Do you feel like you’re constantly being pulled in different directions with your marketing? One minute the experts are saying you must do Facebook advertising. The next minute they’re saying you need to focus on SEO, or Instagram, or cold emailing… But it’s impossible to gain traction if you’re shifting focus from one tactic to the next.
It’s easy to get caught up in trying every new marketing tactic. Each one promises to deliver the best results.
You may also notice your competitors, or other similar businesses, using certain tactics with success. This can force you into the trap of “keeping up with the Joneses.” But chasing after tactics in this way isn’t sustainable, or reliable.
What works for someone else may or may not work for you. They likely have skills, team members, or past experiences to draw upon that are different from what you have.
In reality, sustainability is more important than keeping up with the latest tactics. Take stock of your unique abilities and skills, your network, your customer’s interests, and your goals before you craft your marketing plan.
Consider what you’ll be able to realistically accomplish on a consistent basis. For some people, posting on social media comes naturally, for others creating engaging videos is fun and easy. If you’re an entrepreneur who is bootstrapping, and doing most of the tasks yourself, choose marketing activities that don’t make you feel dread.
Check out the Digital Marketing Strategy Guide for Social Entrepreneurs to go deeper into creating a marketing strategy.
Once you’ve picked the tactics you’re comfortable with, schedule them on your calendar. Plan out your tasks ahead of time, and give yourself enough time in your schedule to implement them.
I usually recommend working in 90 day sprints. This gives you enough time to determine if a strategy is working, and it’s short enough to stay focused on your goal. It also helps to pick a focus area for your 90-day sprint. This could be in the form of promoting a certain product, or implementing a new system, such as a marketing funnel.
The final step is to track your progress. This will help keep you focused, and you’ll be able to see the results clearly. The metrics you track will be determined by the goals you set and the tactics you chose. Be sure to track both your activities (such as number of blog posts published), and your outcomes (such as new email list subscribers).
To summarize:
- Pick marketing tactics that work for you, not what the “experts” or your competitors are doing.
- Create a realistic goal and stick to it for 90 days.
- Track your progress.
Following this path will provide marketing sustainability, and keep you from feeling overwhelmed and stressed out.
Join me on Friday, December 18th, 2020 @ 2PM EST for the 2021 Marketing Planning Workshop!
To learn more about this free session & register: Click Here