Believe it or not, the second half is a great time to make sure your marketing calendar is filled up. Not sure where to start? Use the 6 steps below to help make sure you finish your year strong:
Step 1: Evaluate Your Goals
Remember making those New Year’s resolutions? Are you still sticking to them? Most people give up on their resolutions long before the end of the year; make sure that doesn’t also happen with the business goals you set for yourself. Are you halfway to this year’s goal? Knowing and understanding where you stand in regards to business growth will help you plan your marketing calendar.
Step 2: Preplan Your Seminars
Fall has always been a strong time for seminar response rates, and you don’t want to miss out on filling up your appointment calendar. We recommend sending out one set of mailers a month for September (after Labor Day), October, and early November. Rotate the mailer topic and the location of your seminar to take full advantage of targeting new prospects.
Step 3: Engage in Client Outreach
Fall and the holiday season hold many opportunities to invite your database to client appreciation and referral events. We recommend holding at least two during the second half of the year — one in the fall and one during the holiday season. Here are a couple fall client appreciation event ideas: football tailgating, wine tasting, family photo shoot at a pumpkin patch, or a costume party. You can also host a holiday party or take advantage of the blockbuster movie releases in December. Please refer to your current state statutes for any limitations on hosting these events.
Step 4: Start a Drip Campaign
Keep your name in front of your prospects through email and mail drips. Schedule a weekly email blast on a certain day of the week. Try writing a month’s worth at a time to make sure you don’t miss a week. Don’t forget to include your holiday cards in your drip campaign and send to both current clients and prospects.
Step 5: Use Social
Having a calendar to drive your social media accounts is key to making sure you never miss an opportunity to reach a new audience. Posting no more than once a day, plan out each week’s posts on all of your active accounts to correlate with your marketing plan. If you’re on radio or TV, make sure you post before each segment to drive listeners and viewers. Any event you have should also be advertised on every social site for attendees to register.
Step 6: Keep Your Content Consistent
Now that you’ve filled up your calendar with seminars, email blasts, and client events, it’s time to talk about your messaging. Having consistent messaging across all platforms is key to driving your point home. Holding a seminar in the month of September? Make sure your email blasts contain parts of that message. Thinking about RMDs in November? Drive it home with an RMD lunch-and-learn and a segment on your radio show.
