Every time I talk to a business owner the tell me the same thing, “I don’t have time to do marketing for my own business!” I get it. It’s a constant roller coaster of attracting clients and serving clients, and when you’re busy with clients, there’s no time to attract clients.
What you need is a “Daily Marketing Plan”. So I asked my community of business owners how they made time for marketing every day. And here’s what they said.
So put down that to-do list, and let’s dive in to some actionable tips for boosting your brand with minimal effort.
Try Video Marketing
You will need to devote one day—or a large portion of a day—to recording a video that is sure to be circulated via social media and viewed by thousands, perhaps even millions, of people. It’s a video that needs to be done well by a professional, and it should include interesting content and visuals that generate word-of-mouth and more views.
If you can post a video that explains what your brand does and provides examples and real-life testimonials, it will go a long way toward your marketing effort. Devote time on that specific project, but once it’s done, it can be the centerpiece of your marketing. And it can free you up to do other tasks within the company that require your full attention.
Our BuzzFeed video profiling someone using our brand has elicited nearly 4.5 million views since it was posted on YouTube four years ago, and it has bolstered our company unlike anything else we’ve tried. All it took was one day’s worth of work.
Brittany Dolin, Co-Founder, Pocketbook Agency
Get a Creator Mindset
This is a challenge that almost all of our clients have. They have these amazing ideas for content and marketing their business/personal brand yet lack the time for execution. So we introduced them to what we call the Creator Mindset.
Rather than viewing content creation and marketing as something besides (i.e., supplementary) your life, integrate it. Content is something that, as you go throughout your day, you take 15 seconds to record that quick boomerang on Instagram. Do you feel particularly inspired? Film the video!
Integrating content creation into your life makes the task feel less daunting and, with time, more natural. An aspect of your routine. After a few months of doing this, not posting will make you feel uncomfortable!
Another practice to have is filming a batch of content all at once and editing it in advance. On Sunday, you may film seven short videos and write their captions, and on each subsequent day, all you have to do is upload them.
Isaac Mashman, Founder, Mashman Ventures
Crowdsource Your Blog Content
In my blog, I share advice with fellow freelancers on how to start and grow profitable freelance businesses. But marketing the blog can feel like a full-time job, especially since my major source of income comes from writing for my clients.
To scale my time and efforts, I crowdsource quotes, tips, and advice from other freelancers. I compile their insights into blog articles, which gives me tons of free content to share. They get free exposure, and I get to keep building my brand in just minutes per week.
I also accept guest blog posts on my blog, which allows other freelancers to promote themselves while also sharing valuable advice with my readers. Bottom line: You don’t have to do all of your marketing yourself.
Alli Hill, Founder & Director, Fleurish Freelance
Make It a Group Project
Our small business comprises four people who have no prior marketing experience. Instead of making someone responsible for all the marketing tasks, we have created a strategy where everyone can be involved and improve their skills.
We have created a list of tasks that need to be done daily and split it among the four of us. Each day, we have to dedicate an hour to work on these tasks uninterruptedly. In our weekly meeting, we check the progress and discuss how we can further improve our growth and help each other out. This plan works efficiently for our business, creating less stress on the employees and giving each person an opportunity to learn something new.
Luke Smoothy, Director, Get It Made
Spend Two Daily on Social Media
I’m a busy entrepreneur, so I like to keep my marketing routine totally streamlined to maximize efficiency. I generally spend two hours a day on social media, using SocialPilot to interact with my audience and measure relationships, performance, and competitor activity.
I use this time to unearth valuable insights I can use in my campaigns as well as establish brand consistency. A tip I have for entrepreneurs who don’t have enough time for marketing is to work ahead of schedule: create content and automate your channels, ready for when you actually begin marketing them online. This will ensure that your vision executes swiftly and consistently while you keep ownership of your message.
Rosmy Barrios, Director, Health Reporter
Focus on the 80/20 Rule
There are five productivity principles that I rely on to get results:
1. Schedule my work in advance, so I don’t get distracted by reactive work requests
2. Win the morning, win the day! If your morning is productive, your entire day will be productive.
3. Eat the frog first. If you tackle the most difficult/important task first thing in the day, the rest of the day becomes easier and your day is already productive.
4. Focus on my 20% tasks (80-20 rule). Twenty percent of inputs bring in eighty percent of outputs. Find those twenty percent inputs.
5. Less is more. Take up less work than what you can complete, but complete it. As marketers, we overestimate the amount of work to be done and the most important tasks remain unfinished by the end of the week. With the “less is more” approach, you’ll make sure you’re prioritizing the right initiatives and ensuring you complete them.
Madhav Bhandari, Head of Marketing, Early Stage Marketing
Hire a Marketing Agency
My marketing routine involves a huge amount of writing. I think writing is the single most important skill an entrepreneur can master for their marketing efforts. Even if you don’t have time to do your own marketing, being able to write well will help you identify good writing when you evaluate marketing agencies.
