Campaign Calendar

Build strategic ecommerce campaign calendars that align marketing activities with platform promotions, seasonal peaks, and product launch cycles for maximum sales impact.

Build weekly and monthly campaign calendars that coordinate marketing activities across TikTok Shop events, platform sale days, seasonal peaks, and brand-specific product launches. The output includes content scheduling, ad budget allocation, promotion timing, and review cadences that keep sellers organized and responsive throughout each selling period.

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Quick Reference

Use this table to rapidly assess whether a campaign calendar element is strong, acceptable, or weak.

Decision Area	Strong	Acceptable	Weak
Event alignment	Calendar maps every promotion to a specific platform event or seasonal peak with at least 2 weeks of pre-heat lead time	Promotions reference general seasonal windows but lack precise event dates or have only 1 week of lead time	Promotions are scheduled arbitrarily with no connection to platform events or seasonal demand patterns
Budget allocation	Budget is distributed across phases (pre-heat, launch, sustain, wind-down) with clear ratios tied to expected ROAS for each phase	Budget is split by week or month but not tied to campaign phases or expected return metrics	Entire monthly budget is spent evenly or front-loaded without regard to campaign timing or conversion patterns
Content cadence	Content types (short-form video, livestream, static post) are scheduled at specific frequencies with assigned owners and deadlines	Content is planned at a general level ("post 3 times per week") without specifying formats or responsibilities	No content schedule exists; posts happen reactively or are decided day-of
Promotion stacking	Promotions layer platform coupons, shop discounts, and bundle deals in a deliberate sequence that avoids margin erosion	Some promotion layering exists but discount depth is not modeled against margin thresholds	Multiple discounts stack accidentally, resulting in below-margin pricing or conflicting offers
Cross-channel coordination	TikTok Shop, paid ads, email, and organic social are synchronized with shared messaging themes and staggered timing	Two or more channels are loosely coordinated but messaging or timing gaps exist between them	Each channel operates independently with no shared calendar or consistent messaging
Review cadence	Weekly performance check-ins with predefined pivot triggers (e.g., "if ROAS drops below 2.0, shift 20% of budget to top performer")	Monthly reviews with general performance assessment but no predefined action thresholds	No scheduled reviews; performance is checked only when problems become obvious

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Solves

This skill addresses the following problems ecommerce sellers commonly face:

1. Missed platform events. Sellers learn about TikTok Shop mega sales, flash deal windows, or platform-sponsored promotions too late to prepare inventory, content, or ad budgets, resulting in lost revenue during peak traffic periods.

2. Reactive instead of proactive marketing. Without a forward-looking calendar, sellers scramble to create content and set up promotions days before (or after) key selling windows, producing lower-quality assets and missing early-bird promotional slots.

3. Budget waste from poor timing. Ad spend is distributed evenly across the month rather than concentrated around high-intent shopping periods, leading to overspending during low-conversion windows and underspending during peaks.

4. Promotion conflicts and margin erosion. Multiple discounts, coupons, and platform deals stack in ways the seller did not anticipate, pushing effective prices below profitable thresholds during the exact moments when volume is highest.

5. Content gaps during critical periods. Sellers run out of scheduled content mid-campaign or fail to produce the right content types (e.g., livestreams during a TikTok Shop mega sale) because no content plan was built around the campaign calendar.

6. No coordination across channels. TikTok Shop promotions, paid social ads, email campaigns, and organic posts operate on separate timelines with inconsistent messaging, confusing customers and diluting campaign impact.

7. Failure to learn and adjust. Without built-in review cadences and pivot triggers, sellers repeat the same calendar mistakes quarter after quarter, never systematically improving their campaign timing or allocation.

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Workflow

Follow these six steps to build a campaign calendar. Each step produces a specific artifact that feeds into the next.

Step 1: Date Mapping

Goal: Create a master timeline of all relevant dates for the planning period.

Gather three categories of dates and plot them on a single timeline:

Platform events. Pull confirmed and expected dates for TikTok Shop mega sales, flash deal periods, platform-sponsored promotions, and any creator or affiliate events the platform has announced. Check the TikTok Shop Seller Center event calendar and any partner communications for upcoming event schedules.

