Marketing Calendar Tool

Marketing Calendar

(Low resolution for privacy)

Challenge

Many of the companies I work with represent more than a single brand. Their value proposition is tied to multiple companies working together to do more than they could do individually. Containing all the respective marketing campaigns in one document for each brand as well as the parent organization is difficult. Making the information coherent and easily digestible is even more difficult.

Solution

This two-page marketing calendar can be printed on a single 11x17 piece of paper and provides individual firm-level marketing tactics that roll up into the overall firm. Additionally, a gantt chart with icons inline with each brand's logo identifies when in the quarter the piece, campaign, or event will begin. 

The digital marketing calendar solution allows for more than the print version. Clicking on the individual tactic brings up a project board. Different steps in the project are outlined on a gantt chart to illustrate how the different milestones align with the final deliverable. Each milestone is broken up into a series of tasks, which are assigned to individuals who will see the project through to completion.

Since this tool is part of project meetings, the image uploading button allows for a smartphone camera to take pictures of whiteboards or other documents and resources -- without saving the images to the individual's photo library. The images are available for reference and are listed on the individual project page.

Results

Sales and marketing are in sync. The production team can update and track progress of tasks, milestones, and conversations. The tool supports multiple projects with competing deadlines and allows the team to understand how their contributions impact the overall marketing road map. The ability to review projects from quarter to quarter and understand the effort that went into similar projects allows for more predictable results.

My involvement

This marketing calendar is based off a client's direct work with a designer to meet their internal communication needs. I developed a web tool that makes the supporting of these resources easier from quarter to quarter. Additionally, it was my concept to take the overall marketing calendar and drill down to the individual projects. The road map for this tool is to include tracking metrics at an individual project level and roll the information up into a marketing trend dashboard that can report on the effectiveness of campaigns over time.