There’s a misconception that marketing a business is always time-consuming. Not so. If you know where to put your efforts, it’s completely possible to handle the essential marketing tactics in five hours or less a week. Here’s where you should be putting your energy.
Social Media
Managing your social media accounts is a breeze once you streamline the process. Each of the following can be done in an hour or less.
Following New People
Set a goal of new people to connect with each week, such as:
- 50 on Twitter
- 10 on LinkedIn
- 50 on Instagram
Start with the people who are following you. Quickly scan each profile to see if they fit your target demographic. If so, follow them back. Next, search for hashtags that relate to your industry, and follow people using them there. You can also follow journalists or bloggers whose content you like to read.
Scheduling Updates
With the right social media scheduling tool, you can create all your updates and shares for the week (or longer) in minutes. Aim for a mix of shared content (yours and others), company updates and thought-provoking questions. Pepper in videos and images to pique interest.
To shave off the time you spend on finding great content to share, use content curation tools like these to quickly find the kinds of articles your audience wants to read.
Responding to People
This is one activity that needs to happen in real time, so carve out time each day to see who’s sent you messages or referred to your content on social media so you can respond accordingly.
Email
Using email automation, you can continue to engage new prospects over time.
Start your email series with an offer, such as a free whitepaper. Then set up a series of emails that will follow that initial download email. You can include informational articles, product comparisons, videos, special offers, et cetera.
Once you create the copy for these, use your automation software to set up the emailing schedule, such as “Email one is sent four days after Download Email.”
You can also create email templates for common customer service inquiries, such as:
- Where’s my product?
- How do I return a product?
- I’m unsatisfied with my product
Public Relations
Your PR strategy can be continually nurtured with a little effort each week.
Managing Media Contacts
As I’ve said before, you can’t just connect with a journalist when you’re desperate to get your news out there. It requires ongoing nurturing and maintenance. So each week, target one new journalist.
Follow her on social media. Share her content. Comment on her articles. Do this with one additional journalist each week until you have a stable list of media contacts that you’re actively engaging.
Writing Press Releases
Once you’ve written one press release, the others are easier to create. You can use the initial one as a template and keep the boilerplate and format the same (or try these press release templates PR Newswire has put together). As you come up with new press release topics, add them to a spreadsheet so you never lack ideas.
Content Creation
Content marketing is another area that can seem overwhelming, but if you continually work on it, it won’t take over your life.
Blogging
Keep a spreadsheet of blog topics so that when you’re ready to write, you’re not challenged with blogger’s block. Write a few articles a week and schedule them in advance. That way, if you get busy one week, you already have content lined up and ready to be published
Other Types of Content
Other marketing content like whitepapers and ebooks may take longer to plan, so chip away at them each week. If you know in Q4 you want to release a big whitepaper, the planning and creation needs to happen in Q2.
By working on your marketing a little at a time, you can have a steady stream of new and innovative strategies to reach your customers.
Make the most of your time with measurement.
When it comes down to it, the marketing activities you should dedicate time (and budget) to are the ones that drive results. Discover which metrics matter most by downloading Avoid the Numbers Trap & Give Your Clients Meaningful Reports. This free guide can help agencies and brand marketers alike prove (and improve on!) their value.
