From the course: Small Business Marketing

Small business marketing challenges

From the course: Small Business Marketing

Small business marketing challenges

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- If we surveyed 10 different business owners or marketers right now, I bet every single one would define marketing differently. I think most would agree that marketing is important. But when it comes time to provide an exact definition, things might start to derail. It's easy to over-emphasize the tasks and responsibilities of a marketer. Or to debate if marketing, advertising and sales all fall under the same umbrella. But defining marketing in such a granular manner will detract from your ability to see the true responsibilities and goals of marketing. I see marketing as the act of persuading someone to take action. That might be to buy your product, sign up for your webinar or even click an ad. Anything you do to influence this behavior is an aspect of marketing. If you need to add a new product to your lineup or tweak your cold calling script, if it's in the pursuit of persuading a buyer to take action, you're marketing. But you don't just persuade someone once. You continuously nudge a buyer forward to make that decision to purchase. Marketing is a cycle. You'll constantly be involved in managing the relationship with the customer, from getting them to learn about you to getting them to tell their friends about you. The objective of marketing is the same whether you're Microsoft or a hair salon. As a small business though, how you manage that objective is dramatically different. Now, you're likely already aware of the biggest difference, budget. With less money to spend, you'll have to be scrappy, fast to learn and quick to iterate. All to make sure your dollar isn't wasted. And beyond budgets, well, there's the issue of staffing. You likely don't have the luxury of a large team. You'll have to be diligent about outsourcing, picking the right marketing mediums and focusing on a demographic that you have the resources to manage. And finally, there's data. Big companies have access to market research, data analysts, partnerships with other brands and so on. You on the other hand, likely have a small sample of information from your sales, your website and your customers themselves. But don't fret, you can overcome these challenges.

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