It is a handy time to consider the benefits of working from home and for us to offer some advice on how you can stay focused and productive.
DAILY ROUTINE
Make sure to get up at the same time each day, shower and breakfast and get dressed.
It’s all too easy to sit in bed in your pyjamas, but you will feel 100% more positive if you get used to treating the day as a workday. Especially as you don’t have the usual commute and office interactions to get you prepared for the day.
It’s especially important if you will be having meetings online, as seeing each other’s faces makes the meetings much more positive for productivity and mental well-being!
YOUR OFFICE AWAY FROM HOME
Not everyone will have the luxury of having a private room to set up your home-office in, but it’s important to prepare a space where you can settle down each day.
Ideally, a quiet place where you can avoid some of the disturbance from children and pets. If not, just a regular place where you have a chair you feel comfortable in for a few hours, and a table to put your computer, notebook, diaries and any other items you would use during your normal workday in the office.
If you are in a busy living space with distractions, it’s ok. People will understand. It’s rare on our daily team calls at Sprint Digital that we don’t have an appearance from a team member’s children or cat popping into view!
Our good friends at Rate-Wise also have a few great suggestions for working from home that you can read here.
PLAN PLAN PLAN
To help add structure in the home office, it’s vital to plan your days and weeks so you know precisely what you will be working on. This is a great opportunity to work on large or long-term projects you may have been putting aside to focus on more immediate tasks.
Making a list of goals to achieve and tasks to complete will help with the overall structure. Scheduling video and voice calls, as well as your lunches and breaks, will also help keep you focused on the working week. Make sure to not over-schedule, as some balance is required to work around home interruptions and liaise with and help colleagues.
SEASONAL CAMPAIGNS
It’s never too early to plan for Christmas, other seasonal campaigns or more importantly what special offers you may consider for re-opening. It’s a great opportunity to get the jump on them well in advance now. You may not know what budgets or restrictions there will be moving forward, but having a solid plan now means less work closer to the time.
CONTENT
Content is everything and yet amazingly some run without any content strategy Instead focusing on paid campaigns that will see results now. Investing in your content saves you money and time in the long run, with the goal of spending less on your paid campaigns.
BLOGS
Review your blogs if you do them. What blog topics could be refreshed or updated. Create an evergreen topic calendar and schedule in time to write them. Once you are back in the office you should have a bank of blogs to work from.
SOCIAL MEDIA
Having a social media calendar can save you hours of time. By preplanning and even scheduling posts you’re limiting the panic of what to post. If your business is currently closed plan a few months ahead, creating a local events calendar is a great way of building content to posts. Don’t forget to share your blogs!
REVIEW
As well planning campaigns you can review and improve what assets you currently have.
Organise your marketing materials and photos, even ordering your folders will help you save time in the long run. What materials are you missing?
WEBSITE UPDATES AND DESIGN
There is no better time to review your website. Even if your website is relatively new, you would be amazed how quickly information can become out of date.
Review your content and update any out-of-date information
Are all your services clearly advertised?
Are you showcasing your most important services first?
Is your website SEO friendly?
SEO
If you have the benefit of already being optimised for SEO then it’s a great time to review your keywords. It’s important to review and update your keywords to make sure they are still relevant. Review your website metadata and title tags to ensure you are optimizing for SEO.
CREATE
Depending on your budget you may still have some paid campaigns running. If your company is shut for the moment review what you can sell online. Does your website offer vouchers?
Focus on what you offer to your customers for the moment, if you can sell online promote it on social, your paid search platforms or even email marketing.
IMAGES & DESIGN
Review your marketing material and see if you have enough options for future work.
Creating an image-bank is a valuable use of time and will save time when you are back in the office.
Create a bank of images using a design software, there are some great online ones like Canva if you don’t have access on your computer. Create images for social media, email campaigns or even your planned blog topics.
Depending on your set up at home, as well as graphics you could take some of your own photograph. This is a great alternative to using stock photo sites and keeps it unique and exclusive.
WEBSITE BUILDS
Even though you may not be a web designer, if you have an upcoming website planned then you can still help prepare.
Doing research on other websites that you like or even don’t like is a great help to your designer. Make a list of aspects of other sites that you enjoy and would like to see incorporated into your own site. Look at designs, colors, fonts, and features so when the time comes for your website build you can go to your designer with a vision of what you want. are looking for.
TRAINING
Though not strictly to do with marketing, taking time to train on a new skill is something we all push to the side. Online courses can be found in almost every subject and many training companies are giving huge discounts or even making them free for the time being. From a short training session in social media online webinars in design, there is endless possibilities of what you can do now that you have the time.
WHAT CAN BE DONE FOR NOW?
Now is the time to stay positive and focus on achieving goals and planning for the future. When you are back at your office desk you want to have brought as many strategies, calendars, and materials to make your return as smooth as possible!
