Successful small business and smart marketing go hand in hand, but you will not believe the number of businesses I encounter who are really struggling with their marketing. For many, it’s the ball and chain of small business ownership, the thing that eats up their hours and ultimately drags them down.
I hate seeing small businesses falling into this trap, because marketing doesn’t need to be this big complicated beast. In fact, I believe that the best marketing strategies start by paring everything back to basics. If you’ve followed me for a while you’ll know that I love this line by Brad Sugars: “Marketing is only expensive when done incorrectly”. This is the absolute truth! So, let me explain a little bit more why simplifying your marketing will get results for your small business.
You Can’t Be An Expert On Everything
Small business owners are often jacks-of-all-trades, but there’s a moment where owners need to take a step back from marketing and realise that they cannot be an expert on everything. Marketing has so many different facets that it’s easy to get lost amidst it, even more so now with that addition of online and social media marketing. Many owners I know have spent hours attempting to master different marketing strategies, resulting in them having less time to devote to growing their business and spending time with their family. It’s a hard thing, to let go of doing it all, but it’s a must when you want to achieve the work/life balance many got into small business for in the first place.
Master A Few Things Well, Instead Of Many Things Poorly
A simplified marketing strategy is all about being the master of a small number of things, and doing them really well, instead of stretching yourself thin doing everything poorly. The fact is, one or two channels that truly succeed are worth much more than every marketing channel barely getting by.
The thing I tell small businesses is to take it back to basics, and go real simple. If social media marketing isn’t something you understand, put it aside for now and focus on localised marketing. Often the buyers you need to reach are the ones that are closest to you, and oftentimes social media is not the best way to do this at all.
Repurpose Funds, And Plan Future Profit
When you take your marketing from complicated to simple, you’re probably going to find that you have considerably more income that can be poured into good ol’ fashioned marketing that you know is going to work. Why spending big money on yellow pages when you could implement a customers re-engagment or referral strategy through open days or VIP events? This is what we mean when we talk about repurposing your business funds. You’re essentially cutting off the excess from your failed marketing, and bringing it back into the core of your business so it can be better used. Simply marketing, staying true to your business voice and aims, that’s what true success looks like.