One of the highest payoff activities in marketing is to prepare a marketing calendar. And it’s never too early to map out a calendar for the coming year 2015!
As well as this article to give you ideas…
…here’s a great post from copywriter Ray Edwards…
“How To Create A One-Page Marketing Plan”.
It’s taken from one of Ray’s regular podcasts, so you can listen along if you wish.
Now, this was originally published a couple of years ago so it talks about creating a marketing plan for 2013…
…but the principles are pretty much timeless and apply to 2015.
In passing, included in that article is a GREAT resource for event-driven marketers…
…a comprehensive calendar of events!
Even better, there’s a specific calendar for every major country, so you can create your own list of events that are relevant to your local area!
With that said, let’s get down to business with a core calendar that can be used pretty much anywhere for the coming year 2015.
January – New Year
February – Groundhog Day, Valentine’s Day, Chinese New Year (February 19 – “Year Of The Sheep”)
March – St Patrick’s Day
April – April Fools Day (1), Easter (3-6)
June – Mid Year (mid-summer northern hemisphere, mid-winter southern hemisphere)
October – Halloween
December – Christmas
To fill out the schedule…
…two fairly universal events are…
Mother’s Day – March 15 (UK), May 10 (USA, Canada, Australia, New Zealand)
Father’s Day – June 21 (UK, Canada, USA), September 6 (Australia, New Zealand)
Remember as well the solstices (June 21 and December 22) and the equinoxes (March 20 and September 23). Those dates are on UTC so check for your specific location.
In the USA…
July 4 – Independence Day
September – “Back to School”
November 26 – Thanksgiving
In Canada…
July 1 – Canada Day
August 4 – August Civic Holiday
October 12 – Thanksgiving
In the UK…
November 5 – Guy Fawkes (Bonfire) Night
November 8 – Remembrance Sunday
As well as St Patrick’s Day, there are the Saints Days for the other countries of the UK – March 1 (St David’s Day), April 23 (St George’s Day) and November 30 (St Andrew’s Day)
In Australia…
January 26 – Australia Day
April 25 – ANZAC Day (this year is the 100th Anniversary of the landings in Gallipoli)
June 30 – End Of Financial Year
November 3 – Melbourne Cup
This year also sees in Australia the 40th anniversary of the constitutional crisis of 1975 when Gough Whitlam was dismissed as Prime Minister by the Governor-General.
Remember as well dates such as the end of the financial (or tax) year, sporting events, local events and anniversaries and occasions specific to your own business or industry.
Next to events more specific to 2015.
In the sporting world, along with the regular big occasions, in 2015 we have…
Cricket World Cup jointly hosted by Australia and New Zealand 2015 (February 14 – March 29)
2015 Ashes Cricket Series, England (July 8 – August 24)
Rugby Union 2015 World Cup, hosted by England (September 18 – October 31)
2015 sees a number of notable anniversaries…
…particularly in the UK (although some of these, for example the anniversary of the signing of Magna Carta, have a wider relevance).
20 January (1265) – First English Parliament is held
24 January (1965) – Winston Churchill dies
11 February (1990) – Nelson Mandela released from prison
9 April (1865) – U.S. Civil War effectively ends with the surrender of Robert E. Lee at Appomattox (the last Confederate army surrendered on 2 June and remaining organised forces had all laid down their arms by 23 June)
15 April (1865) – Death of US President Abraham Lincoln (who had been shot by John Wilkes Booth the night before)
25 April (1915) – “ANZAC Day”, World War 1 landings at Gallipoli
1 May (1840) – The world’s first adhesive postage stamp, the “Penny Black” was issued in Britain. It came into official use on 6 May)
7 May (1915) – Sinking of “The Lusitania”
8 May (1945) – “VE Day”, the end of World War 2 in Europe
15 June (1215) – Signing of Magna Carta
18 June (1815) – Battle of Waterloo
25 June (1950) – Korean War starts
3 July (1985) – Premiere of the movie “Back to the Future”
30 July (1965)- The Social Security Act of 1965 came into force in the USA, establishing the Medicare and Medicaid systems
17 July 1955 – Opening of Disneyland, California
12 August (1865) – British surgeon Joseph Lister became the first person to use an antiseptic dressing to treat a wound
14 August – “VJ Day”, the end of World War 2 in the Pacific and the end of the conflict overall
15 August – The Beatles played at Shea Stadium, New York. The concert set attendance and revenue records and paved the way for future stadium pop and rock concerts
2 September (1995) – Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Museum opened in Cleveland, Ohio
15 September (1940) – Battle of Britain Day (the battle is generally reckoned to have started on July 10, with September 15 seeing the climax of the action)
1 October (1975) – The “Thrilla In Manila” saw Muhammad Ali knock out Joe Frazier to regain the World Heavyweight Boxing Championship
3 October (1990) – Reunification of Germany (referred to as the “Day of German Unity” in Germany)
15 October (1415) – Battle of Agincourt
5 November (1935) – The classic board game “Monopoly” launched in the US by Parker Brothers
9 November (1985) – Garry Kasparov becomes the youngest ever World Chess Champion at the age of 22
20 November (1985) – Windows 1.0 was released by Microsoft
10 December (1815) – Birth of Ada Lovelace, considered to be the world’s first computer programmer
12 December (1915) – Birth of Frank Sinatra
23 December (1715) – Jacobite Rising in Scotland. The Old Pretender James Stuart arrived in Scotland from France but failed to attract adequate support and swiftly returned to France
I’ll update this post as and when I come across other noteworthy event and occasions.
But for the time being this should be enough to get you started on a sales-boosting, profit-pulling marketing calendar for 2015!