Seasonal and cultural peaks. Map major shopping events (Black Friday, Cyber Monday, Prime Day equivalents, Singles Day), seasonal shifts (back-to-school, summer start, holiday gifting), and any category-specific peaks (e.g., skincare demand spikes in January and September for New Year resolutions and back-to-routine).

Brand-specific dates. Add product launch dates, restocking timelines, anniversary sales, collaboration drops, and any dates tied to your specific business (e.g., when a key SKU typically sells out, when new inventory arrives).

Output: A single-view timeline covering the full planning period (typically 3 months) with all dates color-coded by category. At minimum, identify 8-15 actionable dates per quarter.

Validation checkpoint: Every date on the timeline should have a source (platform announcement, historical data, or business plan). If a date is speculative, mark it as tentative and set a reminder to confirm it at least 3 weeks out.

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Step 2: Event Prioritization

Goal: Rank mapped events by revenue potential and resource requirements so that effort is allocated proportionally.

Score each event on two dimensions:

Revenue potential (1-5). Base this on historical sales data during similar periods, platform traffic estimates (often shared in seller communications), and category-level demand signals. A TikTok Shop mega sale with confirmed traffic boosts and co-funded promotions scores higher than an unsponsored flash deal window.

Resource requirement (1-5). Estimate the content production, ad budget, inventory preparation, and team bandwidth needed. A full Black Friday campaign requiring 20+ content assets, dedicated livestream slots, and significant ad spend scores high. A simple seasonal product highlight requiring 3-5 posts scores low.

Prioritization matrix:

• Tier 1 (revenue 4-5, any resource level): Full campaign treatment with all phases. Allocate 50-60% of period budget across Tier 1 events.
• Tier 2 (revenue 2-3, resource 1-3): Focused campaign with abbreviated phases. Allocate 25-35% of period budget.
• Tier 3 (revenue 1-2 or resource 4-5 with revenue below 3): Lightweight participation only. Allocate 10-15% of period budget.

Output: A prioritized event list with tier assignments and preliminary budget allocation percentages.

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Step 3: Campaign Design

Goal: Design individual campaigns for each Tier 1 and Tier 2 event using the four-phase framework (pre-heat, launch, sustain, wind-down).

For each prioritized event, define:

Pre-heat phase (typically 7-14 days before event). Awareness-building content, teaser posts, early email list activation, initial ad spend to build retargeting audiences. For TikTok Shop events, this is when you set up deal listings, submit flash deal applications, and brief affiliate creators.

Launch phase (event day through peak period, typically 1-3 days). Maximum content output, livestream scheduling, peak ad spend, promotion activation. All channels should be firing simultaneously with consistent messaging.

Sustain phase (3-7 days post-peak). Maintain visibility with retargeting ads, follow-up content addressing common objections, extended (but reduced) promotions for late buyers. Review early performance data and make mid-flight adjustments.

Wind-down phase (final 2-3 days). Last-chance messaging, transition content toward the next campaign or evergreen themes, budget reallocation from underperformers to top performers, and post-campaign data collection.

Output: A campaign brief for each Tier 1 and Tier 2 event specifying phase dates, key activities per phase, and success metrics. See the Campaign Design Framework reference for detailed phase planning.

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Step 4: Content Planning

Goal: Build a content production schedule that ensures all campaign phases have the right content types ready on time.

Map content needs for each campaign phase:

Content types by phase:

• Pre-heat: teaser videos (15-30 seconds), behind-the-scenes product content, countdown posts, email announcements, creator briefing materials
• Launch: product demo videos (30-60 seconds), livestream run-of-show, promotional graphics, unboxing or review content, ad creative variants (minimum 3-5 per ad set)
• Sustain: testimonial or UGC compilation videos, FAQ or objection-handling content, retargeting ad variants, email follow-ups
• Wind-down: last-chance promotional content, transition posts, campaign recap content for social proof

Production timeline: Work backward from publish dates to set production deadlines. Standard lead times:

• Short-form video: 5-7 business days from concept to final asset
• Livestream preparation: 3-5 business days for run-of-show, product staging, and tech check
• Static graphics: 2-3 business days
• Email campaigns: 3-4 business days including copy, design, and QA
• Creator/affiliate content: 10-14 business days to allow for briefing, production, review, and revision

Output: A content calendar with specific asset types, production deadlines, publish dates, assigned owners, and platform destinations. Each asset should be tagged to its parent campaign and phase.

