Can you relate to this?
You start your business with literally millions of creative ideas. And you’ve developed the best plan to market those ideas.
But then, as you build momentum, you feel swamped with orders and client requests, leaving little time to follow through on your wonderful marketing plan. And soon, you’re sending emails willy-nilly, and posting on social media in periodic surges. What’s happening?
Well, you’ve encountered what a lot of small business owners do: Inconsistency.
Marketing consistently is critical to achieving your goals. But it doesn’t involve generating 100% original content and promotions, 100% of the time.
In fact, we’re sharing some top-performing marketing hacks that build consistency, which will enable your marketing efforts to take off.
Why Consistency Matters
You might wonder:
“Sending emails once in a while isn’t that big of a deal, right?”
“As long as I post something on social media, that’s okay, right?”
The short answer is: Wrong.
The long(er) answer is this:
Consistency matters in marketing. Consistency targets the customers directly, and shows them that you care and you’re capable. When you’re consistent, customers will grow to expect valuable content, periodic promotions, and regular insight. When you meet those expectations, your customers evaluate your credibility more highly and become more loyal.
The bottom line: Consistency affects your bottom line.
Try 5 Marketing Hacks that Build Consistency
So, the question remains: HOW do you market your products consistently, when you’re already swamped?
It begins with setting realistic expectations. That is, don’t plan to publish two blogs per week and engage on every social media channel imaginable. That’s not sustainable. And, it’s a breeding ground for inconsistency.
Choose the strategies that you know you can commit to, and don’t be afraid to start small. As long as it’s consistent, you’ll give yourself room to grow. And GROWTH is a great sign.
To begin, try these 5 marketing hacks that build consistency.
1. Use Templates
One reason small business marketing becomes inconsistent is: TIME. Many small business owners find that they simply don’t have the time to plan, create, and publish their marketing efforts. That means that blogs, emails, and social media gets done only when they have time.
This is understandable, but the fact is, you don’t need to spend a lot of time creating original designs for every social media post, email, banner, or more. You just need templates, which you can reuse over time.
Consider using a free service like Canva. You can sign up for a free plan, and have access to thousands of free, customizable templates for Instagram stories, social media posts, banners, and more.
Templates are a great marketing hack that build consistency because:
- They’ll ensure that your graphic designs are on-brand and beautifully aligned, telling the true story of “you.”
- They’ll streamline the content development process, enabling you to implement your marketing plans more quickly and regularly!
Think of templates as a “plug and play” tool that will give you the foundation of your marketing strategy – and allow you to stay consistent!
2. Plan in Large Chunks
Ever hear of “panic posting?”
This phenomenon happens when you know you need to publish SOMETHING, so you’re creating content in a frenzy, regardless of what it really means, just so you can have something out there, for the record!
The trouble with this lies in its title: it’s panicky, and it’ll show. That’s because it’s almost completely devoid of careful planning, and it’ll generate content of little value.
So how do you generate valuable content, consistently?
Plan it in large chunks.
That means that you plan your content in three-month batches. Yes, three months.
Identify a trajectory you want your content to take for that timespan. Then, identify a theme for each month. Next, use the monthly theme to help you develop weekly content.
When you have your content ready to go, you can schedule it for publication. Keep track of future ideas in a notebook, and refer to it when you’re ready to plan your next batch.
3. Automate Tasks
Did you catch the important word in the previous paragraph? Check back for a moment. We’ll wait.
Did you see it?
That’s right, the word is: schedule.
Another word we could use here is “automate.” To help your marketing plans stay consistent, utilize the powerful automation technology of a content planner.
For example, save time publishing individual posts every day by using your Facebook Business Manager. This is an effective and free tool that allows you to input content and schedule it for publication at a later date.
This will ensure that your content is posted regularly, saving you time and energy.
4. Repurpose Content
Of course, the time will come when you don’t feel very inspired, and you’re having a hard time coming up with content ideas. When you lack new, fresh ideas, it’s easy to let your social media accounts take a nap or put your emails on administrative leave.
But here’s the marketing hack: repurpose your content.
For example, look at the blog you have written for the week. How can you digest its wonderful wisdom and wit into a social media graphic? Think of lists, mind maps, or insightful carousels. These appear in your feed as posts like “5 Best Tips to…” or “Hot Trends You Must Know About…” or “Money-Saving Mom Hacks…”
While it’s a good idea to keep things fresh and infuse new creations regularly, repurposing content gives you a break and maintains consistency.
5. Get Cute with Timing
This is the fun one! Think of cute and fun ways you can publish regular content under the same title, at the same time every month (or week!).
For example, we at Spicy Lemon Marketing publish a “Monday Marketing Tip” on Instagram every single Monday. That means that, when we’re planning our content, we know that for every Monday, we need to create a simple, valuable tip to help small business owners with their marketing.
Also, when we plan our content, we decide on monthly themes. To begin the month, we share an inspirational quote that captures the theme. Each month, we know that’s coming, and we plan accordingly. The content itself is new and fresh, but the idea is the same (little guess work!).
The cool thing about this, is that your audience will grow to expect your Monday Marketing Tips or your monthly Inspirational Quotes. They’ll look for them, enjoy them, and interact with them.
🍋 Choose One Marketing Hack to Get Started
As they say, “Rome wasn’t built in a day.” To that end, your revitalized and consistent marketing strategy will take time, too.
To start, commit to one marketing hack. Take two-three months to get that underway, and, when you’re comfortable, add another one. Remember, starting small is totally okay.
And when you need inspiration or supportive advice, head over to our social pages, where we’re there for you! Click follow, and never miss a tip!
