Fundraising, Promotional, or Photography Wall and Desk Calendars 2021

Calendar season is quickly approaching so it’s time to start thinking about what kind of calendar your business needs. Promotional calendars are highly effective marketing tools because clients and customers keep these materials in their home or office and see the calendars almost every day. According to the 2019 Global Ad Impressions Study, “52% of promo calendars are kept 1 year or more.” See the image to the right for more helpful statistics on Promotional Calendar efficiency from the 2019 Global Ad Impressions Study. Bottom line is that promotional calendars can be invaluable marketing tools for your business.

Choosing a Theme

First things first when creating a promotional calendar is deciding what the goal of the calendar is. Are you going to be showcasing some new products? Are you going to be fundraising? Are you going to be featuring your art? The goal will influence what images you should use and how they are laid out within your calendar. For wall calendars, there is an abundance of space to, not only have a pleasing image, but have a section to the right or left of the calendar grid for ad space or an additional message, if you would like.

If you are wanting to create a desk calendar, you have to think about if the goal of your calendar is compatible with a desk calendar’s small space. For instance, a fundraising calendar where you have sold ad space, is not going to be very effective for a desk calendar because the ads are going to look too small. Desk calendars are very personal, so it would be a better idea to use this small space to highlight the most important aspects of your business.

Ready to Start Planning Your 2021 Calendar? Tips for Planning Your 2021 Custom Calendar

Using Images

Once you have decided on your goal or layout of your calendar, you can start choosing the images that work within your theme. There are three most popular types of photos to choose for calendars: 1) promotional photos like products 2) fundraising photos 3) photos that tell a story or emotion like photography, art, etc.

Here is a quick run down:

Promotional Calendar Photos:

• Make sure that your photo isn't too cluttered
• Make your product/ service the center of attention
• Choose well-lit, high-res photos

Fundraising Calendar Photos:

• Showcase your service/ impact
• Choose well-lit, high-res photos
• Make sure to utilize the calendar grid with more photos or ads

Photography Calendar Photos:

• Avoid stock images!
• Choose well-lit, high-res photos

Let’s start with product photos. Make sure that these photos are well-lit, high-resolution, and showcase your products best features. Be sure that your product is the center of attention. If your customer has to guess what your product is from an image, it’s not a good product photo, it’s a Where’s Waldo game.

If you are wanting to tell a story or evoke an emotion from your photos, choose photos that will make people remember your brand. For example, if you are a restaurant, you may choose to display photos of happy families enjoying your wonderful food. Avoid using stock photos at all costs. Not only will these not accurately represent what your business has to offer, it is possible that your customers will have seen these photos before. For any photos that you choose, make sure that you use high-resolution photos. We recommend that your photos are 300 DPI for the best quality. Some photos can sneak by on 180-200 DPI, but they aren't going to look as crystal clear compared to 300 DPI. If your photos are blurry, your calendar is not going to WOW your customers. If your company wants high-quality leads, high-resolution photos is what your calendar needs.