Plan on eight to twelve messages a year: roughly one a month, two in the run to Christmas, and none in the months when you have nothing to say. Tie each one to something real in your shop's year, such as a season's stock, a public holiday's hours, a gift-giving occasion, school terms or the weather. Write the whole year on one page now, in pencil, and you will never again send a message just because it has been a while, which is the message that loses members.
How to build the year
Start with your own calendar, not the national one. When does new stock land? When do you close for a break, do stocktake, run a tasting or an evening? When are your quiet weeks? Those are the moments you have something to tell people.
Then add the national dates that matter to your trade, and only those. A florist lives on Mother's Day and Valentine's Day; a hardware-adjacent shop cares more about the end of the financial year; a bottle shop watches the football finals. Nobody needs every occasion.
Then mark the months you will skip. Silence is part of the plan. A club that hears from you eight times a year with real news will read all eight.
Public holidays and school holidays differ between states, and some move from year to year. Check your own state's dates before you pencil anything in.
January
The quietest month for many shops, with regulars away until late in the month. The useful message is practical: you are back open, or your hours have changed. Shops that sell school shoes, lunchbox food or stationery have a back-to-school message late in the month. Lunar New Year falls in January or February, and shops whose customers celebrate it often have stock or treats worth a mention.
February
Valentine's Day matters to florists, chocolatiers, gift shops and restaurants, and to very few others. If it is your day, send one message early in the month about pre-orders, not one the day before. Everyone else can usually skip February.
March
Autumn begins. Boutiques and homewares shops get their new range; greengrocers get apples, pears and figs. A first-look message to the club, with a time and a reason to come in, suits this month. Easter falls in March in some years.
April
Easter usually lands in April, bringing hot cross buns, chocolate, long weekend hours and school holidays. The most useful message is the hours, sent before the long weekend. Anzac Day may change your hours as well, depending on your state.
May
Mother's Day is a big gifting occasion for florists, gift shops, bakeries and cafes. One message early in the month, with what you have and how to order, is enough. May also brings the first cold snap in the south, which is news for soup, doonas, heaters and warm drinks.
June
The King's Birthday long weekend falls in June in most states. The end of the financial year matters if you sell to tradies or businesses. Winter stock is in. A quiet month for most shops, and a fine one to skip.
July
Winter school holidays, stocktake, and for some cafes, pubs and bottle shops, a Christmas in July evening. A stocktake sale where the club gets the first day is a reasonable message, provided the discount is real.
August
Often the slowest month of the year. Skip it, or use the last week for a preview of spring. A thank-you message has more effect in December.
September
Father's Day, spring planting, the football finals, and school holidays starting at the end of the month in several states. Nurseries, bottle shops and gift shops have their best reasons to send now.
October
Spring in full swing. Daylight saving starts in some states, which can change when people shop after work. Some states have a long weekend this month. Halloween at the end of the month suits a few trades; most can leave it alone.
November
Christmas orders open: hams, cakes, puddings, hampers and gift wrapping. This is the month to tell the club how to order and by when. Victorian shops should note Melbourne Cup day, when trade changes shape for the day. The end of the school year brings teacher gifts for gift shops and florists.
December
Two messages at most: one early in the month with Christmas trading hours and the last day for orders, and one shortly before Christmas that thanks the club and gives the holiday closure dates. The campaign ideas include a few December examples worth reading.
A worked example: Juniper Ledge Homewares
Juniper Ledge Homewares is a fictional homewares shop with 520 members in its club, all of whom agreed to texts. The owner sketches the year on one page:
- January: back from the summer break, new opening hours.
- March: autumn range arrives, members' first look on a Thursday evening.
- May: the Mother's Day gift table, with gift wrapping included.
- July: stocktake sale, members get the first morning.
- September: spring range arrives, members' first look.
- November: Christmas late-night trading and gift wrapping.
- December: trading hours and the closure dates, then a thank-you before the break.
That is eight messages. February, April, June, August and October stay silent unless something happens that the club would genuinely want to know about. Eight sends to 520 members is 4,160 messages over the year, and the busiest month, December, uses 1,040.
The March message reads:
The autumn range is in: linen, stoneware and wool throws. Members get first look this Thursday evening, 5 till 7. Ring the shop if you want something held.
After each send the owner notes how many members opted out. Across the year it averages three or four a send, well under 1 percent, and the one send that loses nine is the stocktake sale, which the owner words more carefully the following year.
The rules that keep a year welcome
One reason per message. A message about new stock, Christmas hours and a sale all at once is three half-messages.
Never two in a week, and two in a month only in December.
Put the price, the day and the time in the message. People should not have to come in or look something up to find out what you meant.
Ask people to come in or ring the shop rather than reply. A reply to a marketing number may never be seen by a person.
Write it in your diary with the words already drafted. Counter Club has no scheduling: a campaign goes to every member who has not opted out at the moment you press send, by email on Regulars and by email or text on Local Favourite, so the diary is your schedule. The campaigns page has the details.
Read the opt-outs after every send. A jump tells you that message missed.
Mistakes to avoid
Copying a chain's calendar. Big retailers run a promotion for every date on the calendar. A small shop's club is a group of people who like the shop, and they want news from it, not a catalogue.
Sending the same message every year word for word. Regulars remember, and a recycled message reads as a form letter.
Messaging for every public holiday. Only the ones where your hours change, or where you have something to sell that people need that weekend.
Announcing too far ahead. A message about Christmas orders in September is forgotten by December.
Forgetting that your state is different. A long weekend in one state is a working Monday in another.
What to do this week
- Write the twelve months down one side of a page.
- Mark your own dates first: stock arrivals, closures, events, stocktake.
- Add only the national dates that matter to your trade.
- Cross out at least three months as quiet.
- Draft the next message now, and put its send day in the diary.