A month-by-month marketing calendar for Greater Victoria businesses

How to build your own calendar first

Before you read the month-by-month notes, gather your own data. They beat any general advice.

1. List enquiries by month for the last two years: calls, emails, texts, bookings or sales.
2. Mark your top three months and your bottom three.
3. Count back six to ten weeks from the start of your busy period. That's when your marketing should ramp up.
4. Check search interest. Google Trends lets you compare interest in phrases such as "roof repair" or "deck builder" across the year for British Columbia. It's a rough guide, but it shows when people start searching.
5. Note your capacity. When are crews or staff already full? There's no point paying for leads you can't serve.

With those notes, the calendar below becomes a template you adjust, not a rule.

January and February: plan and pre-book

These are quiet months for many businesses, which makes them the right time to think.

• Write next year's plan. Budget by month, target municipalities, services to push.
• Contact past customers who have agreed to hear from you with early-booking offers for spring and summer work: exterior painting, decks, fencing, landscaping.
• Refresh your website gallery with last year's best jobs.
• Rain-driven trades such as roofing, drainage and gutter repair should still be running ads, because winter storms keep producing urgent searches.
• Visitor-season businesses should update their listings on Google and on the booking or review platforms their customers use, ready for planners researching summer trips.

March and April: the planners' window

Homeowners who plan outdoor projects start comparing quotes now. Businesses that wait for sunshine miss them.

• Raise ad budgets for planned exterior work across your core municipalities.
• Publish seasonal pages or update existing ones: "booking summer exterior painting in Saanich" is a real search with real intent.
• Push for reviews from winter jobs so your profile looks active.
• Hospitality and tourism businesses should begin search and social campaigns aimed at people planning summer visits.

May and June: the busy season begins

Outdoor trades fill up, and visitors arrive. Tourism is one of the main sectors of the regional economy alongside technology, education, shipyards and government, according to the Capital Regional District.

• Manage capacity. If crews are booked six weeks out, lower or pause ads and say so on your website.
• Collect reviews from every job. Busy months are when you generate the proof that wins next year.
• Capture photos and short videos of work in progress, ideal for social posts later in the year.
• Storefronts: make sure hours, menus and holiday closures are accurate on your Google profile. Visitors rely on them more than locals do.

July and August: peak and protect

For many outdoor and visitor-dependent businesses, this is the peak.

• Keep reviews flowing and reply to every one quickly, especially for hospitality businesses where visitors compare options on their phones.
• Don't let the website go stale. A post or two about current work keeps your profile and site active.
• Rain-season trades such as roofers and drainage firms should start preparing autumn campaigns now: pages, offers, ad copy.
• Plan the shoulder season. What will you sell in October and November?

September and October: the shift

The rainy season starts, and demand changes direction.

• Rain-driven trades raise budgets ahead of the first heavy storms. Gutter cleaning, roof inspections and drainage checks are all searches that climb before and after the first big rain.
• Exterior trades shift messaging to last-chance slots and next-year booking.
• Add an off-season service if you have one: interior painting, cabinet refinishing, pruning, holiday lighting installs.
• Visitor businesses turn to local customers with autumn offers and events.

November and December: indoor and local

• Indoor work peaks for renovators, painters, cleaners and organisers.
• Retailers and restaurants focus on local customers, gift buying and holiday events.
• Rain-season trades stay visible with ads ready for storm spikes.
• Review the year. Compare actual enquiries with the plan and note what to change.

Sample calendars by business type

Budget by season: a worked example

Say a Saanich roofer's annual marketing budget is $36,000, including ad spend. An even split would be $3,000 a month. A seasonal split might look like this:

• October to February (five months): $4,500 a month, $22,500 in total
• March to May (three months): $2,500 a month, $7,500 in total
• June to September (four months): $1,500 a month, $6,000 in total

Same annual budget, but most of the money is working when customers are searching. The quiet months still keep the profile, reviews and site active, which our seasonal campaigns service manages alongside paid ads.

Mistakes to avoid

• Cutting everything in the slow season. Reviews, content and profile activity still compound.
• Starting ads after demand peaks. Clicks are most expensive when every competitor is bidding.
• Using the same message all year. Planners and emergencies need different words.
• Ignoring capacity. Paying for leads you can't serve is the quickest way to waste a budget.

Next steps

Build your own version of this calendar from your enquiry data, then match it to your service area using our service-area planning guide. If you'd rather have help, contact us with your monthly numbers.