Hi There, ,
Can you believe that we’re almost halfway through 2021? It felt like I blinked after New Year’s Day and voila, we are here, halfway through the year.
Is your marketing planner done for the 2nd half of the year? Some of you might be laughing right now because you may not even have the month of June marketing sorted yet, right?
Well, I want to encourage you to change this. Let me ask you a question? Have you ever attended or organized an event that was planned six months in advance? How did it feel to attend it, or to host it?
I’m sure it felt organized, it flowed and you had time to mingle and network. Thus, you had time to do what is important at that event, and that is, be present and engaged. Well, same goes for your marketing planners.
The longer in advance you are planned, the smoother your whole business will run because you are not doing things at the last minute. Most of the anxiety and stress that owners and managers face today is due to last minute planning and marketing efforts. To give you one scenario about how detailed your marketing planner should be, let’s consider the month of July.
By the first week of June, the order for the promotion should be placed with the suppliers, the display material for hotspots should be bought and all collateral needed for social media and messaging should be designed and ready to roll out. This is 4 weeks before the actual month of the promotion activity.
Week 2 is used to prepare training notes or products if needed for your team.
Week 3 is used to train the team on the promotion happening the following month, role plays and practically doing treatments is necessary.
Week 4 is used to receive stock and merchandise and send out communication to clients. You will also use Week 4 to evaluate the current months promotional activity, so you know how the promotion worked out and where it could have been better.
Your planner should look a little like the one below with as much detail as possible included.
By planning you can see how much time you will have to focus on strategy and sell-through rather than last minute implementation. You can also better support your team as they work through the month, if you are prepared. Planning is everything! When you are well planned then everything runs smoother.
If you are struggling with your marketing planning and need some help, that’s what we are here for! We have various tailor-made packages to assist you, whether it be business processes or marketing overhauls. Reach out to us should you need specific guidance in any area of your business by clicking Here.
Till next week!
Marisa