Small Business Marketing Strategy

Posted on August 4, 2011 by Page One Marketing

Strategy is the name of the game when it comes to any marketing, but it becomes so much more important for the small business marketing consultant. Small business owners are working on a limited budget of both money and time and they need all their strategies to be efficient, which is what makes outsourcing different areas so attractive to them.

When it comes to outsourcing the marketing department, things may seem different than they did just a few short years ago. Obviously, the internet has changed the way prospects look for and find information, but is it really all that different? Let’s look at the different internet marketing methods and see how they compare to more traditional ways.

Brochures have been a mainstay of marketing for decades but the “new” way is to have an interactive website with all the information your prospect is looking for. But without a strategy to get your website seen, it’s really no different than printing thousands of beautiful, glossy brochures and sticking them away in a drawer.

Internet advertising can be compared easily to buying ad space in the newspaper or a magazine. The key difference is how effective it can be. When an internet advertising (pay per click) campaign is handled well, it is the most cost effective use of advertising dollars because it is targeting only your prospects without wasting precious marketing dollars on the thousands of newspaper readers who will never be your prospect.

So I can hear you saying that word of mouth is the only marketing strategy you’ve ever used or needed. What is Twitter or Facebook if not word of mouth? And just as with the face to face interactions, some of it may be good and some of it may be bad. Part of your internet marketing strategy should be, not only maximizing this new form of word of mouth, but also “listening” for any negative comments that need to be addressed immediately.

What’s the bottom line for small business marketing? Develop your marketing strategy; then stick with what works and change what doesn’t. And just as with other areas of your business, if you find yourself without enough time to spend on marketing, it’s better to outsource it to a reliable marketing consultant sooner than later.