The one thing about marketing nowadays is that it can cause major attention deficit disorder. There are so many different strategies, advice, and resources out there to help marketing be less “complicated”. I’m sure this is the 10th “top something, something towards better marketing” blog post you’ve read today. Talk about information overload!
Some of the most essential marketing tasks sometimes backfire because the time spent on them ruins productivity. It can be easy to spend hours researching keywords or searching for awesome content to share. Unfortunately this leads to feeling as if there’s not enough time to fully optimize your marketing strategy.
The good news is this article will make you feel really good once you finish reading it. Why? Because this is my attempt to convince all marketing gurus out there that marketing can be stress-free. All you need to do is take it down a notch by prioritizing your tasks and managing your time spent on each of them.
6 Essential Marketing Tasks That Ruin Productivity:
1. Using Every Single Social Media Platform
Facebook, Vine, Google+, Vimeo, YouTube, Instagram, Pinterest, should I go on? This is enough to give anyone a headache. Of course there’s social media managing tools available and they certainly can help manage multiple accounts and scheduling. But it’s totally okay to admit that some social media platforms don’t fit in with your marketing plan. The best thing to do is analyze which social media platform is working the best for you. Understand where your target market hangs out and go from there. Then choose the most logical platforms and drop the ones that are just not your cup of tea.
2. On-Page SEO
On-Page SEO is important, but the Internet is lot more dense (and smarter) than it used to be. There are more factors that go into what Google picks up on such as high quality links. It’s extremely important to make sure the right keywords are placed in your header, title, and body text, but don’t spend too much of your time on this because On-Page SEO is only half the battle. Make sure you also save time to ensure proper links and better user interface.
3. Over Blogging
Unless you have an awesome team of people who focus on creating great content on a daily basis than by all means post post post. But if you don’t have the resources to develop content everyday, don’t sweat if you haven’t posted in a few days. Quality content beats the amount of posts published. It’s obvious when someone blogs just to blog. Spend time promoting a super awesome post rather than stressing on writing something that isn’t as strong. Create an editorial calendar with realistic deadlines. As long as you stay consistent, you’ll stay on track. If you focus on quality rather than quantity, this will allow you some time to follow past blog post analytics, make small changes, and figure out what’s working. If your heart is set on publishing more content daily, then consider finding some guest bloggers or check out this list of ideas for better business blogging.
4. Searching for Sharable Content
Sharing content created by others is a great way to connect with your industry and even prospective clients. However, don’t get stuck researching content because before you know it, you’ll be lost in an Internet black hole. Give yourself a time limit for how long you’ll spend searching for fresh content to share. Check out Reddit or Digg for top industry news or leadership sites like Fast Company or Inc for relevant and high traffic content.
5. Shooting for Perfection
This is a biggie! Especially with social media, there will always be that group of people who point out every mistake you make. That’s something you’ll have to learn to let go of really fast if you want to accomplish all your essential marketing tasks. There’s ways to avoid flubs such as proofreading blog articles and checking links, but in the long run, mistakes just happen and you can’t dwell over it. No matter how confident I am, I still get nervous when I’m about to click the publish button. Did I forget something? Did I use the right keywords? Then I just take a deep breath and then click publish. If you strive for perfection, you’ll never post, share, or market anything. Silly mistakes like sharing content with the wrong link source or posting the same thing on Facebook twice can be forgiven, but be sure “marketing meltdown” are avoided. The Internet is a big black sharpie, what you write or say is permanent so make sure you know your audience well. Always be you, but don’t forget to be professional.
6. Learning More About Marketing, But Never Executing It
It’s important to stay in the know. You download eBooks, attend webinars, and courses to meet other fellow marketers. That’s all awesome and all, but remember you’re a professional, not a full-time student. If you’re going to take the time to learn something new, you should take action. Definitely stay pro-active by learning more about marketing because it’s constantly changing, but make sure you’re actually trying new things and implementing them into your own marketing strategy.
About the Author: Shannon Callarman is the Inbound Marketing Manager at Cubicle Ninjas. She’s the tiny ninja behind the CN Twitter. You can also follow her on Google+.
