Win All Year With an Annual Marketing Plan

An annual marketing calendar is a tool you create once a year and follow as a guide for your marketing and advertising plans throughout the year. It takes an hour or two to design and detail and it provides guideposts for an entire year’s worth of marketing and advertising.

Step 1: Set Annual Goals

Start by defining your overarching objectives for the year. These could include:

Increasing overall sales by a specific percentage or dollar amount
Increase new customer count by a specific number
Expanding into new product categories or games.
Hosting more in-store events or tournaments.

Remember basic goal-setting tips. Goals have to be achievable, measurable, and need a deadline. In this case, we’re providing finite deadlines for each goal as part of the nature of the project. Keep them achievable by knowing your current status and what’s a plausible room for expansion. If you have 600 customers in your database after six months, adding 2,000 customers in a single month is implausible. Measurable goals are defined in terms of counting things. “Increase category sales by 10%” is a good goal. “Have more fun playing Battletech” is not something you can concretely measure. You could instead measure the number of people playing in a league or regular weekly open play.

Set up a spreadsheet or sheet of paper with these headings and extend the months all the way to December.

Step 2: Identify Key Dates and Cycles

Map out important dates that can anchor your marketing efforts:

Holidays: New Year’s Day, Valentine’s Day, Easter, Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas.
Gaming Events: Gen Con, Free RPG Day, local conventions, game releases.
Seasonal Milestones: Back-to-school season, summer vacation, winter break.
Store-Specific Dates: The anniversary of your store opening is a good one.
Fictional dates: I always like to observe September 22^nd, the birthday of both Bilbo and Frodo from The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings.
Socia-Media created events: Talk like a Pirate Day (September 19) is a new event that could be good for promoting specific games. You could promote a different pirate-themed board game each week.
You can use a resources like https://nationaltoday.com/ to discover fun days to fill in months for which you have trouble coming up with a reason to celebrate.

Step 3: Assign Monthly Themes

For each month, choose a theme or focus that aligns with your goals and key dates. Examples:

January: “New Year, New Games” (Focus on introducing new games)
February: “Games for Couples” (Valentine’s Day promotions on two-player games.)
March: “March Madness of Minis” (Focus on miniatures and wargaming events.)

Step 4: Plan Your Marketing Channels

Decide how you’ll reach your customers each month. Consider:

In-Store Promotions: Discounts, additional loyalty rewards, or free items.
Digital Marketing: Social media campaigns, email newsletters, website banners.
Event Hosting: Demos, tournaments, or meet-and-greets.
Community Outreach: Partner with schools, libraries, or local influencers.

Step 5: Schedule Specific Campaigns

For each month, detail the activities and campaigns you’ll run. Here’s an example breakdown:

Example Month: March

Theme: “March Madness of Minis”
Goal: Increase sales of miniatures and hobby supplies by 20% over the previous year.
Budget: Include an amount to spend on promotion and operations (including additional labor). Professionals spend marketing & advertising dollars regularly, and having this structure in place helps maintain spending discipline.
Activities:
- Host a painting contest with prizes.
- Run a “Buy 3, Get 1 Free” sale on paints.
- Share weekly social media posts showcasing miniatures tips and tricks.
- Offer demos for a miniatures game.
- Establish an area for themed games near the front door. Rotate it each month to match the theme.
- Do a popularity contest bracket, asking your players to vote on their favorite miniatures game, eliminating losers with each update until you have a single winner. This plan gives you a reason to post for the entire month, and it encourages two-way dialogue. It also highlights the diversity of miniatures games, reminding players that the category isn’t entirely owned by Games Workshop.

Step 6: Create a Content Calendar

Drill down into the specifics of what you’ll publish and when:

Social media: Schedule 2-3 posts per week related to the monthly theme.
Email newsletters: Send at least one newsletter highlighting promotions and events two weeks before the main event, one three days before, and one the day of the event.
Website content: Write an article tied to the theme, such as “Top Miniatures Games for Beginners.”

Step 7: Monitor, Evaluate, and Adjust

At the end of each month, review your results:

Did you achieve your goals?
What feedback did you receive from customers and crew?
How accurate was your spending? Did you need to increase a budget because of unexpected costs? Did you underspend?

Use these insights to fine-tune your plans for the following months.

Example Marketing Calendar

Month	Theme/Focus	Key Activities	Target Goal
January	New Year, New Games (games launched in the previous year)	Demos for new releases	Increase foot traffic by 15% vs. previous year
February	Games for Couples (2-player board games)	Valentine’s Day sale, couples event	Sell 30+ units of two-player games
March	March Madness of Minis	Painting contests, bundle deals	Grow miniatures sales by 20% vs. previous March
April	April Fool’s Day/ Humorous games	“Silliest Character Build Contest” for RPG players, “Joke’s On Us” discount—randomize small discounts at checkout for the day.	Increase sales of humorous games by 20% compared to previous April.
May	National Geek Pride Day (May 25)	Geek Trivia Night each Thursday, display geek merchandise at themed display	Increase merchandise sales by 15% compared to last May.
June	Free RPG Day/ non-D&D RPG titles	Free RPG Day itself,	Increase sales of target games by 30% YOY
July	Independence Day/Historical games	Board game demos, demo period-set RPGs like Call of Cthulhu	Generate 20+ sales of topical games, demo Timeline to 300 players
August	Back-to-School	Meet gamer friends	Create 6+ new weekly games in the store
September	Fellowship Month/cooperative games	Host collaborative games like Pandemic Legacy or Betrayal at House on the Hill, “Bring a Friend to Game Night” campaign with referral discounts	Increase new customer count by 50
October	Halloween/Horror games	Costume contests, giveaways	Increase sales of promoted items by 25% over previous year
November	Thanksgiving/Customer appreciation	Double loyalty points	Increase number of visits by 20% from previous year
December	Christmas	12 days of Christmas sales	$10,000 in sales of the promoted items

By creating a clear, month-by-month plan, you’ll ensure your marketing efforts are proactive and consistent, making it easier to achieve your goals and keep customers engaged year-round.