5 ways to make marketing your small business easier

Want to know how to make marketing your small business easier?

As a small business owner, you are busy and marketing is probably something you have to do rather than want to do. However, you might be making it harder for yourself than you need to. Keep on reading to find out 5 ways to make marketing your small business easier.

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5 ways to make marketing your small business easier

1. Use your strengths as much as possible

Often when I talk to small business owners marketing their own business, they are doing it because they don’t feel as if they can afford to outsource it yet. If you are in the same boat, know that you are not alone, but you need to find a way to make marketing as easy as possible for you and using your strengths is a great way to do this.

 

There are a whole range of different ways you can market your business and some channels will be better for you than others. When I work with solopreneurs and small business owners I try as much as possible to emphasise that when choosing your marketing channels, you should try and find the sweet spot between what is best for your business, your ideal client and you.

 

For example, if you love to speak then playing to your strengths might involve using Clubhouse, having your own podcast and guesting on other people’s podcasts.

 

Or if you are a wonderful writer you might prefer to run a blog, send a regular newsletter and use Twitter.

 

Whereas, if you are aesthetically driven you might create a gorgeous blog (which is full of images) and use Instagram and Pinterest.

 

Now you might need to use other marketing channels as well, but by taking a moment to really think about your strengths and focusing as much as possible in those areas it should make marketing your small business feel easier.

 

FURTHER READING: Find out more about how to choose the right marketing channels for your business here.

 

2. Have a marketing plan to follow

 

If you are marketing your business without a plan, then I have no doubt that you are making it harder for yourself than it needs to be.

 

Business owners without marketing plans are constantly thinking what they should be doing. They sit and their desk and think should I do this and should I do that. Whereas business owners with a marketing plan know exactly what they need to be doing and when. It isn’t hard to see that having a marketing plan to follow will make marketing your business easier.

 

 

 

I specialise in creating marketing strategies for service-based business owners and then create marketing plans that are designed to be delivered by one person (it can be you or your VA). So if you don’t currently have a marketing plan to follow and want one made specifically for your business by an experienced and qualified marketer (I’m a Chartered Marketer, awarded by the Chartered Institute of Marketing) then a Strategy Day would be perfect for you. Find out more and book a strategy day here.

 

 

If you prefer to create your own marketing plan then I’ve written about how to create a content marketing plan (and there is a free template) here. This doesn’t cover all aspects of marketing but is a great place to start if you want to create a plan for your social media, content and email marketing.

 

 

3. Batch and schedule as much of your marketing as possible

 

Another way to make marketing your small business easier is by batching your marketing tasks. Batching is where you do the same task over and over again. Batching is a great way to save time and I write about how you can save time by batching your content here.

 

If your current marketing is very content heavy (email marketing, social media and long-form content such as a blog, podcast or YouTube channel) then I highly recommend you make your life easier by batching as much content as possible and then scheduling in advance. Take a look at your marketing plan and work out what content you need to create for the next week, fortnight or even month. Then work out what can be scheduled in advance and then have a mammoth session of creating and scheduling.

 

This makes your life easier for a number of reasons. Firstly, when you batch you are usually more efficient with your time. Secondly, rather than marketing being something you are always thinking about you can relax knowing you’ve scheduled your marketing in advance and can now concentrate on doing the other things in your business that you love.

 

 

4. Do as little marketing as is actually required

An easy way to make marketing your small business easier is by doing less. More tasks will make marketing your business feel like more of a chore. In many cases when I review the marketing that a small business owner is doing there is usually an opportunity to review some of the activity with minimal impact to a business. It is time to start applying Pareto’s Principle. Pareto’s Principle, commonly known as the 80/20 rule, is that input and output are very rarely equal. In fact, in most instances 80% of result come from 20% of input. Your job as a business owner is to identify what marketing is highly valuable (you get more out than you put in) and what marketing is really not valuable (you get less out than you put in). Then you stop doing the not valuable activates.

 

In order to make these decisions, you’ll need to do some research. Look at all the data you have access to try and establish what is underperforming.

 

There are usually two ways at looking at removing a marketing activity:

• Stop using the channel altogether – This is where you decide that a marketing channel really isn’t performing and you are going to stop using it altogether
• Reduce the volume/frequency – This is where you decide a channel still has value, but you can alter the volume or frequency of using that channel with limited impact.

 

Does the thought of trying to look at your data and work out what you should be doing freak you out? Well luckily for you I love data and for every client who books a Strategy Day, I will log into their Google Analytics and any other analytics platforms they are using to analyse the data and help you to make informed decisions about what your marketing should be in the future. Find out more and book a strategy day here.

 

 

 

5. Start using automated evergreen marketing

If all of your marketing is currently organic (free) marketing then it is likely to be very time-consuming. A great way to make your life easier and to gain back some of your precious time is to start using marketing that is automated and evergreen. If you are unfamiliar with the term evergreen marketing it is used to describe marketing that is timeless. It is in direct contrast to timely marketing. Evergreen marketing works for businesses that always have their services and/or products available.

 

Here are a few ways you could consider adding automated evergreen marketing in your small business.

 

1. Add a lead magnet and follow-up email sequence into your long-form content – If you create content on a blog, podcast or YouTube channel then you create lead magnets to refer to in this content. For each lead magnet, you’ll need to have a specific opt-in form where people can register. You can then create an automated email sequence that the subscriber would get after they receive the lead magnet. This sequence should ultimately lead someone to a point of sale (whether that be a sales page or to book a sales call).
2. Create an automated webinar, workshop or masterclass – If you have ever delivered a talk, workshop or masterclass why not record it and make it into an automated webinar. The video can live online and people can register to watch 24/7. In that video, you can pitch directly to sell your product and/service, as well as doing a follow-up email sequence.
3. Run paid adverts – Another way to automate your marketing is by using paid adverts. Your paid adverts, once set up, can run 24/7 with very little involvement from you. Depending on what you sell you can decide to direct ads straight to your sales page, or you may direct them to a piece of content or a lead magnet.

 

There you have it! You now know 5 ways to make marketing your small business easier.  

 

Marketing your business is an essential activity so learning how to make it as easy as possible for yourself is a sensible thing to do.

 

I hope by reading this blog post you now feel equipped to start making your life easier in relation to marketing.

 

In the comments, I would love to which tip you are going to start using.

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WANT HELP WITH YOUR MARKETING STRATEGY?

I create personalised marketing strategies to ensure that business owners have a strategy that is manageable based on a business’ resources (time and money), as well as ensure the strategy is moving the business from its current position to its future goals.

If you are reading this blog post, then I’m sure you wish that marketing your business could be easier and having a clear strategy and plan will make it easier for you.

As mentioned earlier I run strategy days where I create a personalised marketing strategy and plan that can be delivered with confidence and ease by one person (you or your VA). To find out more or to book a strategy day click here.

To find out more or to book a strategy day click here.

 

 

Don’t think a Strategy Day is right for you, but know you need some personalised marketing support. Don’t worry I offer a range of services. You can find out all the other ways I work 1-to-1 with solopreneurs and small business owners here.