Find yourself in a quiet spell at the moment? What are the best marketing activities you can be getting on with to help ensure that quiet spell doesn’t last too long?
I was networking today with a lovely group of people. One person hesitantly asked “Is anyone else a bit quiet at the moment…?” to which several other people said “Yes, actually, I am a bit”. Firstly, I think it’s testament to how supportive that particular group is that anyone was prepared to open up about that (most groups you go to, everyone is “No – I’m so busy – everything is amazing!”). Secondly, for most people, this will likely be a blip and things will pick up, but we all want to be taking action to ensure that it does.
I know everyone knows this but I’m going to say it anyway: you should be doing some marketing activity all the time, not just when you need it (coz it’s actually too late to start by the time you need it!). So, assuming you are all doing some things already, what are the best things you can be doing while you perhaps have a bit more time on your hands just now?
Spring-clean your website content
Be honest, when is the last time you updated the content on your website, or posted anything new on it? I’m sorry to tell you that Google will have noticed (other search engines do exist). Google’s mission is to serve its users with the most relevant, useful content it can and one of the ways it will judge this is by seeing how often content is refreshed; if it’s not, you will start to sink in the search results. So, write a blog post, embed a social media feed or simply refresh some of the general content on your pages. Or do all three! (And put it in your diary to do it again in no later than four months if it’s not already a regular habit.)
Share the love
Have you ever given anyone an Endorsement or a Recommendation on LinkedIn? Have you ever written a positive review on someone’s Google My Business account? No? Well, now you’ve got the time to do that. Yes, it might feel like a slightly cynical exercise as we know that anyone we endorse is more likely to endorse us (although it’s no guarantee, of course, and I suggest you write genuinely and not in expectation of reciprocation). But if you get into the habit of giving recommendations when you’re sincere, you might not find it too hard to ask someone to write one for you in due course. (And well done if you have – write another!)
Try a new network
If you always do what you always did, you’ll always get what you’ve always got. Although the relationships you can build if you network can be priceless (as per my experience today), if you always network with the same people, you may never get that great new client. I wouldn’t particularly recommend being a ‘networking tart’ and visiting any and every group that will let you in, mostly because networking is about building relationships and not just going in with a ‘what can I get’ attitude. However, trying one or two different groups to see if you fit will always be an interesting exercise.
Sign up to a social media scheduling platform and get ahead on some posts
There are lots of social media scheduling platforms out there to help you plan your activity. You could sit and schedule posts for weeks – or months – ahead if you wanted but I would encourage anyone to think of this as a supplement rather than a replacement for spontaneous things; remember, social media is about liking and sharing other people’s stuff too so there will always be a need for interaction as well as prepared content. But there is nothing to stop you using a bit of ‘spare’ time to get creative with posts you are certain of.
I tend to use Hootsuite because it’s quite straightforward to use and free to link three social media tools but there are others. I like this article from InfluencerMarketingHub, which reviews some of the other widely used schedulers.
I don’t know of many business owners or freelancers who ever have the time to get bored, exactly, but if you find yourself with a few more gaps in your diary at the moment, you could do a lot worse than following up on these tips.