To create a 12 month plan, first look at your year by month. Take a piece of paper and divide it into 12 blocks – one for each month.
Block out specific programs, services or sales you will be offering and need to promote. For example a coach may be launching a new coaching program in February. A fitness coach may offer a “Get ready for golf” training program in March or April.
Next look at your year and notice the gaps. Are there months with nothing going on? Will you be too busy serving the people who purchased last month or do you need to add some new promotions? Block them into your calendar.
Now look at each promotion, sale or new program. On a separate piece of paper write down each of the marketing activities you will need to do and break each activity into steps. Pick a date for each step and mark it into your calendar.
Now look at marketing activities you will do regularly; your email newsletter and social media posting come to mind. Decide how frequently these will happen and add these to your plan. For example, if you plan to send a newsletter once a month, pick a date for each month and add that to your calendar.
Look at your product offerings to decide what topics relate to your offers that month. This will help you write the content. For social media you may want to have some themes you cover each month, allowing for some freedom to add personal comments or timely material that comes up later.
Adding your marketing activities to your calendar and relating them all to specific offerings does two things. First it prevents the activities from being forgotten or squeezed out because you’re too busy. They’re already in your calendar.
Second, because you know what products or services you will be promoting each month and what marketing activities you need to promote them, you don’t have to make marketing decisions each month. You’ve made the decision today. Now you just need to implement it.
So, go out and create your plan, then have the best 2013 ever.
