For many of us, business is slow right now, or even stopped, so it’s the perfect time to get to those marketing projects we never seem to have time for. By doing those time-consuming projects now, you will be ramped up and ready to go when the business climate improves (which I hope is soon!)

In times like these, we need to look for a silver lining and maybe that’s how we need to look at this extra time. It really does allow us to step back and take a look at how we present our business to the world.

Here are few things you can do right now:

When was the last time you looked at your email list? This is a good time to add and remove people so that your list is an effective marketing tool.

Now is a great time to ask friends and business associates to look at your website and ask them this question, “Based on my website tell me what I do?” If your website is doing its job well, visitors should be able to immediately understand what you do and how you serve your customers. If they struggle to explain this to you, then you might want to revise the messaging on your website to make it clearer and easier to understand. Remove industry jargon and vague statements that confuse your potential customers.

It’s not too late. Make it easy and include these steps:

●      What are your goals?

●      Who is your ideal customer?

●      What are your key messages? (These are the most important things you want to tell your customers.)

●      What is your marketing budget?

●      What tactics will you use to reach your customers and how will you execute it.

Companies that use videos on their websites have 41% more web traffic from searches then sites that don’t. In addition, people engage more with video than text, so having video on your website is important. If you have the budget, consider a professional video. If not, shoot one with your phone. Either way, adding video to your site is a smart move.

Make posting to social media easier and create more valuable content by planning it in advance. As we finish the 1st quarter, now is the perfect time to plan for next quarter. Sit down with a calendar and figure out what days you want to post. Then add in events you want to promote, sales you want to highlight, etc. Build those in first. Then add in other posts. This will give you with a road map for the next three months.

Once you create your calendar, you can then start creating the actual posts. These will be done and ready to go when business picks up again.

A lead magnet is valuable content that is available for potential customers to download from your website in exchange for their email address. Once you get their email address, you can add it to your email database and start nurturing the relationship. The goal is to send them a few emails and eventually get them to become a customer.

Now is a great time to record videos and, over the next few months, use them as content for your social media and email marketing.

About the author: Meg Huwar is a small business marketing expert and Principal of Brand Accelerator. She works with companies who want to market their business but don’t have the time, experience or staff to do it themselves. Meg can be reached at mhuwar@thebrandaccelerator.com or 412-848-8822.