For the small business owner, marketing was at one time something you just decided to do. In the noisy business climate of today, this should never be the case. A small business owner can’t simply check marketing off as a simple to do item. Your marketing efforts must never stop yet always evolve .
It doesn’t matter if you sell high end hand bags or office supplies to office managers, if the business is not actively pursuing unique methodologies by which to market to would be buyers, the business will simply dry up. There are way too many options out there all of which are clamoring for attention. Without a unvarying plan and an interesting way to differentiate your company, you can hope for long term viability.
Perhaps you are in an exceedingly competitive market where margins are razor thin. Let’s suppose you sell discount office supplies and must compete against Office Depot and Staples. If ever a small business wanted to go broke, it would attempt to mirror the methods of these giant retailers. However, if the company decided that instead of attempting to their message, they would construct there own niche and present their offering in a way unlike that of the competition, that is the formula and the road that must be taken.
Make no mistake, marketing is an art form. The psychology of who buys what and from whom is both interesting and ever elusive. Attempting to be all things to all people is unacceptable. The key is to understand your particular buyer (not all possible buyers) and appeal to him or her directly and uniquely.
Boring marketing equals wasted time and money. Your audience demands to be engaged in a compelling way. Humor properly employed has a definite place in the small business marketing plan. We live in a world of instant information and entertainment. Your message should be reflexive of this. Too much copy is only a minus when you have no story to tell. Your audience will read your material as long as it remains interesting and enlightening.
Lastly, unlike the “big guys,” smaller business should always include an offer and a deadline for responding . Besides giving your prospect a call to action, it gives you the business owner a means to gauge its effectiveness.
Embrace marketing, do not fear it but confront it as being as necessary as electrical energy.
