Calendars are a critical component of any successful marketing plan—and one that is often overlooked when planning sponsored contests and promotions. Not only will an internal promotions calendar help you prepare for the biggest opportunities each quarter but it will also allow flexibility for executing other valuable content throughout the year.
Now is a great time to organize your upcoming promotions and featured contests or events. If you don’t already have a promotions calendar in place, we’ve pulled together a few tips below to help you get started.
Determine what to include on your calendar
Begin by highlighting all major holidays and community events, as well as your existing promotions for the year. Then fill in other key days that your team would like to leverage as engagement opportunities. Knowing your target dates well in advance will give you ample time to brainstorm enticing promotions, and it gives your sales team time to secure sponsors for contests, live broadcasts, and more.
Schedule your marketing efforts for each promotion
Once you’ve identified important dates, contests, and events, add in reminders to promote each on-air and on your blog, social profiles, or monthly email blasts. Determine what types of content will need to be created by your design and marketing team, such as graphics, videos, and copy for your blog, social posts, or on-air scripts. Also include any deliverables that you will need from your advertising partners. Assign deadlines for these assets so that your team can be prepared well in advance, especially if any revisions are needed.
Execute your promotions and measure their success
Stick to your plan and record the results of each campaign or promotion, from page views and contest entries, to social media engagements and attendance at your big events. These details will be useful in determining the success of your efforts as well as planning future promotions. For example, if your big spring contest drastically grew your email database and provided a large number of leads for your sponsor, this is information worth celebrating! Include those great results in recap presentations for your advertiser and even highlight especially successful efforts in pitches to other potential partners to secure new business.
For more things to consider when planning your promotions and digital campaigns, check out this recent post.
