax marketing on one objectiveFax is a... Read More
Marketing |