FINDING YOUR ONLINE MARKETING FOCUS.

Dealing With Marketing Overwhelm.

Running a creative biz (or in fact, doing anything involving the internet), it can be so easy to feel overwhelmed with all of the things you should be doing. 

...social media platforms, blogging, newsletters, videos...

The list could go on. There are so many places to be active online, it can feel like an impossible task to start spreading yourself and your business between them. 

And I think it's a mistake to attempt it. In sharing your message with such a wide and possibly infinite stream of channels, you run the risk of not only driving yourself crazy, but diluting your brand story. 

Finding Your Focus.

When you're looking at the bigger picture for growing your businesses reach, you really have to hone in on where your community is. It's more than likely your people have a preference for where they hang out online - and the type of content they're most likely to enjoy. 

Using that type of reasoning is a great way to start narrowing your focus. It's much less overwhelming to concentrate your marketing efforts down to two primary social channels, and then at least one self-owned space (either a blog or newsletter list). 

This doesn't mean you can't have a presence on any other channels, but it might mean that you place a lower priority on your secondary channels - setting them up to function automatically with IFTTT recipes and using them to direct people to the places you ARE active. 

Defining What You Share.

Assess the content you'll be sharing on each channel; how they blend together, and where they differentiate. 

Having a clear idea of the community you want to build is crucial to generating ideas and content. Keep returning to your brand ethos or values - what does your business celebrate and support? Make sure your marketing reflects it!

My Marketing Plan. 

Recently I've been working to cut down on the scattered social media effort I've been prone to in the past. I always feel somewhat cheated at how ineffective my marketing efforts have been, but the brutal truth is - I've lacked consistency. 

Without a structured and reasoned plan for my marketing I end up panic-scheduling a burst of tweets, or taking a couple of average photos to chuck on instagram - all without much effect because I haven't had the conviction to see it through long-term. 

I did it because I felt like I had to for the short term, not because I knew strategically what I was trying to build for the long term. 

I'm now focusing my primary efforts on:

Instagram: sharing beautiful lifestyle photography daily - blending day-to-day stories with studio behind the scenes shots.

Twitter: regular updates, sharing my fave online creatives, important shop info - all in little, manageable chunks.

The Blog: useful, long-form written content - including styling tips, creative essays, and biz lessons.

The Newsletter: for fortnightly instagram inspo, creativity prompts and essential updates. 

{Have you been struggling with online marketing fatigue? What are your fave places to hang out on the internet?}