When we recommend communication activities for our clients and outline tools, tactics and timeline; one of the most common responses we hear: “We don’t have time for that, we are a small team.”
If you don’t have the budget to hire 834 for implementation of your communication strategy, then you have to identify how to integrate the additional responsibilities into your already busy schedule.
- Identify a point person. Someone within the company needs to own the communication. That doesn’t mean this person is responsible for the implementation and reporting, it means they lead and delegate. This individual should set up reoccurring team meetings with a set agenda that pulls in all participating parties for progress and milestone review.
- Develop a system. It can get very confusing remembering who is doing what, when they are doing it and what next steps are. Utilize tools such as Basecamp or any of the countless others to track to-dos, meeting notes, timeline and time as it relates to each task.
- Develop a reasonable timeline. The timeline your marketing agency outlines, may not be feasible for
Strategy implementation can be exhausting, but the results are well-worth it. your team. If 4 blogs a month is freaking you out, then start with 2. Recruit guest bloggers that can generate content for you, so you only have to manage the posting and sharing. There are tons of time-saving efforts you can implement that will parcel out responsibilities to multiple parties.
- Set aside time. If you are responsible for scheduling social media for your company then set aside time every Sunday night for 30 to 45 minutes to schedule for the week on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram (to name a few). Use a service like HootSuite or TweetDeck to schedule and monitor your networks. Set up a Feedly account so it pulls articles based on topics that are relevant to your clients and industry. Then check your networks 15 minutes every day to respond to comments, messages, retweets, mentions, etc.
- Outline the process. Perhaps one of the most important items a business needs to do is to develop standard operating procedures. For example, outline how a press release is written and distributed. What are the steps a team member needs to take to successfully share company news with the media? Outline the process for social media, content development, creative, email marketing and more. If you can outline all the steps, then you can streamline the process and that will make it easier for a small team to implement a communication strategy.
The fact is, if it is important enough, a company will find time to do it. While communication is the first line item in a budget cut, it is also what is responsible for raising awareness on a company’s offerings. If you can’t find time to work on the tools that support sales and lead generation, then how will you continue to grow financially?
Or just hire us and all your headaches will go away. Just a thought.
