For this project, you are going to create a promotional calendar using MS Word or Google Docs saved in the .docx format for your trendy line of sneakers. As you conduct research as part of building this promotional plan, remember to properly cite those references using APA format and style. APA Citation TipsLinks to an external site.
- Conduct online research on the chosen product/service and its target market.
- Describe its features, benefits, competitive landscape, and consumer preferences.
- Gather information on different promotional strategies and tactics commonly used in marketing campaigns.
- Identify your target audience. Explain how they are relevant to your product/service and how their preferences influence the promotional calendar for your product. For example, if your customer base comprises fitness enthusiasts who want to look fashionable from their workout to the rest of their day, you might want to see if you can partner with a well-known fitness celebrity or an influencer at the beginning of the year when many people make New Year’s resolutions.
- Consider demographics, psychographic, and behavioral factors that define your ideal customers.
- List promotional objectives. Ensure they are specific, measurable, achievable, realistic, and time-bound (SMART).
- Examples of promotional objectives include increasing brand awareness, driving product trials, generating leads, or boosting sales.
- Based on your audience and objectives, develop effective promotional strategies to achieve your goals using both traditional and digital channels.
- Examples of promotional strategies include advertising, public relations, personal selling, sales promotions, social media marketing, content marketing, and influencer collaborations.
- Create a promotional calendar using a table in your MS Word or Google document that outlines the tactics to be implemented throughout the year. Divide the calendar into quarters or months based on what is most helpful for your campaign plan.
- Assign specific tactics to each month/quarter, considering their relevance and timing in relation to your product’s lifecycle, seasonality, industry events, or consumer buying patterns.
- Determine a basic budget for your promotional activities. Consider the resources available and allocate your budget across different channels based on their impact and cost-effectiveness.
- Justify your budget allocation decisions and explain how they will contribute to achieving the promotional objectives.
- Evaluation: How will you know if you are successful? What data will you track and how can you attribute it to each of the promotional activities on your calendar?