Kickstart Your Marketing Engine
“What should I post on social media?” or “Should I purchase an ad in a local magazine?”
Comments like these are all too common in fitness businesses. And they are the signs of a business without a marketing system.
When you don’t have a well-structured, documented plan, to keep activities on track, these tactical inconsistencies are never ending and can be overwhelming. The constant guesswork and scrambling leads to random, disjointed and ineffective marketing efforts.
So how do you solve it? It might be as simple as using a marketing calendar.
Your marketing calendar is a simple list of activities that take place on a planned schedule to allow you to grow your business by filling your marketing pipeline. Each activity that you do for marketing is built around getting more leads in front of you so that you can turn them into clients.
The marketing calendar brings your marketing system to life. It makes sure the trains run on time.
Fitness businesses that use a Marketing Calendar as a component of their marketing system position themselves for success. The marketing calendar is a key piece of a marketing system. It keeps the activities aligned and on time, which results in more predictable lead flow, healthier pipeline, and steady conversions of leads into clients.
Why You Need a Quarterly Marketing Calendar
A Quarterly Marketing Calendar provides a broad, organized view of your marketing plan over a three-month period. It helps you and your team see how various marketing initiatives are going to work together, ensuring that all your efforts support your overall marketing strategy.
It’s not just about what to post on social media or when to send out your email blasts – it’s about understanding the bigger picture and how each piece fits together.
The advantages of using a Quarterly Marketing Calendar include:
- Planning: A well-structured calendar ensures that you have a clear plan for your marketing activities. No more last-minute scrambling or guesswork.
- Alignment: The calendar aligns your daily, weekly, and monthly marketing activities with your broader promotional efforts. Everything you do should support your main marketing objectives.
- Execution: When you have a plan and stick to it, the execution of your marketing activities becomes more efficient and effective, increasing your return on investment (ROI).
- Control: A good plan, well-executed, gives you control over your lead flow. You’re not just hoping for leads; you’re creating them systematically.
How to Create Your Quarterly Marketing Calendar: A Three-Step Process
Building a robust marketing calendar isn’t as daunting as it might seem. It involves three straightforward steps: determining your promotions, establishing lead time, and supporting your plan with daily, weekly, and monthly activities.
- Determine Your Promotions: Begin by considering the quarter as a whole. Reflect on past successes, consider the time of year, and plan around holidays or seasons. Plug these promotions into your calendar first, and then add in your smaller events, workshops, and other activities around these major promotions. Example: A 6-week nutrition challenge that you plan to run for both new and current clients
- Establish Lead Time: Estimate the time needed to execute each promotion effectively. Consider the marketing activities needed and plan accordingly. Example: You need to account for 3 weeks prior to the START of your nutrition challenge to give you enough touch points for your email marketing, social media posting, in-class announcements and text campaign.
- Support Your Plan with Daily, Weekly, Monthly Activities: Align these activities with your promotions. These activities, driven by the Triple A Marketing Method, should support your overall promotional plan. Example: Designate 3 of your 7 Social posts a week to promoting the nutrition challenge.
Building Your Marketing Calendar
- Create your calendar in a Google or Excel spreadsheet.
- Start by planning your next 90 day period.
- Mark down any holidays.
- Plug in your promotions and marketing activities
- Track your execution
- Measure effectiveness, adjust and repeat!
Turn Your Marketing Calendar into Action
The true power of a marketing calendar comes from its execution. Tracking your activities allows you to measure the effectiveness of your marketing strategies. You want to track the completion rate and set a goal for activities to ensure they are being executed consistently. Constant and consistent execution amplifies the effects of your activities, leading to increased ROI.
If you are using the Triple A Marketing Method, your marketing calendar should be reflecting your selected activities. That will ensure the activities are always taking place and align with your overall plan.
Resources to Assist in Your Journey
To support the creation of your marketing calendar, utilize resources such as marketing calendar templates, the Triple A Marketing Method, and other tools such as the ideal client tool and local market positioning. These can provide invaluable insights to streamline your marketing efforts.
Get The Complete Triple A Marketing Method Guide Here
Your Marketing System and Quarterly Marketing Calendar Work Together
The Quarterly Marketing Calendar is a must-have tool for any fitness business that wants to get control of its lead flow and grow. As we outlined in the marketing system article, the marketing calendar serves as the tactical layer of your marketing strategy.
Remember, having a marketing system is about consistency, scalability, and measurement, and a Quarterly Marketing Calendar is where these principles come to life. It’s where you put your plan into action, track your results, and make adjustments as needed. In essence, it’s where the rubber of the marketing system meets the road.
Take the principles from our marketing system article, combine them with the steps outlined here, and start building your Quarterly Marketing Calendar. It’s a relatively simple process, and it’s a fantastic one to get in the habit of going through every quarter for your business.
Your future self will thank you.
If you’re ready to create your marketing calendar, download our free template today.
Need more marketing tips and tools for your fitness business? Check out The Ultimate Guide to Creating Your Gym Business Marketing Plan.
