Can you believe we’re already halfway through the year? Now is the perfect time to revisit those goals you set at the beginning of the year, and fine-tune your marketing strategy. In this week’s Tech News Tuesday episode, we’re outlining a five-step summer marketing plan to help your small business grow and finish the year strong.
Evaluate Your Goals
Evaluating your goals is a critical step in your summer marketing plan. Start by taking a look at the goals you set at the beginning of the year when we asked you to think about the business you want more of and how to attract the right customers. Are you on track and making progress? Has anything in your business changed that requires an adjustment to the goals? Do you need to step up the pace?
Refine Your Plan
With your goals in mind, take a good look at your editorial calendar and content strategy. Are there any gaps you’ve noticed? Perhaps there’s specific strategic content missing that could help attract more of your ideal customers.
Remember those weekly emails you planned to send out? Are you actually sticking to the schedule? If not, it’s time to get back on track! Get your content plan in order and make sure you’re addressing what’s top of mind for your customers. Now is also a great time to try to map your content for the rest of the year. Remember to be proactive and get organized now before business picks up in the fall.
Batch Some Content
Take advantage of any slower periods during the summer to batch create content. Whether it’s writing blog articles, crafting emails, recording podcasts, or producing short-form videos, setting aside a dedicated day to batch content can save you time and stress. How much more relaxed will you be knowing that your content is done and scheduled ahead of time?
Read a Good Book
The fourth item in your summer marketing plan is to read a good book. Summertime is a great time to relax a little bit by the pool or on the beach with a good read. We have a few recommendations for you that you might want to check out. They’re all very readable and have some good ideas in them.
- “Atomic Habits” by James Clear: It’s all about building good habits and breaking bad ones, helping you get 1% better every day. Perfect for getting into the marketing habit!
- “This is Marketing” by Seth Godin: Seth Godin is an author, entrepreneur and the marketing guru. His big idea is to focus on what people want in order to best attract them to you. A great quote we love from this book is “Marketing is the generous act of helping someone solve a problem. Their problem.” We often talk about looking at things from the customer’s point of view and this is a great book to get you in that mindset.
- “Stories That Stick” by Kindra Hall: It’s about how storytelling can captivate customers, influence audiences, and transform your business. She has a great framework for how to create stories, what stories you need to tell, and how to tell them in order to communicate better with your customers.
- “10x is Better Than 2x” by Dan Sullivan and Benjamin Hardy: This one challenges you to think bigger and how it might be easier to achieve exponential growth then to incrementally grow. There are probably only 20% of the things you currently do which are going to give you 80% of your return. This is an example of the Pareto principle or the 80/20 rule. Learn to focus on the activities that truly move the needle in your marketing efforts.
- “Green Lights” by Matthew McConaughey: Kick back and enjoy a fun memoir from Hollywood star Matthew McConaughey. Along the way, you’ll pick up some unconventional advice and the importance of recognizing opportunities.
Rest and Recharge
Last but not least in your summer marketing plan is to rest and recharge. Our creativity and our problem solving abilities all get better,when we are well rested. So don’t forget to take some time for yourself to relax, spend some time with family and friends, and enjoy your favorite hobbies. Get ready to finish the year strong!
