Marketing Overwhelm? You’re Not Alone.
If you are the owner of a small business there is a good chance that you have some goals in mind about what you want to achieve over the next year. There is also good chance you don’t have a clear, focused marketing plan in place. Without a plan, it is easy to caught in a cycle of sporadic, off-the-cuff social posts, last minute emails and plans that never quite work.
Guess what though, your marketing plan doesn’t need to be complicated! If you keep it simple you are much more likely to stick with it. And if you stick with it, you are more likely to see results. Keep reading to find out more about building a basic strategy. My step-by-step approach prevents overwhelm and helps you pick out what is important for your business.
Why You Need a Plan
Like any plan, without one, how do you get where you want to be, and how do you know when you’ve made it? Here is why having a plan matters:
- Saves time/energy: you might be doing some specific marketing tasks, but if they don’t align with goals, reach your audience and have an impact, then it is essentially a waste of time
- Keeps you consistent: marketing your business regularly and methodically helps build trust and awareness for your brand
- Focuses on your audience: you need to reach the right people, a good plan helps you do this
- Tracks what is working, and what isn’t: monitoring results helps you do more of the effective stuff
But How?!
This simple 6 step plan sets out what you need to do, why you need to do it, and how it will be done.
Step 1: Define your business goals
Your marketing plan should include clear objectives. What do you want to achieve? More leads, better reputation locally, increased website traffic? Break it down to no more than three and be specific about what they are.
Not ‘I want to sell more’, try ‘I want to increase sales by 15% over 6 months’.
Step 2: Work out where you are now
Before you can improve, you need to know what is happening now. Look at your digital marketing and list everything you are currently doing, and what is happening as a result.
- What platforms are you on? Do you post and do people engage? How often?
- Do you have a website? Can people find it? Do people visit it?
- How do you engage with customers/potential customers?
Step 3: Identify Your Ideal Client
Marketing legend Seth Godin tells us that by marketing to everyone, you are marketing to no-one. This is because people only pay attention to the ‘stuff’ that is of interest to them.
Think about:
- Who does my product/service help?
- How does it help them? What problem does it solve?
- Where do these people ‘hang out – Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn etc?
Knowing who and where they are helps you tailor your messaging to them, in a place they will see it.
Step 4: Choose the Right Marketing Channels
You don’t need to be everywhere—just where your customers are.
Platform | Best For |
Visual businesses, lifestyle brands, personal brands | |
B2B, professional services, thought leadership | |
Community engagement, local businesses, older audiences | |
Email Marketing | Building long-term relationships and repeat customers |
SEO & Blogging | Driving website traffic and organic leads |
Think about starting with one or two channels and get consistent before expanding.
Step 5: Create a Simple Content Plan
Your marketing plan needs to include what you will say, as well as where you say it. Think about creating content that is
- Educational (to help build credibility)
- Engaging (to encourage interaction)
- Sales driven (to get people to buy)
It doesn’t need to be all of these three things at once, but try to include at least one element in each piece of content.
Try and build a consistent posting plan with blogs and newsletters a couple of times a month to keep your website up to date and show off your knowledge, and social media posts 3-5 times a week. Remember though, if you know this isn’t practical, then do something that is. Consistency is key.
Don’t forget to look at free/low budget tools to help with content creation!
Step 6: Track What’s Working (and What’s Not!)
After all of your hard work, it would be remiss of you to forget about it and assume it is working. Tracking what is happening is key to improvement.
What you need to track depends on your goals. Think about
- Website analytics: Who is visiting? What pages are they landing on? Are they sticking around or ‘bouncing’ quickly?
- Social Media analytics: what is getting engagement? what are your audience demographics?
- Email analytics: What is the open rate? Are people following links? What action is being taken?
Try and set aside time each month to review your analytics and adjust your marketing plan accordingly.
The 3 Golden Rules of Marketing Success
Increase Your Chances of Success
- Be consistent: done is better than perfect
- Less is more: focus on what works, not on doing everything
- Track and adjust: check out what is happening and adjust your approach as needed
Need Help Creating a Marketing Plan That Works for Your Business?
If you still feel stuck (or just can’t be bothered to create a plan) we can help. With our one to one sessions, or a done for you service, we can build a plan that works for you. Saving time, and possibly your sanity. Contact us for a friendly chat.
Stress-less and make your marketing more effective by getting us involved.