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This post is contributed by Hiver, the simplest way for online store owners to manage shared mailboxes, customer support, and sales right from their Gmail.
We all want to get more done in a day, right? We want to pull rabbits out of our hats, be the masters of productivity, and wow our bosses regularly.
For marketers, however, this can be difficult as we juggle the roles of a creator, editor, proofreader, strategist, and leader on demand. Moving back and forth between all these tasks can be hard. The good news is that with a few good practices and smart tips, you can greatly boost your productivity.
1. Automate everyday processes
It’s undeniable that our brains automatically follow fixed patterns of actions triggered by simple occurrences or signals. That is, when something triggers out action, we run through a predictable sequence of behaviors.
For example, most of us have the same morning routines. We wake up, wash up, grab a coffee, and get to work. This “Click-Whirr” brain behavior is very good news. This will allow you to create processes that you can automatically follow without needing much mental energy. Say a blogger reached out to you regarding a guest post, that’s a “Click” and you follow a series of predictable actions which count a “Whirr.” Having processes, patterns, and systems built into your daily schedule can help you get more done in a day.
Here are a few examples of how you can implement automation in a few everyday processes:
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Say you’re creating blog post content. You can create a Click-Whirr ritual by creating the outline for the post (which is the click) and then filling in the content (which is the whirr). Enforcing this habit/routine is also a great way to beat writer’s block.
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Every time you launch a new product feature (click), make sure that you have a pipeline of actions ready to follow up with. Those actions might be a press release, promotion, or blog post (whirr).
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It’s also smart to make a DAM like Brandfolder part of this pipeline of actions. By including a central hub for digital assets in your workflow, you’ll be able to access the images, art, and copy you need in seconds.
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The idea is to have standard procedures to follow for as many use cases as possible, so that you don’t have to spend your valuable mental energy making those decisions (or searching for the right digital assets) in the moment.
2. Master your email
The majority of our work day probably involves fielding emails. Marketers can be especially inundated by email requests for logos, videos, and other marketing assets. This makes it very important to take the time to master email productivity and management.
One thing you won’t find on this list of “productivity tips for marketers” is the magic formula for achieving “Inbox Zero.” Far too many people focus on zeroing out their inbox, which isn’t always an effective goal, especially if it’s causing you to spend all day living inside your inbox.
There are far more efficient ways to manage your email. When dealing with bulk volume of emails, like when you’ve just returned from vacation, you can use a technique called “email triaging” to better handle the volume.
You can also set up rules and systems to take care of your emails. The right tools can make life easier. Here are a few of my favorites:
- Unroll.me helps you manage promotional emails and subscriptions.
- Inbox Pause allows you to pause your inbox, blocking incoming mail for a specific amount of time.
3. Outsource your work
This is an important tip, especially if you are in a management or executive position. If you see yourself getting swamped by time-consuming tasks, get a virtual assistant or find ways to outsource some of the work.
For example, you can hire a data support company to help with your business and sales outreach instead of asking your employees to do such taxing work.
You may think outsourcing will strain an already-tight budget, but you may be forgetting one thing — time is also money. Outsourcing helps you save time and prioritize your work. It can be one of the most important productivity tips for marketers, because it allows you to focus more attention on tasks that require more brain power and expertise.
4. Practice time management
One of the biggest traps marketers get caught up in is spending time and money on unnecessary tasks.
True, there’s a lot to do in marketing. A content marketer, for example, needs to produce content, but they also have to figure out other details, like how to publish, promote, and benefit from said content.
Given that marketers have so many things they’re working on at any given time, it’s important for them to master time management.
Without this one very important skill, it’s almost impossible to do your best work and achieve your best results.
Here’s how:
- Use the Pareto Principle. Spend most of your time on the 20% tasks that fetch 80% of the results.
- Resort back to those pre-planned schedules and systems we talked about above.
- Think about what’s on your schedule a week in advance and plan for it.
Also, don’t depend on your willpower to achieve good time management. Use tools and techniques to your advantage.
5. Avoid multitasking at all costs
The human brain cannot do two things simultaneously, which means multitasking is a fallacy. Don’t believe me? Try reading a book and responding to an email at exactly same time. Not quite possible is it? All you are doing while multitasking is dancing between 2-3 different tasks, not giving your fullest attention to a single one.
As marketers, multitasking seems like a tempting solution, but in truth, it’s just a productivity killer. Instead, assign chunks of quality time to each of the tasks at hand and get more done in a day.
Wrapping up
Productivity tips for marketers can be difficult to nail down and adhere to. Along with tools and strategies, a pinch of self-discipline is also necessary to master your time and work. Given the pivotal role marketers play in a company, it is extremely important for them to understand and practice good time management and become highly productive.
“If we attend continually and promptly to the little that we can do, we shall ere long be surprised to find how little remains that we cannot do.”
― Samuel Butler
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