How To Plan An Email Marketing Calendar For 2024

“WHAT DO I SEND TO MY EMAIL LIST?!?!” 

We have ALL been there… 

Sitting awake at midnight…

Smack dab in the middle of a big promotion or launch…

Staring at a blank screen with NO IDEA what you’re going to write in tomorrow’s promo email…

Or dragging your feet when you need to write yet ANOTHER “useless” content email when you have nothing new to say…

Or confused about how to keep your list engaged and buying IN BETWEEN launches – without annoying the crap out of them and getting a bunch of unsubscribes. 

If you struggle with ANY of these things, this blog is for YOU.

Because I’m going to show you how to plan your email marketing calendar for the next year.

And tell you how to get insider access to my brand-new Email Marketing Calendar…

Filled with 279 notable dates, seasons, and reasons to email your list & make predictable profits. 

So you are definitely gonna want to stick around. 

Hey, Posse! What’s up? It’s Alex. 

A couple of weeks ago, I asked if you would be interested in a FREE resource to make planning your email marketing calendar super easy…

You guys said… UMMMM YEAH!

And I heard you loud and clear. 

So I put together this EPIC calendar with literally hundreds of ideas and reasons for you to email your list. 

This is going to help you come up with timely, relevant, and valuable ideas for emails you can send to your list all year round…

Which, let’s be honest… is kind of the hardest part – right?

Now what’s super exciting is for those of you who are reading this on the day it came out, you are getting VERY FIRST ACCESS to this. 

No one else has it yet. 

❌ Not my email list…

❌ Not my social media followers…

❌ Not even my highest-level mastermind members…. 

YOU – are getting absolute first dibs on this thing –  hot off the press and I’ve got a bunch of juicy tips for how to plan your email marketing calendar in this article with a LOT more juicy videos to come… 

So if you’re not already subscribed to my newsletter– what are you waiting for?

You never know when I’m going to surprise you with something super juicy like this.

Now before I explain my email marketing calendar, how it works, and show you how to use it…

Let’s first talk about WHY having an email marketing calendar is so important…

Because while having a plan will make your email writing life a whole lot easier and more productive, those things are just the cherry on top. 

They’re not the real reason WHY you should be planning your email calendar in advance.

Which leads me to a question I’ve been meaning to ask you…

Do you know the #1 rule of marketing?

The #1 Rule Of Marketing

It’s to always, always, ALWAYS have a reason why for every single promotion, sale, discount, or special offer you make…

Why, you ask?..

Well… 

Why did YOU just ask me why?

One of the weird and wonderful things about us humans is that we are SKEPTICAL. 

We need to UNDERSTAND the rationale behind a person’s motivations, actions, or opinions.

If we don’t understand it, we’re way less likely to believe them, trust them, or even give them the time of day. And the WEIRDEST thing about this?

Is that the rationale doesn’t even have to be that great – it doesn’t even really need to make sense – in order for this to work… 

I’ve always been so fascinated by what has been called “The Copy Machine Study” conducted by Ellen Langer, a psychology professor at Harvard…

I first read about this study in the book “Influence” by Robert Cialdini, (one of my top 5 favorite copywriting books BTW!) where he said…

“A well-known principle of human behavior says that when we ask someone to do us a favor we will be more successful if we provide a reason. People simply like to have reasons for what they do.”

He referenced Ellen Langer’s study which was conducted to prove this exact principle…

Whether including a “reason why” would increase the likelihood of someone doing a favor for a complete stranger… 

The study was simple. 

The researcher would walk up to a stranger waiting in line at the Xerox machine in the library and ask them one of three questions.

Version one was a simple request: “Excuse me, I have 5 pages. May I use the Xerox machine?”

60% of them said yes. Not bad.

Version 2 was the same question, but included a REAL reason why: “Excuse me, I have 5 pages. May I use the Xerox machine, because I’m in a rush?”

A staggering 94% of people said yes!!

