How To Create A Marketing Process For Your Small Business

Learning how to create a marketing process for your small business can feel overwhelming, especially when juggling multiple roles. In this guest post, marketing consultant Tayler Cusick-Hollman shares practical strategies to streamline your efforts. Whether you’re building a marketing workflow from scratch or looking for tools to optimize your existing process, this guide will help you stay consistent and organized so you can focus on growing your business. And, if you are interested in getting started with Enji (an online tool to help you streamline ALL the marketing on the backend of your small business), you can get started here or by clicking the image ⬇️

How to create a marketing process for your small business

For those of us who have to do our marketing (which is so many of us small business owners), one of the biggest challenges = is consistency. But when you’re doing your marketing, you’re also probably doing your OWN admin, OWN bookkeeping, OWN customer service, and delivering projects to clients simultaneously, which means, hello, time crunch. And that time crunch means you must figure out ways to work as efficiently as possible, which is why you’re here—hanging out on Dolly’s website and learning all about workflows.  When it comes to small business owners’ most common conversations about workflows, they don’t include anything about marketing. Bookkeeping? Yes. Client onboarding? You bet. Getting a new product or service launched—that’s where Dolly comes in!

But in marketing, how do we devise an easy lather-rinse-repeat workflow to keep up with the marketing that it is?

A lot of crickets. 

But (you guessed it), I’m here to make some noise about it—and help you create a marketing process you can stick to! It doesn’t matter whether you want to call it a marketing workflow, process, or marketing routine,doesn’tsn’t matter. What matters is that you create one for yourself and stick to it. So, let’s dive in!

First off, what’s the difference between marketing automation and marketing processes/workflows?

I’m starting here because it can be confusing (maybe not for you, but definitely for some). That’s the difference between automating something and creating a workflow around it. While I could go deep and nerd out on the difference in detail, I’ll keep it simple.

Marketing automation = is when you set things up so that they happen without you needing to do anything afterward (usually requires tech). An example is when you set up a lead magnet to be automatically delivered along with an email sequence after someone signs up for your email list.

Marketing process/workflow = When you create a sequence of things, you are a person regularly (it is a mix of tech and human power).

For example, whenever you write a blog post, you will share it via an email newsletter, create a carousel post, and share the link on Facebook. While “automation” is a very sexy way, it’s hard to automate your marketing. So, most small business owners need a solid marketing process to keep them in line, save time, and move forward.

A marketing process is going to clean up your act.

If you’re anything like the thousands of small business owners I’ve talked to, your marketing might frustrate you because it feels messy. Because you’re probably like most business owners and treating marketing: 

a) without a strategy (though that’s a conversation for another time)

and

b) by reinventing the wheel whenever you sit down to work on marketing. 

And that’s exhausting 😓

But, I want you to imagine what doing your marketing would be like if:

a) you had a marketing strategy,

and

b) you had a clearly defined marketing process to put it into motion. It would be pretty awesome, right?

Right. 

Examples of a marketing process to help you build your own

The first step to creating a marketing process for yourself is to create your marketing strategy (*my affiliate link). You must have defined what marketing channels you will be active on and create a workflow around them. The following steps are pretty straightforward:

1. Decide which day of the week will be your marketing day (pick a day you can protect that time you set aside!)
2. Decide which weeks are going to be for what. For example, in the first week of the month, you’ll work on getting a new blog published. In the second week, you’ll schedule social media content. In the third, you’ll schedule email newsletters. In the fourth, you’ll schedule more social media content. 
3. Then, you’ll make your own decisions (and document) regarding your process. For example, you’ll start your blog day with SEO keyword research Trends and a keyword tool. Then, you’ll create an outline of what you will write.  You’ll draft it and review it. Then, you’ll get your website’s blog backend—Etc. If you want to create this website’s marketing channel, You’ll know exactly what needs to be done. Just be mindful of where your workflows might overlap—which they probably will if you repurpose content! Going back to the original example in my definition of a marketing workflow, you might:

• Write and publish a blog article.
• Schedule an email newsletter sharing top takeaways and a link to the blog
• Schedule a carousel post on IG to tease the takeaways from the blog
• Schedule the blog link to post on Facebook
• Create and schedule pins on Pinterest pointing back to the blog post

The key here is to organize the process so you know what needs to be created from scratch vs. what can be repurposed. But the bonus is that if you hire someone to help you with your marketing, your SOP will already be prepared to share with them! 

Tools that can speed up your marketing process

“This is great, Tayler. But how do I get my marketing process doc” mounted and going?” The answer is that this is where your tech stack (or systems) comes in! Now, I can only assume that each person reading this will have a different mix of technology they are using, so I’ll share the types of software along with some of my favorites—and the good news is, you have options on how to approach this! So, do whatever fits your brain the best.

Option 1:

• Website (Squarespace, Showit, WordPress)
• Project management software (Asana, Basecamp, Trello)
• AI copywriter (ChatGPT, Jasper)
• Social media scheduler (Later, Planoly)
• Email marketing software (Flodesk, Mailchimp, Kit)
• Graphic design software (Canva, Photoshop)
• Documents (Google Docs, Word Docs)
• Spreadsheets (Google Sheets, Excel)

Option 2:

• Website (Squarespace, Showit, WordPress)
• Marketing software (Enji)
• Email marketing software (Flodesk, Mailchimp, Kit)
• Graphic design software (Canva, Photoshop)

More about Enji’s marketing software for small business

If your ears perked up at Enji’s grasp of Option 2’s list being half as long as the first, keep reading, my friend. Because Enji was dreamed up and designed specifically to help small business owners who have to do their marketing, do it faster and in a more organized way! It has what you need to create a marketing strategy, build a workflow, and do many marketing tasks.

• Marketing strategy generator
• Social media scheduler
• AI copywriter
• Brand voice generator
• Marketing Calendar
• Brand asset library
• Media kits
• Metrics tracking

So, if you’re inspired to create a marketing workflow in an actual system meant to organize your marketing, you should check it out with a free trial! And if you use Dolly’s link, she’ll get a little thank you for sending you our way—and you’ll save 30% off Dolly’s affiliate link here! A note from Dolly DeLong Education: If you are interested in learning more about Enji & Taylor Cusick Hollman’s education on all things marketing & how to create a SYSTEM for your marketing, check out Tayler’s past guest episode on the Systems and Workflow Magic Podcast here:

110: How To Create A Marketing Workflow For Your Small Business With Enji

Meet your new marketing BFF & Enji Expert Here.

A marketing consultant and small-business builder, Tayler is the founder of Enji, which is easy-to-use software for small business owners who do their marketing.