When you’re working full-time to run a business, finding the spare time to do your own marketing can seem like a distant dream. It’s one of the most common reasons business owners give for not working on their marketing, but there are techniques to help you keep on top of things.
From proper planning, to using the right technology, here are our five tips to help you make more time for marketing without letting your business down.
In the same way you’d always make time for a VIP client, set aside some time each week to work on your marketing. Dedicating just a short amount of time to your marketing can have a huge impact in the long run, whether that’s writing your Facebook updates or researching what potential customers are saying about you.
If you have the luxury of quiet periods through the year (for example around Christmas if you’re a B2B company), make the most of these times by planning and writing the messages for your marketing in advance, so you’ve got something ready to go even when it’s really busy.
Here are some ideas for what you can do during your quiet periods:
Research shows that 65% of small businesses use outdated technology , which can seriously damage how productive you are (Econsultancy, 2016). Making sure all your software is up to date can increase how much work you get done and make sure marketing activities run smoothly. The right technology can even help you manage and schedule your social media, so you can save time during the week by writing updates in advance.
One of the simplest tools you can use to help manage your marketing is Excel. You can set up spreadsheets or use some of the calendar templates which come with Excel to plan out your marketing, as well as using Excel to keep on top of your marketing budget. Other easy and useful tools are your email provider (like Gmail) where you can set up reminders to help you get things done, programmes like Mailchimp that help you schedule your emails in advance and websites like Moz Local that help you update all of your online directories at once. We also really like Todoist, a free app for creating and managing to-do lists.
Sometimes you have to hold your hands up and admit there are some things you just can’t do all by yourself. Nearly 60% of small businesses waste up to 10 hours a week on admin, taking time away from activities like marketing that could increase your profits (123-reg, 2016).
If you’re really struggling it may be worth outsourcing parts of your administration or marketing. Websites like People Per Hour and Upwork can help you find freelancers who’ll support your marketing, from taking over your social media to creating and uploading regular blog posts.
Creating a marketing calendar will help you to plan your specific marketing activities for the coming year. It is a useful way to map out when and how you will communicate your messages.
For instance, if Christmas is your busiest period you can use your marketing calendar to plan when you will start getting your flyers printed so there’s time to send them out, or when you need to add certain seasonal web pages. Read our Beginners’ Marketing Calendar article to make sure you’re prepared for your business year in advance.
Making more time for marketing is possible, whether that’s working with a trusted outside company or using technology to manage your marketing. For more ideas on how to manage your marketing, take a look at our articles
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