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Step 5: Budget Allocation

Goal: Distribute ad spend and promotional budget across campaigns, phases, and channels with clear ratios and guardrails.

Campaign-level allocation. Distribute total period budget according to tier assignments from Step 2. Example for a $10,000 monthly budget:

• Tier 1 events: $5,500 (55%)
• Tier 2 events: $3,000 (30%)
• Tier 3 events: $1,000 (10%)
• Reserve/contingency: $500 (5%)

Phase-level allocation within each campaign:

• Pre-heat: 15-20% of campaign budget (audience building, retargeting pool creation)
• Launch: 40-50% of campaign budget (maximum reach and conversion during peak)
• Sustain: 20-25% of campaign budget (retargeting and extended reach)
• Wind-down: 5-10% of campaign budget (final push and reallocation from underperformers)

Channel-level allocation:

• Distribute phase budgets across channels based on historical ROAS data. If no historical data exists, start with: TikTok ads 40%, platform promotions/coupons 25%, creator/affiliate commissions 20%, other paid channels 15%.
• Set minimum daily spend floors to maintain ad learning and delivery stability (typically $20-50/day per ad set depending on category).

Guardrails:

• No single campaign should exceed 40% of total period budget unless it is a once-per-year tentpole event.
• Reserve fund (5% of total budget) is only deployed when a Tier 1 campaign exceeds ROAS targets by more than 50% mid-flight.
• Set maximum discount depth per SKU that accounts for all stacking (platform coupon + shop discount + bundle deal) to maintain minimum margin thresholds.

Output: A budget allocation table showing spend by campaign, phase, and channel, plus discount depth limits per SKU category and contingency deployment rules.

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Step 6: Review Cadence

Goal: Establish recurring check-in rhythms and predefined pivot triggers so the calendar stays responsive to real performance data.

Weekly performance review (30 minutes):

• Compare actual spend vs. planned spend for the current week
• Review ROAS, CPA, and conversion rate by campaign and channel
• Check content publish rate against the content calendar (are assets going live on schedule?)
• Identify the top 3 performing and bottom 3 performing ad sets or content pieces
• Execute any triggered pivots (see pivot triggers below)

Mid-campaign checkpoint (at the halfway point of each Tier 1 campaign):

• Assess whether pre-heat metrics (audience size, engagement rate, email open rate) are tracking toward launch targets
• Confirm inventory levels can support projected demand
• Validate that all launch-phase content is produced and scheduled
• Adjust launch-phase budget allocation if pre-heat performance deviates more than 20% from plan

Post-campaign review (within 3 business days of campaign end):

• Document final performance metrics vs. targets for each campaign
• Calculate actual ROAS, CPA, and revenue by campaign, phase, and channel
• Identify top-performing content types and messaging themes
• Record lessons learned and specific adjustments for the next similar campaign
• Update the master event calendar with actual performance data for future prioritization

Predefined pivot triggers:

• If ROAS drops below 1.5 for any ad set for 3 consecutive days, pause and reallocate budget to top performer
• If a Tier 1 campaign is pacing more than 25% below revenue target at the mid-campaign checkpoint, shift 15% of its sustain-phase budget to the next Tier 1 campaign
• If content production falls more than 3 days behind schedule, activate backup content (evergreen assets or repurposed top performers) to maintain posting cadence
• If a platform event is canceled or rescheduled (this happens), immediately redistribute that campaign's uncommitted budget to the contingency reserve and reschedule content for the next event

Output: A review schedule with specific dates, attendees, agenda templates, and a documented set of pivot triggers with exact thresholds and prescribed actions.

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Worked Examples

Example 1: Q4 Holiday Season Calendar for a Beauty Brand

Context: A mid-size beauty brand selling skincare and cosmetics on TikTok Shop with a $25,000 Q4 ad budget. The brand has 15 active SKUs, 3 hero products, and relationships with 8 affiliate creators.

