So some days, you’re like a marketing ninja.
You have an idea in the shower, bash out a post in ten minutes, someone comments, an enquiry lands, and you think, “Yep. Still got it.” (She sashays down the office like Beyoncé in Single Ladies)
But what about those other days? There may be times when you stare at a blank screen, scroll through LinkedIn, see everyone else apparently smashing it, and wonder whether you should just pack it all in, get a sensible job and never write another LinkedIn post ever again.
If that sounds familiar, welcome to the club. Marketing, whether that’s for your employer or for yourself, is effing hard!!!
And getting Marketing fatigue is a real thing. Especially if you’re running a business or carrying responsibility for finding the next client as well as doing the actual work. Research from email marketing provider Constant Contact reflects this reality. They say that 56% of small businesses say they have an hour or less each day to spend on marketing, while 73% lack confidence in their current strategy. Urgh, that’s a pretty ugly picture, isn’t it?
The bit people don’t always see
So here’s my opportunity to share something a bit personal with you… Around 50% of my time is not spent looking after existing clients. It is spent promoting my own business, staying visible, nurturing relationships and targeting new ones.
That is a hefty chunk of time when you are trying to service local businesses with strategy, creative ideas and good old-fashioned graft.
And, if I’m being completely honest, there have been moments when I have wanted to throw in the towel. Chasing flaky clients is exhausting. Being ghosted after you have spent time understanding a brief and putting together a thoughtful proposal is disheartening. Trying to stay upbeat, visible and positive while wondering where the next piece of work is coming from? That takes energy, resilience and pure grit. Oh, yeah and endless positivity!
It is easy to look at someone else’s polished post and assume they are firing on all cylinders. But behind a lot of confident business marketing is a person who is tired, slightly frustrated and trying to remember why they started.
So, first things first: feeling flat does not mean you are bad at marketing. It means you are human. In today’s article, I’m going to share some personal tips on how you can get your marketing mojo back when you’re feeling a little flat.
Go back to people, not platforms
When I feel stuck, I try to get away from the pressure of “What should I post?” and back to the people I am trying to help.
The best ideas rarely arrive because you have stared harder at a content calendar. They come from real conversations.
Speak to a client. Ask what is keeping them awake at night. Listen to the language they use when they explain a problem. Notice the questions they keep asking. Those are not just conversations; they are content gold.
If three clients have asked whether they really need to be on TikTok, there is your post. If a business owner has told you they feel embarrassed by their outdated website, there is your blog. If someone has had a lovely win after a campaign you worked on together, there is a story worth sharing.
You do not need to invent a brand-new idea every week. You simply need to pay attention.
Mine your own story bank
Did you know you’re not content hungry? In fact, you’re probably sitting on far more content than you realise.
Look back through old emails, proposals, WhatsApp messages, testimonials and presentations. There will be questions you have answered 20 times, campaigns you are proud of, mistakes you learned from and client feedback that made your day.
That is your story bank.
I like to store my content ideas on WhatsApp. I created a group called Content Ideas with one member, me! Then, anytime a content idea surfaces, I simply whip out my phone and send a note to that group to pick up later.
Here are some ideas of things you could add to that group:
- A question a client asks
- A result you are proud of
- A frustrating marketing habit you keep seeing
- A behind-the-scenes moment from your working week
- Something that made you laugh, think or swear quietly into your tea
When your mojo disappears, you do not have to summon creativity from thin air. Just open your list!
Building an idea bank during the good, energetic weeks is one of the simplest ways to protect yourself during the flat ones.
Revisit the wins
When business feels a bit shaky, our brains are annoyingly good at remembering the ghosting, the no-replies and the proposals that went nowhere. They are less good at reminding us of the work that did make a difference.
So keep a win folder
Save the nice emails. Screenshot the kind comments. Keep the testimonial. Record the before-and-after figures. Write down the moment a client told you that your work helped them feel more confident, more visible or more in control.
Not every win has to be a huge contract or a viral post. Sometimes it is a client finally understanding their own message. Sometimes it is a small business owner who has plucked up the courage to show their face on video. Sometimes it is simply putting something out there when you really did not feel like it.
Those little reminders matter. They help you reconnect with the value of what you do, rather than just the task list in front of you.
Creating content on low-mojo days
On low-mojo days, do not try to write your life’s greatest thought-leadership piece. Trust me, you won’t do it, and you’ll probably feel even worse after attempting it and failing.
Try instead to do one of these:
- Share one question a client asked this week, along with your answer
- Repost an older post that got you good engagement the first time around
- Highlight a client or collaborator doing something good
- Write three quick tips rather than a big, meaty article
- Share a behind-the-scenes photo and explain what you are working on
- Turn an old presentation or proposal into one practical post
Repurposing strong older content is not cheating. It is sensible. Most people did not see it the first time, and those who did probably do not remember every word anyway.
Content does not always need to be high-energy to be good. In fact, a calm, useful, honest post can often land better than something that is trying too hard to be clever, punchy, or funny.
The answer is not to force positivity every single day. It is about building a marketing routine that does not rely entirely on you feeling brilliant all the time.
Talk to people. Keep an idea bank. Save your wins. Reuse what already works. And give yourself permission to have an off day without deciding your business is doomed.
Remember this. Marketing is a long game. Some weeks you will feel like you are flying; some weeks you will feel like it’s tumbleweed.
And that’s okay! Everybody needs to take a break sometimes. But if you can, keep showing up. Not perfectly. Just as the honest and imperfect you!
