Small business owners of all ages often find themselves asking why marketing is important for their success. Years ago, when the businesses in the town were the only providers for specific goods and services, marketing for small businesses was not a necessity. Everyone knew who they could turn to for services and products that fit their needs. Now that the world is so interconnected and can quickly have products delivered from around the world or services rendered 24/7, competition has significantly increased. It is vital for small business owners to understand the importance of marketing in business success. Otherwise, they will fall behind the competition, lose out on sales, and may need to close their doors before they even have a chance to make a footprint in the world.
What Is Marketing?
Marketing is composed of the physical, digital, and social efforts needed to help your brand be known throughout your local community, the national market, and around the globe. Marketing takes on many forms and has the opportunity to cost virtually nothing or require an extensive budget. Ultimately, the results you receive will be dependent on how well you reach your target audience and if your message resonates with said audience.
Some examples of marketing you are likely already familiar with (from the customer perspective) include:
- Word of Mouth (WOM)
- Advertisements on an app, TV, or radio channel
- Ads and promotions in your inbox
- Billboards, window stickers, and car wraps
- Sponsored posts on social media
- Door to door promotional material
- Sign spinners
At some point, you as a customer have seen or heard these marketing tactics. Whether you want to admit it or not, one of these tactics has influenced your decision to research a company and/or purchase their product or service. If these very tactics worked on you as a customer, you most certainly need to incorporate these marketing strategies into your small business.
Why Marketing Is Important For Small Business
Small businesses are competing with national brands that offer the same/similar product or service. Oftentimes, these big box stores can offer the same/similar product for a reduced cost. To add further insult to injury, these large companies also have enough resources to market and advertise their sales far beyond what small businesses can do.
These big box stores and the intense local competition from other companies is why marketing for small businesses is vital to your success. Without making an effort to compete with other brands, your business will struggle to garner the sales it needs to operate. Even if a small business is located on a busy street, failure to properly physically, digitally, and socially advertise your products and services will result in few individuals knowing about what you offer. This lack of knowledge of your business will defer their business to other companies rather than your own.
Reasons Why Marketing Can Help Small Businesses
If you are still wondering why marketing is important for your business, you have come to the right place. Consider the following reasons that explain how social, physical, and digital marketing for small businesses can help increase your profits:
- Reach a wide audience of individuals that are interested in what you offer.
- Specifically target members of your community, state, county, or our world that meet demographic characteristics.
- Become top of mind when individuals think of a product or service you offer.
- Promote sales and offers that would otherwise go unnoticed if they did not land in someone’s hands or in their inbox.
- Generate buzz online that spirals into viral success and launches your brand to a new level of notability.
- Build solid relationships with current and future customers.
- Maintain and promote your position as an authoritative figure in your industry.
Aside from the aforementioned list, there are a number of reasons that explain the importance of marketing in business success. All of these reasons and more point to one solid fact that you must accept in our ever growing digital age. If you are not actively promoting your brand and what you have to offer, you will go unnoticed. The lack of individuals who notice your company will continue to grow and inevitably impact your bottom line. When you lose enough of your business to your competition (whether it be other local businesses or big box stores), you will need to decide if you can continue to fight the good fight or throw in the towel.
Your small business marketing strategy does not need to be that of a big brand. However, it does need to exist. Every moment you are not attempting to reach potential customers, they are turning to another brand who offers exactly what you do. All you need to do is start somewhere to experience the exceptional benefits of small business marketing. Once you get started, you will quickly see how easy it is to grow your strategy and multiply your profits.
