Between managing inventory, filling orders, developing new products, and working with retailers, marketing can easily become something you squeeze in whenever you have a few extra minutes. A simple monthly marketing plan can help you be more intentional without adding hours of work to your schedule. Instead of wondering what to post or promote each week, you’ll already have a basic roadmap to follow. Set aside some time at the beginning of each month and work through these seven steps.
1. Pick One Main Goal
Start by asking yourself one question: What do I most want my marketing to accomplish this month?
You might want to:
– Introduce a new collection
– Get more eyes on a seasonal product line
– Increase wholesale orders
– Connect with new retailers
– Bring attention back to your best sellers
– Prepare buyers for an upcoming season
Choose one primary goal to guide your marketing for the month. You can still talk about other things, but having one main focus makes it much easier to decide what deserves the most attention.
For example, if your goal is to increase orders for your spring collection, you already know that collection should be featured prominently in your emails, social media, product listings, and other marketing throughout the month.
2. Look at What's Coming Up
Next, grab your calendar. Start with the obvious dates, like major holidays and seasons, but don’t stop there. Think about when your retail customers are actually buying for those occasions.
If you sell products that work well for Mother’s Day, for example, you don’t want to wait until May to start putting them in front of retailers. Buyers need time to order, receive their products, merchandise them, and begin promoting them to their own customers.
Also consider:
– Upcoming trade shows
– New product launches
– Ordering deadlines
– Seasonal changes
– Industry events
– Your retailers’ buying schedules
Pick the opportunities that make the most sense for your products and customers, instead of solely building around a calendar.
3. Choose What You Want to Promote
Now that you know your goal and what’s coming up, choose a few products or collections to prioritize. Try narrowing it down to two or three focuses for the month. These might include a seasonal collection, new arrival, customer favorite, or product that hasn’t received much attention lately. Keeping your list short gives you the chance to market those products more than once.
Let’s say you’re highlighting a new collection. One social post could introduce it. Another could spotlight a specific product. Your email could show retailers several pieces from the collection together. Later, you could share a merchandising idea or behind-the-scenes look at how the collection came together.
4. Decide Where You'll Show Up
Focus on the places where your customers are most likely to see you to market your business.
Depending on your business, that could include:
– Social media
– Email
– Your website
– Your FGmarket listings
– Trade show marketing
– Printed materials
Then think about how those channels can work together. If you’re featuring a product in an email, you could also highlight it on social media that week and make sure its online listing has current photos and information. One marketing idea can often be used in several places.
5. Fill In Your Content Calendar
Once you know what you’re promoting and where, start filling in the actual content. Create a realistic plan you can maintain.
For example, your month might include:
– Social media: One or two posts per week
– Email: One or two emails
– Product listings: Refresh your priority products
– Website: Update seasonal messaging or featured collections
– Bonus content: Stories, short videos, retailer features, or behind-the-scenes content
Need ideas for those social posts? Mix promotional content with posts that help retailers learn more about your business. You could share a best seller, introduce a new product, show how a retailer could merchandise an item, answer a common question, share a customer testimonial, introduce someone on your team, or give a behind-the-scenes look at your business.
By the end of this step, you should be able to look at your calendar and know what you’re talking about each week.
6. Work Ahead When You Can
You have your plan. Now make things easier on your future self. Set aside an hour or two to tackle several marketing tasks at once. Write a few captions. Schedule next week’s posts. Photograph the products you plan to feature. Draft an email. Double-check your product listings.
And don’t be afraid to reuse your work. A product description could inspire an email. An email could become several social posts. Photos from a trade show could provide content for weeks.
7. Review Before You Repeat
At the end of the month, take some time to see what worked. Which social posts received the most engagement? Which emails earned clicks? Which products received the most attention? Did you see an increase in orders for anything you promoted? What questions did retailers ask?
Use those answers to shape next month’s plan! If one product performed especially well, keep talking about it! If a certain type of social post consistently gets attention, make another one. Your monthly marketing plan should get easier to build as you learn what your customers respond to.
Your Simple Monthly Marketing Plan
Ready to plan your next month? Start here:
– Main goal: Choose one thing you want your marketing to accomplish.
– Important dates: Write down the holidays, launches, shows, deadlines, or seasonal moments that matter to your customers.
– Products to promote: Pick two or three priorities.
– Social media: Plan one or two posts per week.
– Email: Choose one or two topics to send during the month.
– Online presence: Update your website and product listings to match what you’re currently promoting.
– Extra time: Add Stories, videos, behind-the-scenes content, or other extras if your schedule allows.
– End of month: Look at your results and use what you learn to plan the next month.
A little planning at the beginning of the month can help you stay consistent, promote your products with purpose, and spend less time wondering what to post next.