It takes a certain kind of person to be successful at marketing – especially with what’s been going on in the world over the last few years!
Things change rapidly, well laid-out plans go out the window, and it can be hard to keep up with all the new marketing channels, let alone stay up to date with what your customers need!
Marketers need to be consistent and adaptable. But most of all, they must be resilient.
Resilience allows us to find our way around obstacles, bounce back from setbacks, adapt to change, and continue developing the skills we need to be successful.
Building resilience into your marketing strategy is a sure-fire way to ensure you don’t just survive, but thrive, no matter what’s going on in the world.
Want to know how to build marketing resilience? Read my 5 tips below.
5 Tips For Building Resilience In Marketing
1. Plan Ahead
When we feel overwhelmed, we are likely to drop the ball. In marketing, this happens when we have too much going on at once and don’t know what to do first. We often end up doing very little of anything at all.
The best way to avoid marketing overwhelm is to plan ahead. Sit down once a month or once every few months and plot out your strategy. Think about what channels you’ll focus on, what kind of content you’ll use, and what budget you need.
The more well-thought-out your plan is, the easier it will be to implement over the coming months.
If you’d like to take planning to the next level by building resilience into your strategy, spend a bit of that strategising time anticipating and preparing for problems.
While we can’t predict the future, we might be able to foresee potential hurdles and therefore have a backup plan ready to roll.
2. Use The Available Tools
Imagine you’re cooking a roast dinner at home, but you don’t have a lot of time. Would you collect wood from the backyard and rub a couple of rocks together to make a cooking fire? Of course not, you’d use your oven, because that’s what it’s designed for!
The same goes for your marketing. There are so many tools out there designed to help you plan and streamline your marketing. You’ve got data-based tools like Google Analytics and social media insights, planning and posting tools like Later and Hootsuite, content creation tools like Canva – and so much more.
Using these tools helps you streamline your marketing, so you have more time and energy to devote to responding to bumps in the road.
3. Use Experts In Key Areas
Building resilience doesn’t have to mean doing everything yourself. Marketing tools are fantastic, but not every marketer has the time to learn how to use them effectively. A smart marketing strategy involves knowing what your strengths are and where you need a little help.
You only have so much time and energy, so you need to focus on the areas that have the most impact. That’s why it makes sense to outsource some of your marketing tasks to experts.
Don’t have time to learn the ins and outs of Google or Facebook Ads? Find yourself someone who does! You can either outsource the tasks entirely or work with someone to upskill yourself – the choice is yours.
4. Market On Autopilot Where Possible
Building resilience is all about having a plan but being able to adapt that plan quickly and easily.
One way to facilitate this is by using automation as part of your marketing strategy. Make good use of the automation tools out there that help you prepare and schedule your content in advance.
Don’t assume that scheduling locks you into a plan. On the contrary, automation is a great way to get repetitive, time-consuming tasks out of the way, providing you with extra time to adapt and adjust in real-time instead of being bogged down in details.
Automated content can quickly and easily be adapted when needed, so make use of marketing tools that automate things like social posts, emails, and customer service.
5. Be Flexible
We’ve talked about the importance of planning ahead, but the flip side of that is the ability to be flexible and adapt to changing circumstances. As we’ve seen in the last few years, things alter rapidly. Often, you have no control over these changes, so the only way forward is to focus on the things you do have control over.
It’s normal to feel frustrated and disappointed when your well-thought-out plans fall through, but resilience is getting back up when you get knocked down and finding a new path forward.
Think about how you can reposition your marketing strategy in response to changes. Brainstorm what your customer needs at this time and how you can meet those needs. Explore different platforms, channels or tactics. Remind yourself of the unique skills or products you and your business offer that no one else can.
Building Resilience In Marketing Is Possible For Everyone
It’s natural to be overwhelmed when life feels crazy – everyone does. That doesn’t mean you don’t have resilience or will never cultivate it.
The good news is that nobody is born resilient. It’s a quality that anybody can develop and nurture. The more practice you get at facing and responding to challenges, the more resilient you will be.
Try following these marketing resilience tips and see if it helps you feel a little more empowered about responding to the bumps in the road for your business.
And, if you need help with putting your marketing strategy together, that’s ok too. Marketing strategies are my bread and butter (plus my cake and cookies too!), so I’d love to help you nail yours. Book a time to chat with me today.