Small and Mighty Marketing

Marketing your business, no matter the size, can be a challenge. The world moves fast, and it may seem like there’s never enough time to cover all the bases. However, by following a few key steps, you can turn a small marketing team into your greatest strength.

Plan ahead

Setting goals and developing plans for the year, might seem like a luxury you can’t afford, but it’s key for marketing success for organizations of all sizes. Having rock-solid strategies and tactics already brainstormed, scheduled, and queued up is how you keep moving forward, especially when you’re swamped with day-to-day tasks.

Trust me, planning ahead will be a gift to your future selves. Give the process the attention and perks it deserves—schedule an offsite retreat with your tiny team, invite all opinions and ideas, and don’t forget to pack some snacks!

Be nimble

A good marketer monitors what’s going on online, responds to issues that come up, grabs opportunities to spread key messages, and creates the planned content that gets those messages out.

While that can be an overwhelming task, it also offers opportunities for small teams to shine. Moving fast within big organization is like turning around an aircraft carrier—they don’t have the same freedom you do to try new ideas, iterate, and pivot when things aren’t working. So, trust in your plan. Let it guide you, but don’t be afraid to adjust along the way. If your idea doesn’t work, just go back to the original plan.

Stay accountable

Assign specific tasks during your annual planning. While it may seem silly to designate a point person when there are only two or three people on the team, building in accountability eliminates drama and makes it easier to measure effectiveness.

Consider using the RACI model to prevent confusion and improve team efficiency. It’s a project management framework that clarifies roles and responsibilities by categorizing them into four types:

• R (Responsible): Executes the task.
• A (Accountable): Owns the task and ensures completion.
• C (Consulted): Provides input before decisions.
• I (Informed): Kept updated on progress.

Make sure you also build in time and a budget for your staff to receive training (if needed), research new marketing techniques, and try them out. Classes or other professional development events can also be helpful.

If, after you clarify your time and budget, there’s too much on one person’s plate, scale back or staff up with freelancers. 

Share the load

Your co-workers may need convincing, but the truth is marketing is everyone’s job. Marketing should tell the stories of salespeople, share the insights of leadership, and serve as a recruitment tool for HR.

Employees companywide can help generate and wrangle content. Have quarterly meetings to discuss marketing with everyone and gather the seeds for content that helps promote your brand and company culture. Make sure marketing staff are included as part of the business decision-making process.

By taking these steps, you can generate some mighty action with your small band of marketing warriors.