8 Marketing Uses for Your Calendar

If I could use only one tool to assist me in marketing, it would be the calendar. This Swiss Army Knife of strategy and information is mostly taken for granted in today’s world, but the calendar can help you market your business in many ways.

The Gift

I will start with the most obvious and the least celebrated. For decades companies have given calendars as promotional items with their name and contact on them. Some added coupons to every month, others used product images as the decoration. The promotional calendar can be done well, but typically is not effective in a marketing sense by February 1.

The Plan

Use your 1 year calendar to plan all of your marketing efforts for the next year. January is fast approaching and now is a good time to start. By planning your entire year, you won’t have to wonder what to do next. Plan the ads you are going to place, the direct mail you are going to send, even plan out the tweets and Facebook posts you are going to release. You don’t need a ton of detail, just plan out the best time to make things happen.

The Schedule

Use your monthly calendar to schedule the detailed steps to make those big plans actually happen. Schedule time every week if not everyday to achieve something on your marketing plan. The only real way to get things done is to MAKE time for them. The old excuse of not having time is pretty weak by now, we make time for the things that are important.

The Card

My insurance agent sends me a birthday card every year. It is a fairly generic card but he and his assistant both sign the card. It’s kind of nice. I know they do this for all of their customers, but in the back of my brain, I appreciate the acknowledgment of my birthday. Can you do this for your customers? Is there some other reason that you mark on the calendar for your customers? What if you sent them a “Happy First Purchase” card? Just a thought.

The Holiday

We have all heard of Labor Day sales and Black Friday. Holiday sales are nothing new. But what if you had a “International Talk Like a Pirate Day” sale? You could give a discount for their best pirate impression. It could be any holiday, February 24th is National Tortilla Chip Day, June 23rd is National Pink Day, and September 18th is National Play-Doh Day. There is a holiday almost every day, choose one or make up your own. It could be fun.

The Deadline

I am a deadline driven person, just ask my wife. My honey-do list has deadlines on every job. I have found that a deadline gets things done. Use your calendar to set deadlines for your marketing projects. I would warn against going too far, you don’t need more pressure. Just use the deadline to get things done on time. It works for me, and my wife.

The Mail

What if your Perfect Customer received a torn page from your calendar in the mail with a big red circle around the day of your next promotion? Would they open the letter folded paper that had a photo of a puppy on it and a mailing label with their name? Now this wouldn’t be a real page torn from your calendar, but you could make it look that way. It might get their attention, and get them in the door.

The Collaboration

Use your marketing calendar to collaborate with other companies that have similar customer bases. If a pet store, a groomer and a pet photographer planned a big event, invited all of their customers to the same park on the same Saturday for a Pet Fair with grooming, and portraits and sales, a great deal of progress could be made in marketing for the three store owners.

Your calendar can be a great tool for your marketing. It can keep you focused and generate new promotion ideas at the same time. Your calendar can be your springboard so have fun with it. It can also be your anchor, so rely on it to keep you on the right track.