Although TV and print marketing remains effective, most marketing takes place online. That means you need to do a ton of search engine optimization (SEO) writing to drive traffic to your site. You need to understand what people are searching for related to your product or service and be able to deliver engaging content that points to your company being the answer.
My number one tip for those who don’t have time to do their own marketing: consider hiring a marketing agency to help you out; the prices are more reasonable than you might think. Having an agency that has your back in producing authentic written content will go a long way toward boosting your engagement.
William Varney, Product Strategist, Megaphone Marketing
Automate Your Social Media
As a solopreneur, I never have enough time to manage all my marketing. For maximum efficiency, I use an evergreen recycler called MeetEdgar to manage my social media. MeetEdgar allows me to upload a bunch of posts all at once. When it reaches the end of the queue, it restarts again. I always try to add fresh content as often as I can, but I don’t need to panic if I don’t get to it because MeetEdgar will keep posting if I forget. This one tool has saved me so much time and stress!
Nicole Thelin, Founder, Low Income Relief
Design Ads With Creatopy
Entrepreneurs who don’t have time for marketing can use Creatopy. As a marketing director, I can ensure it’s a great tool. It’s an innovative ad design platform.
One can create engaging ads that fulfill all their needs. You can make ads as banners. If you are a first-timer, you can use industry-specific templates. There are also standard sizes. After gaining experience, you can also make your own custom designs.
To bring ads to life, take advantage of high-quality stock photos. You can also browse the video and audio libraries. Its automation capabilities are attractive features. Eliminate repetitive tasks with a few clicks. You can also create multiple ads at once. Downloading and editing them is so convenient.
Cynthia Hamilton, Marketing Director, OGLF
Schedule Marketing Time Blocks
As a solo blogger, allocating my marketing time has been one of the biggest bottlenecks to growing my business. As a result, I had to get creative with establishing a marketing routine while completing my work.
Typically, my routine involves blocking off about three hours in the mornings dedicated only to marketing. Doing this allows me to narrow my focus and be more productive in the time I have to work on it. Content writing and link building are both super impactful for my marketing efforts, so I focus on one of these areas daily. One day, I’ll spend my time block writing a blog post. The next day, I’ll work on finding sites to pitch for link building.
By setting aside a marketing time block and focusing intensely on a single task, I can accomplish more and work on tasks with a more significant impact.
Axel DeAngelis, Founder, Jumpcoast
Identify Audience Demographics With Google Trends
A key focal point of my marketing routine is gathering key data about our audience, including age, gender, geographic location, and their likes and interests. This information is precious because it helps me identify our target market and what they want.
This information also enables me to effectively develop marketing campaigns and strategic approaches that provide value to our audience. There are several free resources available for free demographic research. One that I’ve found especially helpful is Google Trends.
Google Trends provides free insight into the popularity and usage of keywords and topics. You can filter this information by location and seasonal patterns for additional insight. Google Trends also allows you to easily share or export this data. I highly recommend this tool to entrepreneurs who don’t have time for marketing because it provides insight that will help optimize your marketing across all platforms.
Nick Allen, Founder, Sportslingo
Write Emails in Mailchimp
I have been the chief editor of a magazine for over eight years, so I know how important marketing is to keep subscribers interested and engaged. I use MailChimp, an email marketing tool, as my primary source of communication with potential and existing subscribers.
I also use social media platforms and create posts or share articles related to my magazine content. I rely heavily on referrals from other businesses that I partner with, which brings in target readers who are looking for stories like the ones I tell in the magazine.
On top of all this, I put up digital posters online and around town to let people know about upcoming events that are mentioned in the magazine. Overall, these strategies have kept my subscription list rising each month, making it well worth the effort!
Annie Morris, Editor-in-Chief, Made In CA
Manage Multiple Areas With Zoho
Email plays a huge role in our marketing campaigns, ensuring we can connect with our customers and run PR campaigns effectively. So, I’ll check my email for any communication and respond to emails.
Meetings and video calls take up the next half hour after my time to reach out to other team members and align goals with clients. I usually go back to finish any ongoing tasks and finish the day by reviewing the tasks and how I performed in them and preparing for the next day.
While my routine may seem flawless, it is only possible by using Zoho, which allows me to handle my email communication, collaborate with teammates, and even manage social media for my company.
Alvin Wei, CMO, SEO Ant
An outstanding overall marketing tool for small business owners. You can run your entire marketing plan from this single dashboard and integrated tools; social media, email, marketing automation and more
What Will You Add to Your Daily Marketing Plan
Well folks, there you have it! A smorgasbord of marketing ideas to add some sizzle to your small business and to your daily marketing plan.
Whether you’re a fan of videos, a believer in the creator mindset, or a crowdsourcing pro, there’s something here for everyone. So don’t let a busy schedule hold you back, pick one of these ideas and make it a part of your daily routine. And remember, baby steps lead to big strides. Happy marketing, solopreneurs!