But here’s where it gets REALLY juicy…

In Version 3, she changed the “reason why” from something legit – being in a rush – to no real reason at all: “Excuse me, I have 5 pages. May I use the Xerox machine, because I have to make copies?”

Still a massive 93% said yes.

Isn’t that nutty?!?!

Simply using the word “because”—no matter the reason—resulted in significantly more BUY IN from the strangers at the Xerox machine…

And the same philosophy holds true when YOU are trying to convince anyone to do anything.

You always want to give a reason why you’re selling a product…

• A reason why you’re offering this discount…
• A reason why the sale is limited…
• A reason why you’re sending an email… 

In order to make it more believable in the minds of your prospects.

As I like to say, “Give a reason why and it’ll fly.”

Sounds simple enough… right?

But this is actually one of the biggest struggles brands and businesses face when it comes to creating believable marketing promotions to send to their email list…

They can’t think of a good reason WHY…

And “because I need to make money” is NOT a good reason. 

Now THIS is where your calendar comes into play…

Plan Your Email Promotions

If you’re ever trying to figure a good reason WHY to send a promotion to your list…

Or you’re hitting a writing block with the beginning of your email…

One of the BEST conversation starters and “reasons why”…

Is what’s happening RIGHT NOW in your life – and your audience’s life. 

• Is it the first day of spring? 
• Is it your birthday?
• Are you about to leave for vacation?
• Back to school season?

We’re in September right now – which is back-to-school season for most of us. 

So I have referenced this in several of my latest emails. I even used it in some of my social media captions!

All phrased slightly differently and with different end goals, of course…

But the REASON WHY is clear, it’s back-to-school season. It doesn’t have to be complicated!

But using current events and themes in your messaging – no matter how big, how small, or how seemingly silly – is POWERFUL. 

It feels highly relevant to your target audience, they’re more likely to pay attention, AND they’re more likely to relate to you on a more personal level. 

Which we all know is huge when it comes to marketing. 

Now, this doesn’t mean you have to be generic and use the same things everyone else is using…

Back to school season, Black Friday, Christmas, New Year…

These are all popular and come “reason whys”. 

That you CAN choose to use if you want, but the cool thing about the calendar I’m about to give you…

Is that there are SO MANY other creative dates and events you can piggyback on…

Which makes you STAND OUT. 

Here are a few examples…

• If you’re a pet lover… try running a promotion during National Pet Day.
• If you’re a female entrepreneur or a business that supports women, try running a promotion during International Women’s Day.
• Earth Day for sustainable brands… 
• Celebrate the anniversary of your business…
• Mercury in retrograde? A great reason for a promotion! I once worked with an astrology brand and we were always using what was going on in the stars as our “reason why”.
• Or if you’re Taylor Swift you might drop a new album on August 8th – because it’s International Cat Day!

You get the point here.

Your “reason whys” don’t have to be serious…

And they don’t have to mainstream. 

They can and SHOULD fit with the personality of your brand.

So how do you map out your email marketing schedule for the year? I got you…

Download My Free Email Marketing Calendar 

Here is a link to my Email Marketing Calendar that we’ve created FOR YOU that includes TONS and TONS of dates you can use as a “reason why” for promoting to your email list for EVERY month of the year. 

Including monthly “themes” – like cervical health awareness month in January or Women’s History Month in March…

It also includes a list of holidays and notable events – some are common – like Thanksgiving, Christmas, and Labor Day…

Some are not so common – like International Picnic Day. 

I’ve provided you with a list of themes and days that should stay the same year after year…

As you go through this list, highlight or circle the themes, holidays, or events you feel connected to as a brand and that you could play with in your marketing. 

Circle it EVEN IF it’s something you don’t want to use for a promotion…

Because it could act as great inspiration for a future content email!

I also gave you space to add in notes of dates that are unique to YOU and your brand – things like important birthdays, anniversaries, and so on… 

Good luck and remember, this should be FUN!! 

Until next time, I’m Alex. Ciao for now.

Watch This Instead