Episode 19
Overcoming Sporadic Marketing Syndrome™
In this episode of Better Marketing, Marketing Magic in Minutes, I talk about breaking free from what I like to call "Sporadic Marketing Syndrome."
You know the drill: one minute you’re riding high on a marketing wave, and the next, you’ve vanished like your last diet plan. We dive into why this happens, especially for small business owners juggling a million things at once. Spoiler alert: it’s all about consistency and having a game plan that doesn’t fall apart when life throws you a curveball.
By the end, you’ll be armed with some slick strategies to keep your marketing rolling smoothly and maybe even snag a little extra accountability along the way.
Transcript
You Hi, I'm Tracy Heatley and thank you for tuning in to this episode of the Better Marketing Podcast.
Speaker A:I'll be bringing you Marketing Magic in minutes.
Speaker A:Today I want to talk to you about Breaking Free from Sporadic Marketing syndrome so we'll be tackling a challenge that many small business owners face, something I've coined as sporadic marketing syndrome.
Speaker A:If you've ever find yourself going full steam ahead with your marketing one month, only to be completely disappearing the next and having peaks and troughs and ups and downs with your market activity, then this one is for you.
Speaker A:So let's not hang around.
Speaker A:Let's dive straight in.
Speaker A:What is marketing syndrome?
Speaker A:Marketing syndrome, or SMS as I sometimes call it.
Speaker A:But most of the time I mention the whole phrase in full because it just about sums it up in a nutshell.
Speaker A:It's when your marketing is inconsistent and reactive rather than being proactive and strategic.
Speaker A:You might go through periods of high activity when business is quiet, but the moment you get busy with client work or product sales, marketing takes a backseat.
Speaker A:Sound familiar?
Speaker A:You're not alone.
Speaker A:It's incredibly common with small business owners, and it's exactly what I talk about in my blog by the same name, which you can find on my website.
Speaker A:I'll go into things in a lot more detail.
Speaker A:I've also had articles published in the media on this as well, because it just sort of hits the nail on the head of a lot of the problems that small business owners face when it comes to marketing.
Speaker A:You'll find articles on LinkedIn.
Speaker A:I wrote something within the last couple of years on this for the Juice, which is an international publication, so just be sure to check it out.
Speaker A:And failing that, there's a full article a blog about it on my website too.
Speaker A:But let's get back to the details of this episode and focus on why it happens.
Speaker A:There are a lot of reasons why this happens, especially for small business owners and solo service providers.
Speaker A:A lot of it is because you're wearing all hats.
Speaker A:You know, you're not working for a large organization where you've got a department for this and a department for that.
Speaker A:If you're a small business owner, quite often you're you're either working on activities within all of those so small departments within your small business, but essentially wearing those hats, or you're managing them.
Speaker A:You're responsible for everything within the business.
Speaker A:Another reason might be that you prioritize client delivery over visibility.
Speaker A:You get stuck on perfectionism and trying to get it right and you can't get it perfect so you don't do it out.
Speaker A:Do it so you don't do it at all, or you don't put it out there, or you simply run out of time or motivation.
Speaker A:It's normal.
Speaker A:But here's the thing.
Speaker A:If no one knows you there, your ideal clients can't find you, your ideal customers won't know where you are, and you'll constantly feel like you're starting from scratch.
Speaker A:So let's look at the impact of inconsistency.
Speaker A:Inconsistent marketing damages trust.
Speaker A:For one, people may wonder if you're still trading or question your professionalism.
Speaker A:Plus, it messes with your data.
Speaker A:If you're dipping in and out of marketing, it's hard to really see what's working and what's not.
Speaker A:You also lose momentum, not just with your audience, but with yourself.
Speaker A:It becomes harder and harder to get back into the swing of things.
Speaker A:And that nagging guilt and feeling creeping in, making you feel guilty that you should be doing.
Speaker A:You should be doing this and you should be doing the other.
