There is no question of the power of marketing, but you are not a machine. The internet and social media are perpetually shifting, which has led to the complex engine that marketing is today. You may feel the need to find endless time, inspiration, and motivation to fuel your marketing engine. This blog will teach you to set goals that maximize your time and energy, as well as ways to motivate yourself and others to promote your business.
Set reasonable expectations.
Wouldn’t you love to have a million new followers by the end of the year? The more important question is, do you have the time and resources available to get a million new followers? If you set unattainable expectations for yourself, you will ultimately not be motivated to work toward that goal.
Here are some tips for setting reasonable goals.
- Benchmark against yourself – Look into how much growth you achieved last year, and use that information to create the following goals.
- Only measure things that matter – Do not measure something just because you feel like you “have to.” If the number of likes on your posts does not matter to you, do not set a goal around it.
- Measure by percentage increase – One easy way to set marketing goals is to reach for percentage increases. For example, you can set a goal to increase website traffic by an average of 30% by the end of the year.
Remember, it is reasonable to expect growth as a result of marketing. The trick is aligning your ambitions with the amount of time, energy, resources you have allocated toward marketing. Here’s another blog about setting expectations for social media marketing.
Make content that matters.
SPOILER: If you find your content boring, so does your audience.
Create content that positively impacts people’s lives. Luckily, creating exciting, meaningful content for your audience is, well, exciting and meaningful! You can add value to your content by using high-quality visuals, video, and valuable information.
Creating exciting, meaningful content will make you feel good about what you are producing, making it easier to find motivation for marketing. You can also create content to support important initiatives such as inclusion and accessibility. Learn how Upward Anthems helped an entrepreneur maximize LinkedIn with meaningful content.
Say yes to easy wins.
Can you seamlessly work some form of marketing into your workflow? Please do it.
Easy wins can help keep a steady rhythm for your marketing. Try Simple things like adding links to your email signature, resharing content you have already created, and pulling quotes from past pieces of content. We call these types of tactics “low-hanging opportunities.”
Here are more often overlooked easy marketing wins.
- Asking people for reviews
- Update your Google My Business listing
- Get listed on a bunch of websites like Yelp, Bing, and Mapquest
- Print stickers and give them to customers, friends, and family
Another easy way to win with marketing is to use free stuff. Here’s a list of our favorite free marketing tools.
Map out high-impact opportunities.
As much as we love quick wins, we also understand that many high-impact projects take time to execute. Find motivation for high-impact opportunities by allowing yourself time to plan and manage them. Initiatives such as rebranding, fundraising campaigns, and events do not happen overnight. Start planning next year’s significant projects now, such as:
- Partnerships: Establishing a partnership with another business or nonprofit can help build confidence, ambition, and effectiveness in marketing. Partnerships are an ongoing process but can be a significant source of exposure.
- Conventions: Start planning the trade shows you would like to attend next year. Attending conventions can be an excellent inspiration for marketing.
- Website Update: This can sound like a daunting task. Build your encouragement by allowing yourself time to dedicate to this project.
Have a plan.
HERE’S THE THING. If you do not know what marketing goals you are trying to achieve, it is hard to find motivation. You might think you know what you are trying to achieve, but the simple act of writing down your marketing goals will make it so much easier and more realistic to succeed.
As humans, we change our minds quite often. We are exposed to 4,000 – 10,000 ads a day, and social media is incredibly addictive. Unless you write down your goals, you will forget the numbers you set out to achieve because you have plenty of other things to remember.
A great marketing plan should set reasonable expectations and explain the how, when, and where of the tactics you will use to achieve your goals.
The moral of the story is that approaching marketing with realistic, optimistic, and time-specific expectations will help you maintain motivation for continually fueling the complex marketing engine. If all else fails, here’s our Lazy Person’s Guide to Marketing.
Did you know?
Upward Anthems provides marketing services such as marketing consulting, marketing strategy, and marketing project management. Learn more about our marketing services here.