Why Small Businesses Are terrified of Marketing With years of experience working with small businesses I can tell you that most are terrified of marketing. While they have no hesitation when spending moneyon things like remodeling, new product development and/or product distribution they rarely consider marketing. This is largely due to the fact that most small businesses look at marketing as an expense instead of an investment. Marketing is only an expense when its done incorrectly. Try to think of marketing dollars as a strategic investment in your business, rather than an expense. This is the secret behind many successful businesses. Companies who fight the urge to reduce their marketing investment in the bad times and increase it in the good times will grow their business and beat the competition. Here are five reasons why small businesses are terrified of marketing. 1. They don’t understand it. Most small businesses have no experience with marketing so its hard to get their head wrapped around it. When you don’t understand something its difficult to see the value it brings. Most businesses won’t spend the time to learn marketing so they can’t get out in front of it. Its easy to understand since most owners & operators are tied up with the day to day operations of running their business. 2. It costs money. Duh! Marketing cost money no matter what size the campaign. When business owners are forced to make a choice between hiring a salesperson (who generates revenue) and a marketing person, who spends revenue, it is easy to understand why they pick the former. Business owners must keep reminding themselves that marketing is an investment in their business, not an expense! It’s that simple really. When your marketing efforts generate more money than you spend running your campaigns its a win. 3. They don’t see it as a priority. Most businesses will spend money on just about anything and everything before marketing. Building and testing new products. Conducting store renovations. Hiring new staff. It typically all comes before marketing. Businesses that make marketing a priority will keep their edge in the marketplace, continue to grown their brand and beat the competition. 4. They don’t know how to measure marketing. Most businesses think marketing is something they throw money at and hope it generates a return. Nothing could be further from the truth. Businesses should focus on marketing metrics and use all the tools available to them. Whether you use google analytics (free) on your website, a QR code (bit.ly) in your print ad or text messaging system (1 cent message) to reward your loyal customers. If you’re not measuring your marketing your just guessing! 5. Marketers are difficult. Marketers are a different breed. We often come across wrong. This is because we’re passionate about our job and confident in our ways. Yes, we can be a bit slick and we like to talk fast but we mean well and are focused on helping your small businesses succeed. My advise is to take the time to learn a little about marketing and find yourself a marketing consultant or agency that can help you market and grow your business. Most marketing companies will give you a free consultation and many others like myself even give free seminars and workshops in our area.
Posted on: Thu, 27 Jun 2013 08:18:17 +0000
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