Step 1 -- Date Mapping: The brand maps the following dates across October through December:

• TikTok Shop 10.10 Mega Sale (October 10-12)
• Halloween themed content window (October 20-31)
• TikTok Shop 11.11 Singles Day Sale (November 11-13)
• Black Friday / Cyber Monday (November 28 - December 1)
• TikTok Shop Holiday Mega Sale (December 12-15)
• Last-ship-date cutoff for holiday delivery (December 18)
• Brand anniversary sale (November 5 -- brand-specific)
• New serum launch (October 15 -- brand-specific)

This yields 8 distinct campaign-worthy dates across the quarter, plus the general "holiday gifting" demand curve that rises from mid-November through December 18.

Step 2 -- Event Prioritization:

• Tier 1: Black Friday/Cyber Monday (revenue 5, resource 5), TikTok Shop 11.11 Sale (revenue 4, resource 4), TikTok Shop Holiday Mega Sale (revenue 4, resource 3). These three events receive 55% of Q4 budget ($13,750 combined).
• Tier 2: New serum launch (revenue 3, resource 3), TikTok Shop 10.10 Sale (revenue 3, resource 2), Brand anniversary sale (revenue 2, resource 2). These receive 30% of Q4 budget ($7,500 combined).
• Tier 3: Halloween content window (revenue 1, resource 1). Receives 10% ($2,500). Reserve: $1,250 (5%).

Step 3 -- Campaign Design (Black Friday/Cyber Monday, the largest Tier 1 event):

• Pre-heat (November 14-27): Launch "Holiday Glow-Up" content series. Brief 5 affiliate creators on BFCM bundles. Build retargeting audiences with hero product demo videos. Set up BFCM-specific product listings with promotional pricing. Email list receives early-access teaser on November 20.
• Launch (November 28-December 1): Activate 30% site-wide discount plus TikTok Shop platform coupons. Run 4-hour livestream on Black Friday featuring product demos and flash bundles. Deploy peak ad spend ($2,500 over 4 days) across 5 ad sets. All 8 affiliate creators post BFCM content.
• Sustain (December 2-7): Retargeting campaigns for cart abandoners and video viewers. "Extended Cyber Week" messaging with reduced (20%) discount. Email series targeting non-purchasers with social proof from BFCM sales volume.
• Wind-down (December 8-10): "Final hours" messaging. Reallocate remaining budget to top 2 performing ad sets. Transition content toward Holiday Mega Sale pre-heat.

Step 4 -- Content Planning (BFCM campaign): Pre-heat content (8 assets): 3 hero product teaser videos, 2 "sneak peek at BFCM deals" posts, 1 email announcement, 1 affiliate briefing deck, 1 livestream run-of-show document. Production deadline: November 10 (4 days before pre-heat starts).

Launch content (12 assets): 4 product demo videos (one per hero product plus one bundle), 1 livestream (4 hours with pre-built segment scripts), 3 promotional graphics for TikTok posts, 2 UGC-style "haul" videos from creators, 2 email blasts (Black Friday and Cyber Monday). Production deadline: November 22.

Sustain content (6 assets): 2 testimonial compilation videos, 2 retargeting ad variants, 1 email follow-up for non-purchasers, 1 "extended deals" graphic. Production deadline: November 27.

Step 5 -- Budget Allocation (BFCM campaign, $5,000 total):

• Pre-heat: $850 (17%) -- split between TikTok ads for audience building ($500) and creator advance payments ($350)
• Launch: $2,350 (47%) -- TikTok ads ($1,400), platform promotion co-investment ($500), creator performance bonuses ($450)
• Sustain: $1,200 (24%) -- retargeting ads ($800), email platform costs ($100), extended creator content ($300)
• Wind-down: $600 (12%) -- final push ads on top performers only

Discount guardrail: Maximum stacked discount of 35% on any SKU (30% brand discount + platform coupon capped at 5% additional). Hero serum minimum margin floor of 45% gross margin after all discounts.

Step 6 -- Review Cadence: Weekly reviews on Mondays throughout Q4. BFCM mid-campaign checkpoint on November 25 (3 days before launch) to confirm content readiness, inventory levels, and pre-heat audience size targets. Post-BFCM review by December 5 to capture learnings before Holiday Mega Sale pre-heat begins December 6.

