As a busy family business owner, juggling multiple responsibilities can leave little or no time to plan and manage marketing. However, neglecting your marketing can lead to missed opportunities that hinder growth. To bridge the gap between time constraints and successful marketing, this article covers best practices to effectively plan and manage your marketing strategies.
- Uncover Your Opportunities: Start with uncovering the touchpoints you have to engage with your audience as they move through their buyer’s journey. How does your audience first become aware of a brand? What are those touchpoints? Next, what do they need to see, read, or understand to consider your brand against alternative solutions? Finally, what differentiators, value, or expertise does your audience need to see to make a purchase decision from your brand? Aligning your marketing assets with your audience buyer’s journey is the first step in creating and efficient marketing strategy and will save you a lot of time later on.
- Set Clear Goals: Define your branding and marketing objectives. Are you looking to boost online sales, increase foot traffic, or enhance brand awareness? Perhaps it is all of the above. Knowing and sharing your goals will help to align your team and focus your efforts on the most impactful strategies.
- Plan in Advance: Developing a long-term branding strategy built from your business growth goals will help in delegating responsibilities to employees and streamline execution. Having a long-term plan with set budgets will help your business stay on top of your marketing strategies without being overwhelmed.
- Know Your Target Audience: A digital survey with your current customers can help to understand their needs and pain points, what they value, and how they view your brand. By knowing your target audience more deeply, you can tailor your marketing messages to resonate with them, while also reaching a similar, yet untapped audience. Research will save you wasted time on generic approaches that are likely to fail.
- Leverage Social Media: Social media platforms are a cost-effective way to reach a broad audience. Focus on the platforms most relevant to your business and engage with your audience through regular posts, stories, videos, and quick updates. Although social media can be time-consuming, you can save time by using social media scheduling tools to post bulk content in advance.
- Email Marketing Automation: Content marketing can be a great way to provide valuable resources and stay connected with your audience. To support lead nurturing efforts and showcase your company’s expertise, set up automated email campaigns to support your sales and marketing teams and double your communication outreach.
- Partner with A Marketing Agency: Consider hiring a professional marketing agency to create and manage your marketing strategies. By outsourcing your strategies to experts, your marketing will not be limited by your time constraints or expertise in content creation, SEO, graphic design, etc. A professional team will also serve as the project manager for your brand management, saving you time and ensuring professional results.
- Repurpose Content: Maximize the value of your content by repurposing it across various platforms. For example, you can turn a blog post into a social media infographic or a series of short videos. This approach saves time while maintaining a consistent message.
- Monitor and Analyze Results: Use analytics tools to track the performance of your marketing. By measuring key metrics, such as website traffic, conversion rates, and social media engagement, you can identify what’s working and what needs improvement to avoid wasted time spent on campaigns that aren’t working.
Even with limited time, implementing efficient marketing strategies is possible for busy family business owners. By setting clear objectives, leveraging digital tools, and outsourcing when necessary, you can effectively manage your marketing efforts without compromising on quality. Remember that consistency and targeted efforts will yield the best results, and always be open to adapting your strategies based on the feedback and data you receive. With a well-organized approach, marketing your family business can be both manageable and rewarding.
