How To Run Your Marketing Department As One Person
As a small business owner, you’re not just the person in charge of everything—you’re also the marketer, the customer service rep, the accountant, and likely wearing a dozen other hats. Managing a marketing department solo can feel like a never-ending cycle of content creation, strategy planning, and social media management. But here’s the good news: you can run an effective marketing strategy as a one-person team with the right approach.
This guide will help you streamline your marketing efforts, focus on what truly moves the needle, and avoid burnout while growing your brand.
The Challenges of Solo Marketing (And How to Overcome Them)
Before diving into strategies, let’s address the most common challenges solo marketers face—so you can tackle them head-on with smart solutions.
Limited Time & Resources
Unlike large companies with dedicated marketing teams, you have limited hours in a day and a restricted budget. This means you need to prioritize efforts that bring the highest return on investment (ROI).
Solution: Focus on high-impact platforms and automate as much as possible (more on this later).
Too Many Responsibilities
Marketing is just one part of running your business. You’re also responsible for client work, finances, product development, and operations. Juggling everything can be overwhelming.
Solution: Set clear marketing priorities based on your business goals, so you don’t waste time on low-impact activities.
Keeping Up with Marketing Trends
The digital landscape changes fast. One moment, a platform is thriving—next, it's irrelevant. Solo marketers often struggle to stay updated.
Solution: Follow a few trusted marketing blogs or experts and implement only relevant updates. You don’t need to chase every trend.
Maintaining Consistency
Marketing works best when it’s consistent—but creating new content regularly can feel like an impossible task when you're managing everything alone.
Solution: Use content batching, editorial calendars, and scheduling tools to stay ahead without daily scrambling.
How to Effectively Manage Marketing as a Solo Marketer
Now that we’ve identified the key challenges, let’s explore exactly how to structure your marketing for efficiency and impact.
Choose Your Core Marketing Platforms
Not every platform is worth your time. Choose one social media platform and one owned media channel (like a blog, podcast, or email list).
Example:
If your audience engages most on Instagram, pair it with blogging to drive long-term organic traffic.
If you serve a professional audience, focus on LinkedIn + email marketing.
Key Tip: Let data drive your decision. Check where your audience already spends time, and focus there.
Create a Simple, Repeatable Marketing Plan
Don’t reinvent the wheel every month. Instead, follow a structured approach:
Quarterly Planning: Set high-level marketing goals (e.g., increase email subscribers, boost engagement, drive sales).
Monthly Strategy: Define the content themes, promotions, or product focuses for the month.
Weekly Execution: Plan tasks like content creation, social media engagement, and email sends.
Pro Tip: Use Notion, Trello, or Asana to keep track of your content calendar and marketing tasks.
Batch Your Content Creation
If you’re creating content daily, you’re burning time. Instead, batch your work:
Writing Days: Draft multiple blog posts, emails, or captions at once.
Design Days: Create all visuals for the month in one session.
Scheduling Days: Upload and schedule content in advance.
Key Tip: Use Later, Buffer, or Meta Business Suite to schedule social media posts in bulk.
Use an Editorial Calendar to Stay Organized
An editorial calendar helps you plan ahead and maintain consistency.
Outline content themes for the next 3-6 months.
Set deadlines for blog posts, social posts, and emails.
Leave space for timely or trending content.
Best Tools for Editorial Calendars: Google Calendar, Notion, Airtable.
Automate Repetitive Tasks
Time is your most valuable asset. Use automation to reclaim your hours:
Social Media Scheduling: Later, Buffer, or Metricool.
Email Marketing Automation: Mailchimp or Flodesk for automated welcome sequences.
Content Recycling: Use Missinglettr or SmarterQueue to repurpose old content.
Pro Tip: Automate without losing human touch—schedule posts, but make time to engage genuinely with your audience.
Know When to Outsource or Get Support
At some point, marketing will take up more time than you have. When that happens, consider:
Hiring a virtual assistant for content repurposing or scheduling.
Working with a content writer for blog posts.
Getting a marketing consultant to refine your strategy.
Thinking of outsourcing? If you'd rather not handle marketing solo anymore, reach out to us at DGB Studio—we can help!
Build a System That Works for You
You can run an effective marketing strategy as a one-person team—you just need a structured system that prioritizes high-impact tasks, automation, and consistency.
What to do next:
Review your marketing efforts and cut low-impact tasks.
Choose one primary social media and one owned content channel.
Set up a content batching and scheduling system.
Automate wherever possible.
Reach out if you’re ready for support!
Need Help Managing Your Marketing?
If you’re reading this thinking, “Yeah… I’d rather have someone else handle this,” we get it. Running a business is already a lot, and marketing shouldn’t feel like another full-time job.
Let’s chat about how DGB Studio can support you. Drop us a message, and let’s see if we’re a good fit!
Until next time,
Natalie Brite - DoGoodBiz Studio