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Example 2: Summer Product Launch Calendar for an Outdoor Gear Brand

Context: An outdoor gear brand launching a new portable camping stove on TikTok Shop in June, with $12,000 in total budget for the May-July period. The brand has 10 existing SKUs and the new stove is expected to become a top-3 revenue product. The brand works with 4 outdoor/adventure affiliate creators.

Step 1 -- Date Mapping:

• Memorial Day Sale (May 24-27)
• New camping stove launch (June 5 -- brand-specific)
• TikTok Shop Summer Sale (June 15-18)
• Father's Day (June 15)
• Amazon Prime Day / platform counter-sales (mid-July, dates TBD -- marked tentative)
• 4th of July weekend (July 3-6)
• Peak camping season demand curve (June 1 through August 15 -- general seasonal)
• Brand's 2-year anniversary (July 20 -- brand-specific)

This yields 7 distinct campaign moments plus the broader seasonal demand window.

Step 2 -- Event Prioritization:

• Tier 1: New camping stove launch (revenue 5, resource 5 -- this is the anchor event for the quarter), TikTok Shop Summer Sale (revenue 4, resource 3). These receive 55% of budget ($6,600).
• Tier 2: Memorial Day Sale (revenue 3, resource 2), Prime Day counter-sale (revenue 3, resource 3, tentative). These receive 30% ($3,600).
• Tier 3: Father's Day gifting angle (revenue 2, resource 1), 4th of July weekend (revenue 2, resource 1), Brand anniversary (revenue 1, resource 1). These receive 10% ($1,200). Reserve: $600 (5%).

Step 3 -- Campaign Design (New Camping Stove Launch):

• Pre-heat (May 22 - June 4, 14 days): Product teaser campaign -- "Something's cooking" mystery posts. Send product samples to all 4 affiliate creators with June 5 embargo date. Build email hype sequence (3 emails over 2 weeks). Seed TikTok with camping content that naturally integrates existing product line. Run low-spend video view campaigns to build retargeting audiences of outdoor enthusiasts.
• Launch (June 5-8, 4 days): Full product reveal across all channels simultaneously. Launch-day livestream featuring the stove in action (outdoor cooking demo). Activate all affiliate creator content. Deploy launch discount (15% off stove, 20% off stove + accessory bundle). Maximum ad spend with product demo and UGC content.
• Sustain (June 9-18, 10 days -- extends through TikTok Shop Summer Sale): Continue ad spend at 60% of launch-phase daily rate. Release second wave of content (customer reactions, field test videos, comparison content). Overlap with TikTok Shop Summer Sale -- add platform coupons on top of existing bundle deals. Push bundle attach rate with existing products.
• Wind-down (June 19-22, 4 days): Transition to evergreen content strategy for the stove. Set baseline daily ad spend. Collect and compile launch reviews and ratings for ongoing social proof.

Step 4 -- Content Planning (Stove Launch): Pre-heat (10 assets): 4 teaser videos ("something's cooking" series, 15 seconds each), 3 email sequence pieces, 1 creator briefing kit (product specs, talking points, sample scripts), 1 product photography set (10 images), 1 TikTok ad seed video featuring existing products with camping theme. All due by May 18 (two weeks before pre-heat starts; creators need samples by May 15 at the latest for a June 5 embargo).

Launch (14 assets): 2 hero product demo videos (60 seconds, one studio and one field), 1 livestream run-of-show (90-minute outdoor cooking demo), 4 affiliate creator videos (one per creator), 3 ad creative variants for prospecting, 2 ad creative variants for retargeting, 1 launch email, 1 SMS blast. Due by May 30.

Sustain (8 assets): 2 customer reaction/testimonial videos, 2 field test or comparison videos, 2 retargeting ad refreshes, 1 Summer Sale promotional graphic, 1 email to non-purchasers. Due by June 7.