Speaker A:And in the words of Tony Robbins, be careful that you don't should all over yourself.
Speaker A:So how can we break the cycle?
Speaker A:How can we fix this?
Speaker A:You got it.
Speaker A:The idea.
Speaker A:You've got it.
Speaker A:The answer is to get strategic, have a plan in place so you're not always winging it.
Speaker A:My strategy cycle program is designed specifically for this and was developed to help cure this problem.
Speaker A:You've got to learn to create reusable systems, templates, batching, automation, things like that will make a big difference as well.
Speaker A:Set realistic goals.
Speaker A:You don't need to post every day or everywhere.
Speaker A:Be consistent on platforms that matter to your audience.
Speaker A:And I think I did relate back to this in the last episode, but if you've not yet listened to the podcast that I do with Palm case on LinkedIn, if you're not into posting all the time, day in, day out, there's loads of different techniques on there that you can find your ideal clients and customers through LinkedIn without actually posting more than a couple of times a week.
Speaker A:So go and have a little listen to that.
Speaker A:Another thing that you can do is build flexibility.
Speaker A:Life happens.
Speaker A:Your strategy should allow room for for it without falling apart.
Speaker A:Track and tweak things, be consistent with your marketing and you will get better data.
Speaker A:And better data means smarter decisions and smarter decisions means better marketing results.
Speaker A:So many of your marketing Many of my marketing mentoring or strategy cycle clients often tell me how having a degree of accountability keeps them on track.
Speaker A:So because they're meeting with me on a regular basis, this all My services to do with this are online.
Speaker A:So we meet on Zoom.
Speaker A:So whether that's weekly, monthly, whatever that is, they have regular check ins, so they've got regular support and an outside perspective that really helps them stay consistent.
Speaker A:So if you don't have me as your mentor yet, or you're not quite ready to have me as your mentor just yet, then get yourself an accountability buddy.
Speaker A:Whether it's a business friend, a colleague, or someone that you network with, having an extra nudge can make all the difference.
Speaker A:So my final thoughts on this are really that if sporadic Markerson syndrome has been holding you back, let this be your sign to take back that control.
Speaker A:You don't have to be perfect, you just need to be consistent and you don't have to be doing everything.
Speaker A:One of the things that I find with my clients is that they get so overwhelmed at the amount of different things that they think that they need to do with the marketing, they end up doing nothing at all.
Speaker A:When actually you're better off doing a little bit and often than you are going full on with it and then pulling back and not doing anything at all.
Speaker A:If you want my help getting your marketing strategy sorted or a little bit of extra accountability, then book a discovery call on my website.
Speaker A:I do a free half hour discovery call.
Speaker A:You can book that online and we can take it from there.
Speaker A:You'll find loads of free resources like blogs and podcast strips of support.
Speaker A:You'll find loads of free resources like blogs and podcast scripts on there so you can read the transcript or you can listen to the blogs online and you can download my free guide, which is called a Small Business Owner's Roadmap to a Better Strategy.
Speaker A:It does what it says on the tin.
Speaker A:It gives you bits of information on everything that you need to be put in your strategy or start putting your marketing strategies together.
Speaker A: u quote the reference code POD: Speaker A:That Power Hour is online via Zoom.
Speaker A:So it doesn't matter where you are in the world, get yourself entered.
Speaker A:So just head to the website and after a few seconds the box will come up asking you if you want to download the strategy guide.
Speaker A:So you can just take it from there.
Speaker A:So what we'll be talking about in the next episode, I'll be helping you shift your focus to your signature marketing style so that you can build your marketing that feels good, fits your strengths, and actually gets results until then, I'm Tracey Heatley.
Speaker A:I'm a chartered marketer.
Speaker A:And I'm a CIM certified AI Marketing Specialist.
Speaker A:My area of expertise is working with small businesses like you.
Speaker A:So I hope you found this episode useful.
Speaker A:And until next time, remember, better marketing means better business.
