When business is booming and everything’s going well, it seems fair to cut back on your marketing efforts. More business means less spare time, so investing effort in marketing becomes difficult, and easy to neglect.
But even the strongest business wave will eventually run out and if you neglect marketing in the good times, you might end up high and dry.
The biggest brands in the world — Apple, Nike, Coca-Cola — never stop selling themselves, and neither should your company.
So, how do you keep up your marketing efforts even at the busiest times? Here are five tips to make sure you don’t lose the plot with marketing when business picks up.
Figure out what kind of marketing you actually like
If you don’t enjoy it, you probably won’t do it. That’s life. For many people, cold calling never happens because they hate it. Instead of beating yourself up over it, be realistic and figure out which marketing activities you like so you will actually do them. Most marketing techniques will work if you do them consistently.
Schedule regular marketing activities
It may sound obvious, but if it’s scheduled on your calendar, then you’re more likely to do it. If it’s not there, it’s much easier to ignore. Block out time or create due dates for your marketing activities. Schedule things that you can control, such as sending out direct mail or booking advertising. If they’re on your calendar, you can schedule your other work around them.
Make your website work for you 24/7
A website can do a lot of your marketing while you’re busy. It can sign up new subscribers to your newsletter, it can conduct a survey, it can sell products, and it can advertise your services. But your website can only do as much as you’ve set it up to do. Make sure you’ve got a clear purpose for it, and that it’s up-to-date, visually engaging, and easy to navigate (particularly, it should be easy to find your contact details).
Reuse your content in your marketing
Developing new content is often too time-consuming when you’re busy. Recycle your existing content so you won’t have to reinvent the wheel every time you turn your attention toward marketing. For example, if you write a “how to”, you can use that content on your blog as well as in your newsletter.
Use external marketing services
If you sincerely believe that using an external field services company is good for your clients, why isn’t it good for you to use external providers for marketing? They can help you develop and implement an effective, realistic marketing plan. When you’re busy, you are short of time but have the revenue to afford help, so it’s a perfect match.