Read more about marketing plans. - Walsworth Yearbooks

setting goalsBefore you go somewhere, you need to know where you are going todetermine how to get there. That’s what goals are – your destination.Once you set goals for yearbook awareness and yearbook and adssales, then you can determine the best way to reach them.• Talk with your adviser and yearbook sales representative about thebudget. Know how many yearbooks and ads were sold last year,and how much money each earned.• Determine the revenue you want from yearbook sales this year, andhow many books need to be sold to reach that.• Determine the revenue you want from yearbook ad sales this year,and how many pages of ads need to be sold to reach that.• Look at the price of your yearbook. Should it stay the same or beincreased? Determine whether your final product has improved inthe past few years, and what price people are willing to pay. Askother staffs at nearby schools what they charge.• Consider graduated pricing. Offer the book at an early “sale” price(the full cost of the book), then with each sale or at set dates, raisethe price in $5 or $10 increments. This is a great way to get parentsand students to buy now.• Look at the price of your ads. Determine the prices you shouldcharge by finding the cost per page of the yearbook. Divide thenumber of pages of the yearbook into the total estimated expenses.The advertising on each page should generate at least two to threetimes the actual cost of the page. Also ask other staffs at nearbyschools what they charge.• If you sold options last year (namestamping, autograph pages,protective covers), find out how much money was raised fromthose sales. Determine whether you need to raise the price ofthose options.Then, with your adviser, yearbook sales representative, your marketingteam, editorial board, or whoever needs to be in on the decision,set your sales goals for yearbooks, options and ad pages. Also setindividual sales goals for team members as an incentive. As prizes,consider small gifts, a free or half off of a yearbook, a free option, orgift certificates.6