When Stephanie & I were setting up the dates for our Social Media Infusion – Summer Camp course, we had a lot of dates to work around. I was already on the road. When did summer vacation start for her kids? When was I going to be in Calgary so we could work on the course? When did school start back up for her kids? What Monday date would be the best day to launch?
We settled on Monday, July 7th. Plenty of time for what we needed to get done, kicking it off a month out for us to tell people about it, and it lined up with my travel and summer break.
However, when we talked about this? I didn’t pull my own monthly calendar out to look at it.
The most critical time historically for most product launches is the 72 hours before it closes.
Guess what today is? 72 hours before the launch closes … and it is the 4th of July. This means that not only is it a major holiday in the United States, it is the start of a three day weekend.
Know your audience when you plan your Editorial Calendar.
To say that this was a big mistake on my part is putting it mildly. I should have caught it. I should have pulled out my paper calendar and looked at what was happening the week before in the market where 73% of our website visitors come from. The second largest market is Canada, with 16% – and this week was also Canada Day on July 1st.
I feel a little embarrassed sharing this here, yet as I spent today thinking about what I wanted to post I realized I had to tell you about this. I want you to learn from my mistake!
When you are planning out your editorial & content calendar for the year, make sure that you have noted all of the important holiday dates on it for the three top markets that are bringing you traffic. Keep them in mind for when you do project launches — and use them to your advantage as well if you hold sales.
Want to talk more about setting up an editorial calendar, plus working with it along with all of your social media? Be sure to register for our Social Media Infusion – Summer Camp! Registration closes on Sunday, July 6, 2014!
Photo Credit: Calendar by koadmunkee and Fireworks by suneko, both licensed under Creative Commons
Christine Tremoulet
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