Last week I was in San Diego for a marketing conference and one of the joys of a work trip like that is hanging out with like-minded friends and just plain having fun.

We rode electric scooters and drank margaritas in cool bars and on the last day we met up for pizza. But not everyone wanted pizza. Some of us just wanted a snack.

So I asked the very friendly server what snacks they had.

And she said “Ummm, salad?”

Salad??!! WTF?

No. Snacks. In. A. Bar!!

Seriously, the first rule of running a bar is offering ALL the salty snacks so that people order more drinks, because that’s where you make your money.

I guarantee every single person reading this has a snack-sized hole in their business, which means you are leaving money on the table.

Off the top of my head, I can think of at least 5 things I need to start doing immediately, from setting up a new quiz lead magnet to troubleshooting my abandoned cart sequence (that thing is a hot mess right now).

Both of those things are easy wins which will bring in more money and yet I’ve been procrastinating a little about getting them done.

Because there are other urgent and important things I need to get done, as well as my regular workload and of course, I need to create content and, and, and…..there is always something, right?

I’ll make you a deal.

Find one snack-sized hole in your business this week, put it in your diary right now and just get it done.

To get you started, here are my top 5 easy marketing wins. I’m keeping them small and actionable so that you really have no excuse.

1. Collect your essential marketing data

When it comes to collecting marketing data, your two key raw data sources are Google Analytics and the Facebook Pixel (yes, still important even after the iOS changes).

If you’re saying, ‘But I don’t understand Google Analytics and I don’t want to run Facebook ads’, cool. But you still need to have both of these key tracking tools in place because as your business grows, you’ll want to run Facebook or Instagram ads (they both need the Pixel) and you’ll need Google Analytics to track the results properly.

With all of the changes going on in the Facebook (Meta) world right now, here’s a link to their own training on pixel set up. 

For Google Analytics, you have more than one option and this very thorough article covers all of them.

2. Re-write your social media bios

This is one of the simplest and easiest marketing jobs you can do, but we often put off doing this because we underestimate the impact it can have. 

For example, last year I worked with Instagram training coach, Rebecca Ward,who helped me makeover our business bio to ensure we were using the right keywords (we weren’t!).

Before changing our display name, we quite literally couldn’t be found. We’re now consistently in the top 10 results for the term ‘website templates’.

If you’d like to take Rebecca’s Instagram makeover training, we have a one hour workshop inside our Marketing Fix membership, which also covers the dreaded Reels. 

3. Update your personal profile banners

Question. When you see a helpful comment or article shared on social channels like Facebook, LinkedIn or Twitter, what do you do?

You click on their name and visit their personal profile. And if it’s all cat memes or funny videos (or worse), are you more or less inclined to want to interact with them?

Now, I’m not saying you can’t have fun on social media at all. I love a good cat meme myself but I do have my personal profile fully prepped with a professional headshot and a banner which explains exactly what I do. 

Facebook have confirmed that they will not penalise you for sharing business content on your personal account, so make sure you look like someone who takes themselves seriously enough to business professionally. 

4. Commit to creating content regularly

I know, I know. I can see some of you backing away into a corner at the thought of committing to creating regular content. But the truth is that you need to be consistently visible as a business. 

Now, I’m not asking you to go from zero to doing all of the things on every platform, but I would urge you to start creating a single piece of content every week, whether that’s one paragraph or a whole blog post. 

I write a blog post every Monday, drip it out onto Facebook and Instagram every day and cross post to LinkedIn, as well as putting out the blog intro as my Mindset Monday email. 

(Sign up for that right here – I love telling a good story, plus I’ll also send you my DIY Website Secrets e-book)” https://thedesignspace.co/diy-guide/

I love my Monday writing session. It gives my week shape and purpose and I have my weekly topics planned out at least 6 weeks in advance so that my marketing messaging makes sense over time.

(BTW, if you’d really like to nail your content creation workflow, then our Easy Content Creation Workshop is right here and it’s a bargain!)

5. Start collecting email addresses by creating content upgrades

If you’ve been following me for a while, you’ll know I’m always banging on about creating a freebie or lead magnet. I also know that creating a lead magnet can seem like a big deal, so procrastination kicks in.

But there is an easier, less intimidating way of getting started and that’s by creating a ‘content upgrade’. A content upgrade is a prompt in the middle or end of a blog post that offers you a deeper insight or tool.

For example, if you’re reading a blog post about speeding up your website and you’re offered the chance to download a ‘website speed checklist’, you’re going to take it, right?

It’s a micro action that people are far more likely to take when they are already interested in the subject. The beauty of content upgrades is that they don’t need to be epic works, but equally, you can also promote your lead magnet too. 

I often find that when a content upgrade performs well, it means that I should work it up into a fully fledged e-book for example. 

But you don’t have to. Simple content upgrades will keep delivering for you. 

If you’re not sure where to start with creating a content upgrade, here’s a little hack. 

• Choose two related blog posts. 
• Turn one blog post into a bullet-pointed ‘checklist’. 
• Offer it as a content upgrade in the first post. 
• Use the checklist to link back to the fuller article. 

The result? You capture an email, build trust by delivering information they need and you get your reader to spend more time on your website. Nice.

So which snack-sized hole are you going to fill after reading this article? Remember, if you need help with any of these easy marketing wins, we cover every single one of these inside The Marketing Fix. 

If you’d like to join an inspiring online community, you can find out more about Melissa’s online membership, The Marketing Fix, at www.themarketingfix.co.