We’re in the home stretch! In this final installment of our series on building and using a marketing calendar framework, we’ll tackle the application of marketing metrics to strategy.

This is a key tool in your calendar’s arsenal: metrics give your team the ability to track the effectiveness of your campaigns, and help you develop a complete picture of your organization’s performance.

We’ve determined that, at the very minimum, every organization should have these basic metrics:

Planned or Last Year Sales

Planned or Last Year Traffic

Average Sale and Average Margin

In your calendar, these metrics should be stored right next to your current and historical marketing activities. Essentially, they will offer you snapshots of your marketing performance across time. Storing the information in this fashion will allow your marketing team to not only build year over year overlays, but also trend these key performance indicators.

When used correctly, these metrics can help your organization identify which marketing activities are working while also strategically planning and reacting to market conditions. With more information on hand, you are better prepared to identify an unusual dip in June’s sales metrics or a sharp spike in Fall/Winter traffic.

Taking it a step further, you might pull in a range of other information that influences buying behavior. Everything from weather to interest rates and currency strength can be monitored alongside your regular marketing activity. That unusual dip in June’s sales metrics? A glimpse at weather metrics might suggest that it was caused by unusually chilly temperatures across the country.

Now that you have a handle on everything from frameworks to metrics, your organization is ready to develop its ideal marketing calendar with the help of our ebook!

If you missed our previous posts, you can find them below:

Why Your Business Needs A Marketing Calendar

Establishing A Global Marketing Calendar Framework

Weaving Marketing Strategy Into Your Marketing Calendar Framework