Thinking of becoming a digital marketer? This year is the right time.
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Digital marketing is quickly catching up with other industries and is expected to be an industry with some of the highest-paying jobs in the next few years.
However, it isn’t an easy job. To be successful in this career, you should be able to think quickly, work under pressure, and juggle between tasks. All these can make your day-to-day activities more challenging, whether you work from home or in an office.
That said, you must have strong time management skills.
Check out these 10 management tips that successful digital marketers swear by.
Plan and Visualize Your Day Ahead
Spend a few minutes each night to plan your activities for the following day. Grab a pen and paper or open your notepad and make a “to-do” list.
Include everything you need to do, such as work tasks, errands, and appointments. If you have a lot on your plate, break down your tasks into smaller, more manageable steps. For example, if you need to write a report, put “write a report” on your list and then list the individual steps needed to complete the task, such as “research data” and “write an introduction.” You can write all this in your notepad. You can then prioritize your tasks by numbering them.
This will not only help you stay focused and organized, but it will also give you a sense of motivation as you check off each task on your list. Plus, it’s always satisfying to see everything you’ve accomplished at the end of the day.
By keeping such a list, you can visualize your day and come up with the best plan to achieve your goals. It’s also a great way to stay organized and keep track of your planned activities.
It’s best to schedule difficult tasks early in the day when your energy and creativity levels are still high. Starting with the hardest tasks first also helps build your momentum, which is key to overcoming procrastination.
Know Your Limits
You’re in the marketing field for a reason: you’re driven and you’re competitive.
When you’re this passionate about your job, it feels normal to push yourself to the limits all the time, even if that means doing things that you’re no longer supposed to do or accepting more tasks than you can handle.
However, knowing your limits is essential to staying sane, happy, and productive at work. Remember that some tasks require resources that you may not have. That said, even if you feel you need to do it, don’t. It’s okay not to do it all. After all, you’re not superhuman.
Learn How to Prioritize
Are you having a hard time completing your daily targets? Maybe it’s not because you’re being unproductive. Maybe you’re just being unrealistic.
When setting goals, always prioritize tasks that are both important and urgent. Important activities are those that help you achieve your goals while urgent activities are those that demand your immediate attention but are not usually associated with your goals.
Knowing the difference between these two helps overcome your natural tendency to focus on urgent yet unimportant tasks.
Eliminate Distractions
It takes a lot of discipline to stay focused at work, especially if you are working from home.
Everything from your chatty roommate to your smartphone and pets competing for your attention can be a source of distraction. If you’re a parent to a toddler, your situation could even be worse.
Here are some proven ways to eliminate distraction and stay focused at work:
- Silence your phone or keep it away when you’re working.
- Work in the wee hours. Take the early morning silence as an opportunity for some deep work.
- Keep your workspace organized.
- Establish ground rules with your family or roommates.
Take Breaks
Again, you’re not superhuman. Your body is not designed to work like machines. Even though it seems counterintuitive, you need to take a break to recharge your mind and body because when you don’t, you become less creative and less effective at your job.
How often should you take breaks at work? There are many schools of thought about it.
Some recommend that you take a break every 90 minutes, others say every 52 minutes.
The trick is to find a schedule that works for you. Some people like to take a break when they’ve finished one task (regardless of the time), others like to stick to a timeframe. Also, listen to your body. It certainly knows when it’s time to take your break.
It greatly helps to use a mobile time clock app that notifies you when it’s time to get back to work. You can also use this tool to determine how much time you usually spend on certain tasks, so you can figure out how to speed things up a bit if necessary.
Use Templates
This is a very effective technique that many digital marketers swear by. Since most of your tasks are repetitive and mundane, it’s a great strategy to create templates for things like emails, newsletters, reports, documentation, and communications.
For example, if one of your tasks is to manage your company’s social media presence, consider creating templates for your scheduled posts or answers to common customers’ questions.
Templates take time to build, but they’re certainly worth the investment.
Automate Everything You Can
Besides making templates, it greatly helps to automate as many tasks as you can. You can take advantage of available tools that let you track your marketing campaigns, send emails or messages across different social media platforms all at once, for example. You can also utilize automation features integrated into these networking sites, such as setting up auto-responses.
For reports, you can set up formulas on Google Sheets or Excel to access information, compute, or make analyses in minutes. Again, it may take a bit of time and effort to set things up, but once they’re working, you can save so much time and devote your energy to more important tasks.
Keep Improving Yourself
Invest in yourself. Keep learning things that can make you more efficient at work. You may not see the benefits right away but learning a new skill now can help you save time in the future.
With technology, learning new skills is so much easier these days. Many courses and certification programs are available online. You can take these courses at your own pace and schedule. Even better, some of them are free.
What skills do you need to become a great digital marketer?
- Data Analysis. It pays to know how to use Google Analytics and similar tools as they provide detailed information you need to create targeted campaigns.
- Basic Design. Digital marketers perform everyday tasks like creating infographics, posters, and social media images. Learning some design tips to help you succeed, practise design tools like Adobe Photoshop will help you a lot.
- Strategic Planning. Most marketing projects demand intense planning and preparation. Strategic planning is important because it provides a sense of direction and outlines measurable goals.
Evaluate and Eliminate
Technology is your best friend in staying productive. However, if you don’t manage it well, it can also become your enemy.
There are hundreds of apps you can use for work (and counting). Everything from project management systems like Trello and Basecamp to video conferencing platforms like Zoom and Google Meet – most of these apps are designed to make certain tasks easier.
However, having a plethora of tools can be overwhelming too.
Research shows that the majority of employees frequently run as many as five different computer programs at the same time, resulting in lost time.
If you have so many apps and tools that you use for work, it can be worth checking which ones can be eliminated.
Furthermore, it pays to be organized with your work tools. For apps that you use daily, such as time trackers, place them in one folder and create a shortcut located on your desktop screen.
For online apps or platforms, you can also keep them in one place by creating a bookmark folder on your browser. This way, you can open all your needed tools and apps quickly and conveniently, saving time.
Conclusion
Time management is a skill that every digital marketer needs to have to succeed in their roles. With every second you save, you are saving money as well. What’s more, you will have more time for your hobbies, interests, and of course – your family.
Luckily, there are many things you can do to manage your time at work, along with tools that make your work easier.
Meggie is an HR Manager at AMGtime and a passionate Freelance Writer with ongoing curiosity to learn new things. She is deeply convinced that valuable experience sharing is key to business success. Meggie believes in a win-win formula and utilizes it on a daily basis in staff management.