What is a Marketing Calendar?
A marketing calendar is a schedule that plans out marketing activities over time. It lays out all the promotions, campaigns, and other marketing events that a business will do.
The purpose of the calendar is to help a business strategically organize its marketing. It makes sure their efforts are coordinated, consistent with their goals, and spread out in a sensible way.
Marketing calendars usually map out a year or more. They include things like advertising campaigns, social media posts, email newsletters, and other digital and traditional marketing that a company does.
Why is it important to have a marketing calendar?
A marketing calendar is crucial for a few key reasons:
It keeps branding cohesive. With a calendar, a company can coordinate its messaging across ads, email, social media, and more. This consistency builds a stronger brand.
It allows better planning. A calendar lets a company map out campaigns and promotions far in advance. This gives time to prepare and allocate budgets and people.
It enables smart timing. The calendar can align marketing to seasons, holidays, and cultural events for maximum impact.
It provides tracking. With set plans in place, a company can better track results and see what works. This learning leads to better future marketing.
Examples of marketing calendars
Marketing calendars come in different formats. The format depends on the business and marketing channels used.
Some common examples of marketing calendars include:
Editorial calendar plans out blog posts and online articles.
Social media calendar maps social media posts and ads.
Email calendar schedules email newsletters and promotions.
Event calendar outlines conferences, trade shows, and events.
Product launch calendar plots announcements and promotions for new products.
What functionality should a marketing calendar have?
A good marketing calendar should have the following functionality:
A bird's-eye view of all planned marketing campaigns and activities. This clear organization is essential.
Detailed to-do lists and deadlines for campaigns. It breaks down what needs to happen each week and month.
Tracking of campaign progress and results. It lets you easily see performance as you go.
Resource planning for budgets, staff, and channels. It helps allocate money, people and platforms efficiently.
Tie-ins to seasonal events and holidays. It allows campaigns to capitalize on specific events for boosts.
Integration with other marketing tools. It connects seamlessly with analytics, reporting, etc. to save time.
How do you set goals for a marketing calendar?
To create a good marketing calendar, make sure your goals follow the SMART framework:
Specific - Clearly define what you want to accomplish. For example, "increase website traffic by 20%".
Measurable - Choose goals with numbers you can track. This allows you to measure progress.
Achievable - Make sure you have the resources and capability to hit the goals. Don't overreach.
Relevant - Goals should relate to and support your overall business objectives.
Time-bound - Set a specific timeline for achieving each goal. This creates accountability.
The SMART criteria help set clear, focused goals you can successfully execute within your marketing calendar. This leads to better results.
Different types of marketing calendars
Marketing calendars can be broadly classified into two types:
Campaign-based marketing calendars
Campaign calendars outline the tasks and deadlines for specific marketing campaigns. These could be for product launches, sales promotions, or seasonal events.
Campaign calendars usually cover a shorter period than an overall marketing calendar, with more details about the individual activities needed to execute the campaign. Their purpose is to keep the campaign on track towards its goals.
Annual marketing calendars
Annual calendars map out the marketing strategy and goals for an entire year. They give a big-picture view of all the marketing initiatives, campaigns, and activities planned for the next 12 months.
The purpose of these yearly calendars is to align different marketing efforts towards broader business objectives.
They act as a guidepost to reference as marketers develop and execute specific campaigns over the course of the year.
How do you build a marketing calendar?
To build a marketing calendar, businesses should follow these steps:
Define the marketing objectives and goals for the period: First, clearly state what the marketing team wants to accomplish over the calendar period. These goals should meet "SMART" criteria - Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant and Time-bound. For example, a goal could be "Increase social media followers by 20% in the next 6 months." Defining these objectives upfront ensures the marketing calendar will help work towards larger business goals versus random activities.
Identify the target audience and their preferences: Next, clarify who the marketing is aimed at reaching. Get to know this target audience - their likes, dislikes, needs, preferred communication channels, etc. This customer understanding ensures marketing campaigns will speak to what matters most for these potential customers or clients. The result is marketing that resonates better and is more effective.
Choose the marketing channels and tactics to be used: With the target audience and goals clarified, now determine how to best reach that audience. Consider what marketing tactics and communication channels make sense based on who you want to connect with. This could include email campaigns, social media, digital ads, in-person events, direct mail, website content, and other approaches. Choose channels that align with your audience's preferences for maximum impact.
