Crafting a Marketing Plan
As we start to slowly come out of stay-at-home orders, we must craft a marketing plan to restart. We have spent the last month talking about what we need to do to make our business strong. The biggest question that came up, again and again, was how to make a marketing plan. Many people felt like they are spinning their wheels or keep investing in marketing ideas that go nowhere. The biggest problem with that is that you aren’t sure where you want to end up!
Aiming Blind
Often when we market we are blindly aiming to hit a target without even knowing where it is. We have a general idea in mind of the end result but not plan in place on how to get there. This is often the first and most crucial step in creating a marketing plan that works. Do I sometimes throw spaghetti at the wall to see what sticks, yes? There is a time and a place to test ideas and see what happens but as we restart our businesses after Covid we need to be laser-focused on what we are doing and why.
Long Range Planning
We often get a lot of questions on how we crank out content for two very separate brands and aside from recycling evergreen content, we also long-range plan. By long-range planning I avoid:
- Running out of content
- Feeling like a hamster spinning my wheels
- Wasting effort on marketing that goes nowhere
So how does one even begin to long-range plan? Snag a big calendar, not the dinky kind but a BIG desk or wall-size one. Flip ahead six months and ask yourself what marketing campaigns should you be running for photography at that time. What are you offering and what will your call to action be? From there ask yourself what content needs to be crafted around that marketing plan.
Short Term Planning
Now that you have an idea what you need to be doing six months from now, it’s time to craft a short term marketing plan. This will look a little different as we are literally having to restart your business. If you have been silent on social media during the pandemic we have to start throwing coal on your marketing fire to get the engine back into gear and chugging along. Start by crafting content around your content buckets. If you aren’t sure what those are then head here.
Now you need to decide what platforms do you want to market on. While we always say that crafting a marketing plan around blogging is ideal, we know most people either don’t want to blog or struggle to stay consistent with that. So, with realism at the center of marketing ask yourself what you actually can do and what platforms you will market on.
How Do I Keep Up
Now you may be wondering how to keep up with a marketing plan on Pinterest, Instagram, Facebook, and all the other things you have to do. Simply put you have to be consistent. That dark hole of Facebook scrolling you fell into . . STOP IT! The cute cat videos you binged on . . cut it OUT! Your marketing plans will die a swift death if you can’t stay consistent. So, the simplest answer is to block off time in the day (mornings are best) to get this done. Don’t try to marathon it but instead with small bites week by week, it will get done.
I Need More HELP
Still feel like you need more help? We got you! Next week we are announcing something brand new to give your business the kick in the pants it needs to get out of it’s proverbial quarantine sweats and get back into action. If you want in on all the deets then you better head over and join our private group because I am ONLY announcing it there.
