Each year there are dozens of opportunities to create a promotion, whether it be holidays, seasons or annual events.  Having an annual promotions calendar allows you to effectively strategize and market each promotion while keeping your community continually engaged.

Let’s review 4 tips to help you begin planning your 2016 calendar.

1. Determine the number of promotions you would like to run.  You’ll want to ensure that your company has the resources to manage each promotion.  Large organizations with a full social media team may have the capacity for weekly promotions while a small business would benefit from running bi-monthly campaigns.  As a rule of thumb, we believe that one promotion per month is a good place to start.
2. Start with holidays.   Build your promotions around holidays such as Independence Day, Black Friday, Halloween, etc.   Focus on national holidays first and then incorporate others that appeal to your business such as retail holidays.
3. Complement your current marketing schedule.  Take a step back to review your other objectives this year and plan promotions to complement those activities.  If your company has existing promotions on the schedule, adding in a contest or sweepstakes is a great way boost their performance.
4. Don’t forget about the seasons.  Back to school campaigns at the start of fall, cold weather themed winter promotions, starting new in the spring and beating the heat of summer are all opportunities to engage with your community.