Set the budget and allocate resources: Outline the budget available for marketing efforts in the calendar timeframe. Then determine how to allocate those funds - how much for each campaign, channel, etc. Also decide how much staff time and other resources (like design, writing) can be devoted to marketing activities. Planning these logistics upfront prevents going over budget or overloading internal teams down the road. It helps make sure you have what's needed to achieve the goals.
Determine the timeline for each campaign and task: Lay out schedules and deadlines for individual marketing campaigns and tasks. Determine key dates for things like creating and approving campaign creative, launching campaigns, sending follow-up content, measuring results, and wrapping up campaigns. Building these campaign roadmaps ensures marketing activities happen on time and move the needle on stated goals.
Assign responsibilities and deadlines: Clearly lay out who is responsible for each marketing task or deliverable. This ensures everyone understands their distinct role. Also set deadlines for when key milestones need completion, spelling out responsibilities and timing focuses on collaboration across the team and partners. This helps execute seamless marketing campaigns that leverage everyone's unique contributions.
Monitor progress and adjust as needed: Build in processes for continuously monitoring marketing campaign performance once they are live. This includes setting key data to analyze, like email click rates, website traffic, sales numbers, and so on. Review metrics regularly compared to the goals initially set. If issues emerge or opportunities arise, be ready to tweak campaigns and calendars accordingly. Continual optimization after launch helps transform original plans into real-world results.
By following these steps, companies can create effective marketing campaigns that resonate with their target audience and achieve the desired results.
What tools can you use to build marketing calendars?
When it comes to building a marketing calendar, there are several tools available to help businesses organize and manage their marketing campaigns. However, the most common ones are:
Google Calendar
Google Calendar is an easy-to-use digital calendar that can help build marketing calendars. It lets you create different calendars for specific campaigns.
You can add task reminders and deadlines. It also allows inviting team members to view and edit calendars together.
This makes Google Calendar helpful for mapping out marketing activities and coordinating everyone involved in campaigns.
Here is how to access and use it:
Step 1: Log in to your Google account and navigate to Google Calendar.
Step 2: Create a new calendar by clicking on the "+" icon next to "Add a coworker's calendar".
Step 3: Name the calendar and choose the colour code for it.
Step 4: Create events for each marketing campaign by clicking on a date and time and filling in the event details, such as the campaign name, description, and any associated tasks.
Step 5: Set reminders and invite team members to collaborate on the calendar by clicking on the event and selecting the "Edit event" option.
Asana
Asana is a project management tool that can be used to create and manage marketing calendars. It allows businesses to create tasks and subtasks, set deadlines, and assign responsibilities to team members.
Asana also provides a visual timeline view that shows the progress of each task and campaign.
Step 1: Sign up for an Asana account and create a new project for the marketing calendar.
Step 2: Create tasks for each marketing campaign by clicking on the "Add task" button and filling in the task details, such as the campaign name, description, and due date.
Step 3: Create subtasks for each task by clicking on the task and selecting the "Add subtask" option.
Step 4: Assign team members to each task by clicking on the task and selecting the "Assignee" option.
Step 5: Set up a timeline view to track the progress of each campaign by clicking on the "Calendar" option and selecting "Timeline".
Trello
Trello is another project management tool that can be used to create marketing calendars. It allows businesses to create boards for each campaign, with lists for each task and cards for each subtask.
Trello also provides a visual overview of the progress of each campaign.
Step 1: Sign up for a Trello account and create a new board for the marketing calendar.
Step 2: Create lists for each stage of the marketing campaign, such as "Ideation", "Planning", "Execution", and "Analysis".
Step 3: Create cards for each task associated with the campaign by clicking on a list and selecting the "Add a card" option.
Step 4: Create checklists for each card by clicking on the card and selecting the "Checklist" option.
Step 5: Assign team members to each card by clicking on the card and selecting the "Members" option.
Google Calendar, Asana, and Trello are all great tools for building a marketing calendar, and each has its own unique features and advantages.
There are several other tools available to build marketing calendars, ranging from simple to comprehensive.
The choice of tool depends on the specific needs of the business and the complexity of the marketing campaigns being managed.
Final Thoughts
Using a calendar to map out marketing campaigns is important for business growth and success. It allows companies to plan campaigns tailored to connect with the intended audience.
When executed properly, these audience-focused campaigns are more likely to drive the desired outcomes. Thoughtful planning via calendars leads to impactful real-world marketing results.