The Campaign - The Schedule

A campaign schedule is simply a timeline setting up the milestones of the campaign: from its conception, launch and analysis. It should be done, even if only in a very drafted format, at the very beginning of the project, when one has decided to set up a marketing campaign.

It helps to have a list of things to check when setting up a schedule. Here is a list of some one the things I always bear in mind. You will notice this list is for a B2B campaign and it is delivered by email:

1. List of all major public holidays in the year: Christmas, Easter, Summer Holidays. A global business should also include Ramadan and the Chinese New Year.
2. What days of the week the busiest: Monday.
3. What day of the week are people least responsive (I call it Procrastination Day): Friday.

Because I am a very visual person I colour these days in my campaign calendar and I use them for two purposes:

• I will prepare offers that make a special mention to them: for example, a Christmas special offer, or a Busy Monday offer, or send a more 'entertaining offer.'
• I avoid sending big campaigns on the run up to those days or straight after: For example, I never send the winter campaign in December - I know people are busy with office parties, planning the family gathering, or closing the year - or the first week after - we are all flooded with emails and work. I don't want my main campaign to be lost amidst the others.

Look at your inbox, depending on the day of the week you find yourself reading this, you'll find it more or less full. On Monday, how long do you dedicate to each email? How many do you flag to go back to at a later date and then forget to do so? Those emails end up being deleted when they become too old.

Tuesdays have proved to be the best day to send campaigns. Everyone seems to be more responsive.

Do also consider the time of the day when the email is sent. You want it to appear in your prospect's inbox first thing in the morning. Any good email delivery system will allow you to schedule the time when the email is sent. If possible make sure that all your emails are sent before 8 o'clock. Think of it, we all pay more attention to our first emails. Then we change from one task to another.

And finally, if you send the campaign earlier in the month, you have more time to repeat it if something fails to work as planned. For example, if the initial results failed to reach target, you could send a reminder.

So, a quick summing up of what I do:

1. I send my campaigns the first Tuesday of the month, except December and January. I follow the same rule for Easter, Ramadan and the Chinese New Year.
2. I schedule the campaign to land before 8 o'clock - my prospects' local time.
3. If I am not happy with the initial response, I resend a reminder on the 3rd Tuesday of the month.

I hope you find these tips helpful.