2012 is just around the corner. NOW is the time to start organizing your calendar of events. By keeping track of what you will be doing to promote your massage therapy business, you will save yourself much aggravation! Get yourself a basic wall calendar or one of those fancy organizers and go through it month by month and mark what promotions you will be offering. For example, February is a great month to offer gift certificates for Valentine’s Day. Mark it down! Now start working on your “medium”.
Regardless of medium used to promote or market your event (website, facebook, twitter, blog, newspaper ads, flyers, etc.) all publicity should include:
• Title & Brief Description
• Beginning and Ending promotion Dates/ Day and Date if offering class
• Time (if you are offering a class)
• Location
• Fee
• Refreshments (if offered)
• Sponsoring Organization(s)(if available)
• Contact Info (offices, URL’s, phone numbers)
There are basic principles for making your publicity more successful.
• Make it eye-catching so it takes no longer than 5 seconds to read.
• Take a look around your area to see what catches your eye. Incorporate those designs into your own.
• Avoid using more than 2-3 fonts.
• Avoid using script fonts & all-caps scripts.
• Incorporate a black text box with white font.
• Use photos or clip art to make your medium pop.
Getting organized is time consuming initially, but it becomes easier and easier as the months go by. Below is a basic time line to follow. You may need more or less time to make your promotions happen. You will get a better feel for your style as you add promotions to your event calendar.
Timeline for Promotions
Completion Date (fill in the blank)
12 weeks prior
•Develop budget and establish publicity costs.
9 weeks prior
•Determine all types of publicity for marketing your event.
•Establish marketing plan and designate responsibilities.
6 weeks prior
•Design marketing style like color scheme, logo, font.
4 weeks prior
•Proof marketing and send to a printer.
2 weeks prior
•Hang posters. Distribute flyers. Post to social media. Place Ads.
1 week prior
•Hang more posters. Remind people of event
1 week after
•Evaluate marketing plan and assess the successfulness of the plan. Don’t skip this step! Make revisions now for next year while it it still fresh!
I realize we are only a couple a weeks away from 2012, so January may not be your best effort. No worries. Get started NOW to make the rest of the year a snap.
Have a great day, everyone – and Happy New Year!
Jayne
Massage Promotions
www.massagepromos.com
