Recently I asked a few people if they had already planned their marketing calendar for 2019 and I was surprised so many told me no. I’m huge on planning! I typically start planning in July for the following year. You may be thinking, “Well, you are the marketing director. We don’t have one of those. It’s just me who does the planning.”

Well, I’m here to tell you planning doesn’t have to be hard! I think we can over think it sometimes and I want to help you make it easy. Keep in mind if you want your promotion or event to go off without a hitch, you need at least 90 days before the event to plan and market it properly. That is why planning ahead is so important. Now don’t let that stop you from doing smaller promotions, especially on social media that don’t need 90 days to plan. To help you plan, you can download our 30-60-90 day planning worksheet here.

Today, I want to share with you one promotion per month that could help you get the juices flowing. Start planning out your in center promotion and marketing calendar now. Here we go….

• January – January 14^th is National Dress Up Your Pet Day. Since January is so close, a social media promotion would work great. What could be more fun than seeing great pics of your followers pets all dressed up? Host a one day contest on Instagram and the person with the best-dressed pet could win a fun pack. Be sure to lay out the rules such as tag a friend in the comments, tag us in your picture, and use a special hashtag. This makes the posts easy to find and connects them back to you! Be sure to share some posts on your Instagram story.
• February – Host a Father/Daughter Dance. It’s one of the best memories I have of my childhood and it’s a fun way to fill the center during the week.
• March – Spring Break Photo Booth – Set up a fun beach theme photo booth for all your spring break visitors. Have guests take pictures and encourage them to share on social media with a special hashtag for your center.
• April – Breakfast with the Easter Bunny. Open a few hours early the Saturday before Easter and host a fun breakfast where guests can have a private Easter egg hunt and take pictures with the Easter Bunny. Tickets can be pre-sale and it’s loads of fun!
• May – Ladies Night Out-Host a ladies night out event Monday – Thursday. Ask vendors to attend and offer food and drinks to all the ladies or pre-sell tickets to the event.
• June – Summer Reading Club – Partner with your local schools and libraries and host a summer reading program. Students can receive free prizes after they read so many books.
• July – July 14^th is Collector Car Appreciation Day. Host a car show in the parking lot. It’s a great way to get people to come early in the day, bring their families, and stay at your center.
• August – School Supply Drives are a great way to give back to your community. For every bag of supplies donated, give a free game card, a game of bowling, even a pizza and drink combo. Donate school supplies to a local school in need.
• September – Grandparents Day is September 9 Host grandparents play date during the week. It’s slower and quieter and they will love spending time with their grandkids.
• October – You don’t have to go crazy for Halloween. Plan a Halloween Photo Contest on Facebook or Instagram. Have fans post on your page or tag you with a special hashtag and ask everyone to vote for their favorite goblin.
• November – 12 Days of Thanks – On the 12 days leading up to Thanksgiving, give fans special offers they can cash in each day.
• December – December 4^th is National Cookie Day. Host a mid-week activity where kids come out and decorate their own sugar cookies to kick off the holiday. Pre-sell tickets so you know how many cookies to make and what supplies to buy.

Hopefully, these ideas will help you plan out some promotions and events for the year. The good news is we have made it easy for you. Our Reach Calendar is packed full of national and fun holidays, even more marketing ideas each month, and a weekly goal of who to call for a birthday party and group events. If you are looking for a how-to manual to planning, our Marketing Manual is just the answer. We have packed this manual with promotions that give you a step-by-step guide on what you need to do to plan a successful event.

We’d love to hear about great promotions you have on the books for 2019. If you need help planning your marketing calendar, be sure to give us a call.