Hi there!
In this article, we will be taking a closer look into what a marketing calendar is and why it is so important! Marketing can be an incredibly difficult process to get started on whether you are a small business or a multi-national corporation.
As a business, you should know that marketing is absolutely crucial in outlining your marketing activities on a month-to-month basis. You must have a steady stream of promotion entering the marketplace and keeping this in mind of your existing and established customers.
A marketing calendar is simply a plan which helps to cover all of your marketing activities for the entire year. As is the case with most aspects of a business plan, can require some investment especially in resources and time. The marketing calendar is incredibly successful when you do not have the time to think about self-promotion.
How does a marketing calendar help to outline an overall strategy?
When you are creating a marketing timeline, you must decide on an overall marketing strategy. Some of the major factors to consider while outlining your strategy are:
- Frequency of your marketing promotions and allocating the resources that you own.
- Determining your peak demand and helping to figure out whether they will rise or fall during different times of the year.
- What kind of media to target, especially on e-mail and social media. This includes writing articles, attending conventions and creating videos.
- Who is your audience and what resources do you have, can help you go a long way in outlining your strategy.
How to get started in creating a calendar?
Creating a marketing calendar is incredibly beneficial in allowing you to set recurring events and automate reminders, especially for blog posts or e-mail updates. Spreadsheets which are part of your calendar can allow you to see information at a glance.
Whether you choose a platform such as Google or Microsoft for creating your marketing calendar, you should be able to update entries, keep track of your milestones and note down your results.
Some of the major entries in creating a calendar are:
- Knowing the name of the project
- Understanding the date, when the project will go live
- Being responsible for managing the project
- Which employees need to complete a project
- Tracking the place to record any results or reports about the campaign.
How to map out your strategy in detail?
Regular blog posts or e-mail blasts are the easiest and you must be sure to set timelines for producing and distributing promotions in a routine. Planning to create bigger or more elaborate promotions for the holidays or special occasions must be done in advance.
You must be aware of all the necessary milestones that should be achieved and you must ensure that your content is finished off early, than last minute. Having a marketing calendar can help you to show gaps in your marketing coverage and peak times can reduce the speed of the promotions.
How to measure and analyze results?
You must understand whether your marketing calendar contains promotions which were successful in nature and try something different. Having a detailed record in your marketing calendar is great as it provides tremendous insight.
Once you refine your marketing strategy, you can do it year after year to reach more potential customers. Utilizing a simple organizational tool helps marketing calendars can turn promotions into comprehensive marketing strategies.
In conclusion, this is the importance of a marketing calendar and in the next article, we will be looking at the use of a marketing calendar.
