Making the Most of Time in Your Marketing
Did you get to do everything you wanted in your small business this week? No? How about your marketing? Yeah…we’ve been there.
Time is pretty much your most valuable resource in a small business. And how we use time in our marketing can be challenging. Marketing is often time-consuming – from planning and strategizing to executing and measuring. And when it comes to marketing campaigns, time becomes even more critical. A successful marketing campaign requires not only enough time for planning and executing but also enough time for the campaign to gain visibility and get results. We’re going to discuss the importance of time in your marketing campaigns and why you need to give it the attention it deserves.
Marketing: It Takes More Time Than You Think
If you’re a marketer, you know this. But if you’re new to marketing, or you don’t spend much day-to–day time with it anymore, here’s. a good reminder: good marketing takes time. One of the most time-consuming aspects of marketing is creating the materials (also known as creative or assets) needed to execute your campaigns or content. From writing blog posts and social media captions to designing graphics and producing videos, every piece of content takes time and labor to create, refine, approve, and schedule. Rushing the content creation process can lead to mistakes, poor quality, and ineffective campaigns– probably not the results you want!
Plan Enough Time for Your Marketing Campaign to Get Results
Once you have created the materials for your campaign, you need to let them gain visibility and get results. We get it– this is tough when we’re eager to see results. But the process of reaching or converting your audience also takes time, and it's crucial not to rush it. Many marketers make the mistake of expecting immediate results from their campaigns, which can lead to disappointment, and a lack of motivation to continue, and potentially missing out on those good results as the campaign or content gains momentum.
It's important to understand that campaigns need time to gain traction and get results. You need to give your campaign enough time to reach your target audience and resonate with them. This process can take weeks or even months, depending on the complexity of your campaign. The trend of virality has given the false impression that all you have to do is make that one perfect post to meet your goals. In reality, it's crucial to set realistic expectations for your campaigns, from planning to publishing, and then give them enough time to succeed. Rushing your campaigns won’t get you where you want to go.
Avoid Last-Minute Content Turnaround
In marketing, there will always be unexpected situations that require immediate action. However, it's crucial to avoid same-day content turnaround as much as possible. Creating content on the fly frequently leads to mistakes and poor quality, which can negatively impact your campaign's success. It’s also a huge time draw from you or your team’s future marketing efforts. It is possible to spend so much time chasing last minute content that there’s never a chance to build quality content for the future, and that’s a position to avoid at all costs.
Instead, you should have a plan in place for unexpected situations that require immediate action. (Knowing what genuinely calls for immediate action is another fraught aspect of marketing, and business). For instance, you can create a simple announcement template that your team can use in case of an emergency. This will ensure that your team can respond quickly without compromising the quality of your campaign materials.
Our rule of thumb is: if it’s related to health or safety (e.g. a storm warning, compromised location, government alerts) or the immediate cancellation/rescheduling of an event, then it may well warrant an announcement on your marketing platforms. However, not everything is a marketing emergency. Some things that don’t count (but are often pushed as one by leadership) include:
Falling short of sales goals
Falling short of donation/development goals (for nonprofits)
Lower-than-hoped funnel conversions
These things are not marketing emergencies. They are business challenges that need to be thoroughly evaluated outside of just marketing. A solid marketing plan or campaign will have planned for, and included, last minute reminders or last-chance content around a given goal. If the goal is still short in spite of a solidly executed campaign, then it’s a message that there’s a problem with the product, offer, season/timing, or goal itself–not necessarily the marketing. It’s a hard truth for a lot of businesses but important to keep in mind, as making this mistake repeatedly can be costly.
If you’re feeling like you don’t have enough time to get your marketing done, you’re not alone– and we have a solution with the Minimal Marketing Plan. Starting with a realistic set of marketing platforms and volume of content creation is key to finding marketing that is possible for you! Download your free plan today to get started.