Part 3: Create an annual marketing schedule complete with holiday promotions.

Create an annual marketing schedule complete with holidays and promotions.

It's almost February and we all know what that means, it's almost Valentine's Day. It's hard to believe that January is almost over. The "new" of the year is wearing off.

Don't let the the holidays sneak up on you this year. Grab an annual calendar and fill in every holiday for the year. (Hint: Start with Valentine's Day) Don't forget extras like Earth Day, Back to School, Schools out for Summer, Octoberfest, and any others you want to add into the mix.

1. Get every holiday on the schedule.

Just get started by collecting the dates of each holiday. You can download the yearly planner from the photo above and just start writing down every holiday/ event in each of the monthly boxes.

This document is a living/breathing document that you can continue to re-examine throughout the year.

Don't forget annual events and sales that are unique to your store too. Do you host a summer party? A tent sale event? Do you host DEMO days at the pool? Do you host a customer appreciation event? Any club events? Underwater photos with the Easter bunny? When is your local school's spring break?

Hint: look back through your Facebook feed/e-newsletters to make sure you at least capture everything you did last year.

2. Pick a relatable promotion/offer.

Here are some ideas to get you going:

• 2 for 1 Valentine's Day special on course tuition.

  • This promotion always bringing in some necessary students in February. (Also, folks that get certified in February have a tendency to become lifelong clients.)

• Plan a trip that coincides with Spring Break.

• Trash clean up for Earth Day. (Relate picked up trash to an in-store promo: $1 credit for every 1 lb of trash picked up.)

• Back to School Promotion on specialty courses.

  • Speaking of specialty courses, a "Specialty of the Month" can be a great incentive for your students to come back for more.

I would love to hear from you. Reply with an example of a popular promotion that works in your store.

3. Plan when you want to start your promotions.

How early are you planning for an event or promotion? Are you thinking just weeks ahead or perhaps just days ahead?

There is a balance to setting up a promotion so it doesn't take away from tomorrow's sales, but it still incentivizes your clients to come in and purchase the promotion.

• For events - start sharing dates and details between 45 - 90 days before the event.

  • This would be for customer appreciation parties, underwater photoshoots, etc

• For promotions - start building anticipation 30 - 45 days before the promotion launch.

  • Early communication should be about awareness and not include exact promotion details. (i.e. countdowns, mark your calendars, etc.)

This process is WAY easier with a large, dry-erase annual wall calendar such as this one from Amazon. Check out an ideal wall calendar example.

4. Get the word out. (The earlier, the better)

Use Canva.com and start creating amazing graphics (like the one above) in minutes. I also highly recommend the upgraded subscriptions because you get to use the auto-resize feature which will adjust said amazing graphic for each social media platform size requirement.

There are so many channels to help you promote your events and promotions. Here are some (maybe) not so obvious ones beyond (Facebook, Instagram, Tik Tok):

• Your website

• Meetup.com

• Eventbrite

• Your customer email list (email is one of my favorite means of getting the word out.)

• Reddit

• Coffee shops

• Complimentary local businesses

• Chamber of Commerce

• Business Networking Events

• Create an event landing page

• Youtube

Want to share this issue of The Dive Briefing via text, social media, or email? Just copy and paste this link:

https://thedivebriefing.beehiiv.com/p/january-30-2023

Join fellow dive shop owners on February 2 at 11:00am MT for our next Roundtable Event. We will discuss marketing for your dive shop and make a plan for 2023.