What you need to know about marketing for your small business

Small-business marketing comes with many challenges. From limited budgets to limited marketing experience, it can be difficult to know where to start. However, it’s important to understand the power of a comprehensive marketing strategy. 

As a small-business owner, you’re undoubtedly good at what you do, and it may be tempting to think that running an operationally sound organization with great products and exceptional service should be all you need to get the word out and grow your business. 

While business fundamentals are extremely important — no business will last long without them — a marketing strategy will give you a better understanding of what your business is, what it’s trying to accomplish, who it’s trying to help and how to help them. 

In short, don’t think of marketing for your small business as something outside your core business fundamentals; think of it as an essential part. 

Develop a small-business marketing strategy 

Since small-business owners are always running on limited time and money (we know!), it’s easy to want to turn to quick fixes and quick wins to reach your marketing goals. While there are quick wins to be had, they can only get you so far. Before you spend a single dollar of your marketing budget, you need to sit down and develop a marketing strategy. Here are some important things that any small business should consider: 

  • What are your business’s core values? It’s easy to dismiss this as fluff, but sitting down and thinking about these ideas seriously can help you understand what truly differentiates your business from the crowd and how to communicate that to your audience.
  • Who are your customers and audience? This is also known as marketing research, but you don’t always need to hire a big-budget research agency to find out who you’re trying to sell to. If you have any data about your existing clients, it can help you get started on building basic audience profiles. 
  • Traditional, digital or both? When you start to explore the specific channels that can help you reach your audience, understanding your audience and what kinds of content they consume is essential. While traditional forms of marketing, such as television and print, aren’t going anywhere, the fact is that nearly everyone is online these days. Even if you have an older demographic, the question isn’t if they’re using the internet, it’s where and how. With unparalleled reach and the ability to be cost effective, digital marketing absolutely needs to be part of your marketing mix if you’re a small business. 

While these are the basics anyone should know about marketing for small business, many successful owners turn to a partner to help get their plan off the ground. The right digital marketing agency can help you refine your brand, expand your audience and reach your goals on a cost-effective basis. 

Burg & Co. Marketing — a small business that understands small-business marketing

Our experts have spent years developing marketing expertise that has helped build brands large and small. We love forming close partnerships with our clients to truly understand your business and audience so we can help you build a high-performing integrated digital marketing strategy. 

Contact us today to learn more and schedule your free marketing consultation.

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