Like many people, you probably spend more time in front of your screens lately. You may work from home, temporarily or permanently. The COVID-19 pandemic did wonderful things for the advancement of working online, causing an influx of converts to work in the cloud.
A survey of iPhone users determined that individual screen time has increased 185 percent because of the work from home requirements the pandemic caused. Users now spend more than eight hours on a mobile device or computer each day. You, the business owner, probably belong to that group just as your employees do. Your customers also belong to that group.
What does that mean to you?
It means you need to stretch – your marketing budget and your body!
You might laugh, but we’re serious.
According to Harvard Medical School, the extra screen time causes shoulder and neck problems, and in those who experience migraines, more headaches. People have no other way to complete their tasks and work though, so we all need to learn to use mobile devices and computers more effectively and safely.
That means learning to stretch our bodies while we work. Since many businesses plan to have employees work from home more often after the pandemic, learning some stretches will be beneficial to you. So, as we stretch marketing budgets, let’s also stretch our bodies.
Stretching Your Marketing Budget
While people spend more time on the computer and mobile devices, they spend less time commuting, reading magazines and print newspapers, and listening to the radio during the commute. That means those billboards they would have seen, those ads they would have thumbed by, and those radio spots they would have heard, they are missing. You need advertising they see and hear. That means you need a larger online advertising campaign. You do not need to spend more money though.
You do this by repurposing your existing marketing budget. Why buy billboards that no person sees? Reallocate that money to Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and banner ads.
While you’re stretching your marketing budget, remember to make it more comfortable to spend extra time online. Harvard suggests a few simple stretches that you can do while seated in front of the computer or using a mobile device. Make that added time in front of the screen healthy time.
Shoulder shrugs. You can do these as you read or watch a video or webinar. Shrug your shoulders up toward your ears. Hold them in that position for a count of four. Do at least four of these to loosen your shoulder muscles.
While you multi-task your work and your workout, multi-task your ads, too. Repurpose the flyers you would have used on cars in the parking lots or to distribute in-store as inserts in outgoing mail orders and deliveries. These do not need to go to waste. You simply use them in a new way.
Head shakes and nods. It might sound silly but shake your head “yes” a few times. Follow it up by shaking your head “no” a few times. You loosen your neck muscles, and you think of funny questions to answer as you nod and shake your head.
Agree to use your tried and true advertising campaign that people know and love. If it already brings them into your sales funnel, you do not need to update it just because of the pandemic or just because your competitor came out with a new ad. You only need a new campaign when the old one stops bringing people in your store or office door or when they stop buying online.
Arm circles. Hold your arms out to your sides and make a fist with each hand. Move your arms in forward circles for ten rotations then reverse the direction for another ten rotations. Move your arms out in front of your chest and repeat the exercise.
Use a modular layout that lets you rotate in custom copy for each of your markets. This lets you develop one brochure and ad copy layout that you can reuse. You only change the copy sections that require language for a specific market or product. Bake More Pies can easily create this modular layout for you.
Point your fingers. Point your fingers toward the floor and stretch your arms and fingers toward the floor. Hold it for ten seconds. Raise your hands to the ceiling with your fingers still pointed out and up. Stretch your arms and fingers upward and hold for a count of ten.
Use low-cost methods like public relations to improve your marketing reach. You need not sink more funds into advertising. Let Bake More Pies help you craft press releases that prompt news stories. News media coverage costs you nothing. It also helps to build consumer trust in your company and brand when it is positive. We can help you strategize press releases that provide viable feature articles for magazines and newspapers that provide an angle and a story framework. Many newspapers and magazines use press releases as a starting point for longer articles that include interviewing you or your company’s media relations officer.
Torso twist. Inhale. As you exhale, grasp the back of your chair with your right hand and the arm of the chair with your left. Keep your eyes level and your chin up. Turn your torso and head as far as possible, seeing how much of the back of the room you can see. Returning to facing front, you switch your hands’ grasp and turn the opposite direction, repeating the process.
No need to twist and shout over needing new photos or illustrations. You can reuse some of what you already have. Those photos from your corporate advertising or public relations campaigns you can reuse in your annual report. Repurpose brochure copy for direct mail or email. You almost never need to start from scratch. Repurposing photos and illustrations especially save you money since photographers and photo studio time is one of the largest expenses.
Leg extensions. Leg extensions make everyday leg day. You work your abs and legs with this one. Grasp either side of the seat of your chair with your hands. Raise your legs parallel to the floor. Point your toes, then flex your foot. Repeat five times.
Extend your reach by selling yourself as an expert. Your corporate blog should not be the only place you publish. We can help you craft high-quality content and assist you in placing it in online publications your customers read. This also works to build trust for your company by helping promote its leader as an expert in the field. You can participate in blog exchanges where you publish a guest blog by the staff writer of an online publication and, in return, it publishes one you wrote.
Bake More Pies knows a bevy of ways to stretch your marketing budget. While we all spend more time in front of the computer screens and mobile device screens, we need to stretch our bodies, too. We can help you put your business and brand in front of more consumers on all screens. Call us today to start stretching your marketing dollars.
