Small Business Owners: 5 Reasons You Can’t Ignore Marketing Your Business
It’s 2017 and marketing your business couldn’t be easier. From social media platforms, email blasts and online ads, there are numerous ways to get the message of your business to its intended audience. I’ve been in the marketing profession since I was 22, and now 14 years later – You can calculate my age at another time;) – I’m amazed at how marketing has evolved while still remaining the same at heart. When I started, there was no social media. Can you believe it? It’s hard to imagine marketing without Facebook, Instagram and Twitter being involved. At that time, marketers depended heavily on email marketing, online banner ads, print and even radio. Because of this I still maintain that creating a database for email marketing is one of the best ways to promote your business. It gives you control in the way your message is communicated to those who need and want to hear what you have to say.
Given how marketing has evolved, I’m still surprised to encounter small business owners, who are hesitant to embrace a full marketing strategy for their business. So why is it that these owners are so reluctant to put a concentrated effort into marketing? Is it lack of time? Lack of knowledge? Lack of money? Or is the value-add not that apparent? I’m not sure of the exact reason, that would call for some in-depth research. However I’ve come across it numerous times in Barbados, where I live. Whatever the reason, if you’re a business owner, ignoring this function can detrimentally affect its growth.
According to the American Marketing Association, “marketing” is defined as the “activity, set of institutions, and processes for creating, communicating, delivering and exchanging offerings that have value for customers, clients, partners and social at large.” Marketing, at its core is about building relationships. It fosters connections to your audience that ultimately supports the life of your business. What use is having a business if no one buys from it? If you’re still wondering if investing your time and effort into a comprehensive marketing plan it worth the effort, I’m here to put your fears to rest. Below are 5 reasons you can’t afford to ignore marketing your business.
1. Increased Sales
This should be a no-brainer. Marketing your business is directly correlated to your sales revenue. If your ideal customer knows about your business, they’re more likely to buy from it. The more people who know about your business, the more sales you’re likely to achieve. The equation is really quite simple. In this digital age, creating online ads through Google AdWords or Facebook Ads can guarantee traffic to your website in a matter of minutes. Whether your product is fast moving – like clothes or food, or slow moving – like real estate – will be the determining factor in how immediate an increase in sales revenue will occur. However, online ads are obviously great for propelling traffic to your virtual store but what if your store is brick and mortar? Physical locations can also benefit from online advertising to propel in-store traffic. While online methods are the most cost effective, print, radio and television ads still have their place in reaching the audience at large.
2. Increased Awareness
As a marketer, I love a good marketing quote and this one by Seth Godin, really sums up the essence of what marketing is all about – “Our job is to connect to people, to interact with them in a way that leaves them better than we found them, more able to get where they’d like to go.” One of the fundamentals of marketing is building awareness for your business. Why is awareness important? Because it helps cement your company into the minds of your intended audience. Tying your services as a solution to a problem that your audience is experiencing, can anchor your business in their minds. Crafting marketing content that evokes emotion can cause your audience to remember the business when a need arises. Invoking feel good emotions, such as humour, is a great way to turn prospects into paying customers.
3. Build Trust
Earlier I said, that marketing at its core, builds relationships and the foundation of any good relationship is trust. Executing a consistent marketing strategy builds trust with your intended audience. This process ensures that customers feel safe when they are purchasing from you. They are assured of your business’ viability through consistent communication and interaction. This can also propel your intended audience to share information about your business with their family and friends. Trustworthiness is why Influencer Marketing is trending so heavily. Influencer Marketing focuses on using key leaders within an industry to build awareness of products or services. Most influencers have already built a loyal following that has confidence in their recommendations. Studies have shown that a high percentage of buying decisions are heavily impacted by recommendations from family, friends or industry leaders that buyers deem trustworthy.
4. Learn Your Audience
Having a consistent marketing plan, helps you get to know your audience better. Once you know what your audience responds to, you can tailor your message so that it appeals to their needs. Not only does this help with creating better marketing content, it also helps to refine the product or service that you offer. You’ll get insight into what motivates them to purchase, what issues they’re experiencing and what other solutions they may be looking for that are lacking in the marketplace. This provides more business opportunities for you to fill in the gaps. As a bonus, you’ll also get to learn if you marketplace is highly competitive or not. It will give a dose of reality to what’s really going on within your industry of choice.
5. Build a Strong + Recognizable Brand
Your brand is your reputation and marketing can help solidify that reputation. Building a powerful and recognizable brand means you won’t have to constantly remind your audience about your presence. I believe branding is more than a logo or colour scheme. It’s the collective experience that your customers enjoy in addition to your communication style with those customers. A strong brand emits trustworthiness, customer satisfaction and loyalty. Loyal customers are the back bone of any business. Not only because they consistently purchase your goods/services but because they also share their experience with others – bringing them into the fold and creating new leads for your business.
Conclusion:
Whatever the reason for not consistently marketing your business, in this digital age, there are many free tools that can assist in creating content to execute your marketing plan. Free tools like Canva, help you create graphics on the fly without you how having to invest in a designer. Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and social advertising are great for getting the word out. In addition, tactics for collecting your current customers’ email addresses can also go a long way to sustaining your business.
If you have any questions, feel free to drop me a line. I’m always open for a chat.
With love from Barbados,
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