#Marketing - A Marketer's Calendar Should Never Be Empty.

A significant portion of time in marketing is dedicated to promotional planning.

Promotion refers to promotional or sales activities, encompassing advertising and other efforts to sell products or services. However, when discussing promotion in the field, it's often used to specifically denote discount events or campaigns.

These promotions, often driven by the need to quickly clear inventory or due to seasonal or event schedules, consume a considerable amount of time in planning. Time seems to slip away even without much work being done, and opportunities are frequently missed due to overlooking seasonal and event schedules, leading to missed opportunities for successful promotion.

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Why is this happening?

Why do we consistently miss out on holidays like Lunar New Year and Chuseok, and fail to capitalize on events like Valentine's Day, White Day, and Pepero Day, resulting in missed revenue opportunities?

The first issue is the inability to make swift decisions.

Should we go with this event? How about this copy? Can we use this image? Do we need to retake product images? We spend a lot of time on planning and engage in endless debates, ultimately missing the crucial window for implementing the advertisement.

In essence, we are spending time and money on communication.

The reason we specifically mention communication costs is that promotions need to occur at the right time, at the right price, and in the right place. 'Time' is a particularly critical factor that leads to significant opportunity costs. Since time is a major contributor to failure in many cases, it's worth repeating, and it's a crucial area.

So, is it possible to reduce these communication costs?

Personally, I strive to avoid internal decision-making. This is actually a key element to remember: the evaluation of the products or services we sell is solely determined by our customers.

Therefore, I believe that all decisions should be made externally and design the process to allow for multiple tests. Here, the emphasis is on 'multiple tests'. This does not imply generating various promotional plans; rather, it emphasizes running numerous tests with minimal variables to obtain precise data.

For instance, if we present customers with a questionnaire asking them to choose between option A or B, the differences between A and B shouldn't be too numerous. If there are substantial differences and customers respond favorably to event A, we won't be able to clearly identify the reasons for its success. We need to set up the tests with limited variables so that we can understand exactly why it worked. Otherwise, we'll end up coming up with new promotional ideas for the next promotion.

So, instead of having numerous promotional plans, it is more effective to have a main theme or topic and conduct multiple tests with a few variables based on that theme.

Returning to the topic of reducing communication costs, let's briefly discuss some tips for planning promotions.

Customers evaluate and provide feedback on all outcomes. By reducing the time spent on internal debates and channeling that energy into action, we can undoubtedly achieve better promotion results, which will positively impact our sales.

The second problem is a lack of preparedness.

Similar to the first problem, this is also related to time. However, a key difference is that many marketers find it challenging to anticipate future possibilities due to the pressure of daily tasks, making preparation inadequate.

Inadequate Preparation?

A crucial aspect of marketing is driving sales, essentially prompting customers to engage in desired actions. This is the top priority. Therefore, I believe 'risk management' is something that marketers who haven't seen much success should prioritize.

'Risk management is a marketer's job?' You might question that. We often encounter successful marketing case studies where success curves upwards like a rocket launch. Many people start marketing with a hopeful expectation that something similar will happen. But in reality, success stories are often someone else's experience. Our goal should be consistent upward trends in metrics.

Most business sectors experience peak and off-peak seasons. While some sectors might not experience seasonal fluctuations, this is often exceptional and most businesses do have a slow season. Even outside of the off-season, marketers are always under pressure to achieve results.

Marketers must always be prepared for unforeseen risks to ensure consistent upward trends in metrics. And those risks disappear when we prepare for them.

So how do we prepare?

Many marketers, through experience and tenure, naturally develop their own marketing calendars. These calendars may differ based on individual styles and industry, but the common element is using a calendar to schedule marketing activities. This allows us to anticipate and plan the year's marketing schedule.

What's involved in preparation? It starts with identifying and recognizing potential events that might occur, either through prediction or measurement.

Developing a marketing calendar becomes a natural activity for this reason.

How do we create a marketing calendar then?

Firstly, we record events. In Korea, the year is marked by four distinct seasons (though it feels like only winter and summer these days), and major holidays include Lunar New Year (Seollal) and Chuseok. Starting with these, we identify and record necessary events on the calendar. If there are other important events within each business sector, we also include those.

Once we've identified and recorded key events, the second step is to estimate the sales period for each event. For example, for a holiday like Chuseok, we might set a sales period of about two weeks.

Finally, because planning, promotional materials, and product configurations need to be finalized before the sales period, we can easily establish deadlines for the tasks marketers need to complete. Essentially, the last step is to determine the required preparation time.

Interestingly, as we develop this marketing calendar, the deadlines for our tasks become visible, which makes scheduling easier and ensures a smoother flow of our promotional activities.

Marketing is a constant race against time. It's a game where success hinges on who can manage time effectively. With greater preparation, we reduce risks and ample preparation broadens our perspective on prediction and measurement, allowing us to achieve appropriate results without being overwhelmed by the demands of the work.

Therefore, a well-organized marketer's calendar has no empty spaces. If your calendar has a lot of blank space, start by identifying and adding key event dates to it right away.