Spend less time on busywork. Spend more time on what moves the needle.
If your to-do list is always full, and marketing keeps slipping to the bottom, you’re not alone. Whether you’re a CEO juggling client work or a lean team trying to do it all, some marketing tasks just eat up more time than they should.
The good news? Many of those tasks can either be automated or outsourced, freeing you up to focus on what actually drives growth. Below, we’re breaking down five time-heavy marketing tasks and giving you straightforward ways to make each one more efficient.
1. Content Creation
Writing, editing, proofreading, posting, repurposing…it adds up fast.
Creating content your audience will find helpful takes time. The blank page is no joke, and most business owners and senior leaders don’t have hours to spend writing a blog or email sequence. And even if you do, hitting “publish” is just the beginning.
Streamline It:
- Repurpose what already exists. Turn a client email or webinar into three posts and a blog. We did this with our Referral Engine blog posts, turning them into a Referral Engine Workbook.
- Set up a content calendar and batch your writing one day a month. We plan our calendar out at the beginning of each quarter, and then on our writing day, we know exactly what we need to work on.
- Outsource the writing (or at least the first draft). Let someone else get you 80% of the way there.
2. Email Marketing
Between audience segmentation, copywriting, testing, and scheduling, this one’s a sneaky time trap.
It’s easy to underestimate how long a simple email campaign takes. If you’re segmenting lists, A/B testing subject lines, and reviewing performance, that “quick send” turns into a half-day project.
Streamline It:
- Use templates and automation tools. We like ActiveCampaign for small teams, which offers many pre-built recipes for automation.
- Set up evergreen nurture sequences that run in the background. We typically advise clients to have at least a Welcome email series and then one series dedicated to FAQs.
- Delegate scheduling and list management to a VA or junior marketer. This is an excellent way for the junior person to get to learn more about the company’s products, services and culture.
3. Social Media Management
Keeping up with platforms that don’t always return the favor.
The constant pressure to post, respond, monitor comments, and analyze what’s working can become a full-time job and it doesn’t always seem to have a full-time return. Especially if your audience isn’t even hanging out there.
Streamline It:
- Focus on the platforms where your audience is active. For instance, most B2B audiences use LinkedIn, so that would be the place for you to post your content, make connections, and interact.
- Schedule posts in batches using a tool like HootSuite or Publer. Several of these platforms also have cool editing and AI-assisted writing tools which can further boost your productivity.
- Reuse content across channels (e.g., LinkedIn post → email tip → Instagram video).
- Hand off engagement and posting to someone who can maintain consistency. (Do you get the sense here that we really want you to delegate some of this work?)
4. Reporting & Analytics
You know you need the data. You just don’t have time to dig for it every week.
Reviewing analytics is important, but building dashboards, pulling reports, and interpreting the results? That can eat hours each month. Plus, Google and the social media platforms change what analytics are available frequently (many of us are still trying to recover from the transition from Google Analytics to Google Analytics 4!)
Streamline It:
- Set up automated reports through Google Looker Studio, Agency Analytics, or HubSpot. For instance, in Google Looker Studio, you can connect your Google Analytics, Search Console, and LinkedIn Ads data to create a visual dashboard that updates in real time.
- Track only the metrics that matter to your goals. For instance, if your goal is qualified leads, don’t waste time analyzing impressions and likes. Focus on conversion rate from landing pages, number of marketing-qualified leads, and sales pipeline influenced by marketing. Skip vanity metrics like pageviews or post engagement—unless they directly support a lead generation goal.
- Ask your marketing partner to include a short summary of what worked and what didn’t each month. This insight will help you build a more useful analytics reporting system.
5. Managing Contractors or Freelancers
Outsourcing sounds easy—until you’re stuck reviewing drafts, fixing mistakes, or giving the same instructions three times.
If you’ve worked with freelancers, you’ve probably found yourself rewriting half the work or following up for status updates. When not managed properly, outsourcing becomes a time-suck instead of a time-saver.
Streamline It:
- Create clear briefs upfront (what’s needed, what success looks like, and deadlines). Also provide examples of past work that meets your guidelines.
- Use one project management tool to communicate and track tasks. We use BaseCamp. Others have found success with Monday or Asana.
- Hire someone who can manage the contractors for you—a marketing lead who owns outcomes, not just tasks.
So Where Should You Actually Be Spending Time?
If your time is limited, here’s where to focus:
- Strategy. Make sure you have a clear plan that ties back to your business goals.
- Customer-facing content. Record the videos or write the posts only you can.
- Decision-making. Review what’s working and shift the plan accordingly.
- Sales alignment. Ensure marketing is supporting the sales team with the right leads and content.
Everything else? It can (and probably should) be handled by someone else.
Final Thought
You don’t need to do everything. You need to do the right things and do them consistently. The rest can be simplified, systemized, or handed off entirely.
Want help with that?
Let us handle your marketing tasks efficiently.
📞 Contact us to discuss how we can support your team.
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