Step 5 -- Budget Allocation (Stove Launch, $4,200 total):

• Pre-heat: $630 (15%) -- video view ads for audience building ($400), creator product sample and shipping costs ($230)
• Launch: $2,100 (50%) -- TikTok ads ($1,300), creator performance fees ($500), platform promotion investment ($300)
• Sustain: $1,050 (25%) -- retargeting and prospecting ads ($700), Summer Sale co-investment ($200), creator sustain content ($150)
• Wind-down: $420 (10%) -- evergreen ad baseline ($320), performance bonus pool for top creator ($100)

Discount guardrails: Stove standalone maximum discount 15%. Bundle (stove + accessories) maximum discount 25%. During TikTok Shop Summer Sale overlap, platform coupons may add up to 10% additional but total effective discount must not exceed 30% on any line item. Minimum margin floor: 40% gross margin after all discounts.

Step 6 -- Review Cadence: Weekly Monday reviews throughout the period. Stove launch mid-campaign checkpoint on June 3 (2 days before launch) for final go/no-go on inventory, content, and creator readiness. Post-launch review by June 12 to feed learnings into the sustain phase and Summer Sale strategy. Prime Day counter-sale planning review by June 25 (once Amazon announces dates, convert from tentative to confirmed and finalize Tier 2 campaign brief).

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Common Mistakes

1. Building the calendar around brand milestones only. Sellers map their own product launches and anniversaries but ignore platform events and seasonal peaks. The calendar should start with external demand signals and layer brand events on top, not the other way around.

2. Equal budget distribution across all weeks. Spreading $10,000 evenly across 4 weeks ($2,500/week) ignores the reality that one week may contain a Tier 1 event while another has nothing. Budget should flex heavily toward high-priority event windows.

3. No pre-heat phase for major campaigns. Jumping straight into a sale without building awareness, retargeting audiences, and creator content pipelines in advance. The most common version: setting up a Black Friday promotion on November 27 and wondering why the first day underperforms.

4. Ignoring content production lead times. The calendar shows a livestream on June 5 and a creator video campaign on June 6, but no one accounted for the 10-14 days needed to brief creators, ship products, produce content, and review edits. Content deadlines must work backward from publish dates.

5. Stacking discounts without modeling total margin impact. A 20% shop discount combined with a 15% platform coupon and a 10% bundle deal results in a 45% total discount -- often below breakeven. Every promotion should be modeled at maximum stack depth before activation.

6. No contingency budget or pivot triggers. The entire budget is committed to planned campaigns with zero reserve for unexpected opportunities (a product goes viral) or necessary pivots (a planned event underperforms). Keep 5% in reserve with documented deployment rules.

7. Treating the calendar as static after creation. Building a Q4 calendar in September and never updating it. Platform events get rescheduled, new promotional opportunities emerge, and early campaign data should reshape later campaigns. The calendar is a living document that gets refined at every weekly review.

8. Planning content quantity without format diversity. Scheduling "5 posts per week" without specifying that Week 1 needs 2 short-form product demos, 1 livestream, 1 UGC compilation, and 1 promotional graphic. Each campaign phase calls for different content formats, and the calendar should specify them.

9. Failing to coordinate messaging across channels. TikTok posts announce a sale, but the email that goes out the same day features different products at different discount levels. Every channel should reference the same campaign brief with consistent offers and messaging themes.

10. Not documenting post-campaign learnings. Sellers run a successful (or unsuccessful) campaign and move immediately to the next one without recording what worked, what failed, and what to change. Post-campaign reviews within 3 business days are essential for compounding improvement.

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Resources

• Output Template (references/output-template.md): Structured template for the campaign calendar deliverable, including monthly overview, weekly breakdown, event-linked promotions, and budget allocation tables.

• Ecommerce Event Calendar (references/ecommerce-event-calendar.md): Reference calendar of major ecommerce events, platform sale days, and seasonal peaks organized by month, with typical traffic and conversion impact ratings.

• Campaign Design Framework (references/campaign-design-framework.md): Detailed framework for designing individual campaigns using the four-phase model (pre-heat, launch, sustain, wind-down), including timing guidelines, activity checklists, and phase transition criteria.

• Quality Checklist (assets/quality-checklist.md): Comprehensive 35+ item checklist across 7 categories for validating that a campaign calendar meets quality standards before execution begins.