By: Lindsey Murphy
Marketing strategies should differ based on what you are marketing, who you are marketing to, and what kind of business is doing the marketing. I feel like when we think of marketing, we think of big-name companies trying to advertise big products to a large audience. But this isn’t always the case, so I wanted to research how marketing plays a role in small businesses.
Because of the growth in cellular browsing, a simple way to make small businesses more accessible is to ensure their websites are mobile-friendly. Another way to keep up with the growing use of technology is to adapt to different methods of payment such as Apple Pay and advertise its use. I work at a family-owned business and customers have even showed that they were impressed by how quick we were to begin using the chip-readers at the register. Another way I have noticed small businesses to market themselves online is by interacting with potential customers. The business I work at also uses this, by posting Instagram posts frequently with new clothing to the store, employees in action, and other events or businesses in the area.
A classic but overlooked way to reach consumers is email. According to smallbiztrends,”email marketing is one of the most ROI-positive strategies out there.” ROI is a term used for returns of investment, and 68% of companies rated the use of email as “good” or “excellent.” While the public thinks the use of email is declining, this number was actually a 3% increase from last year. The use of videos, blogs, and data, are other ways that small businesses can help make their mark to the masses. These strategies were interesting to learn and don’t differ too much from the efforts of larger, more well-known companies. It is very essential of small businesses to keep up with the trends of technology with its ongoing presence in our lives.
Gazdecki, Andrew. "6 Small Business Marketing Growth Strategies for 2017." Small Business Trends. N.p., 27 Dec. 2016. Web. 26 Mar. 2017. <https://smallbiztrends.com/2016/12/small-business-marketing-growth-strategies.html>.
I very much enjoyed thus blog post! It was interesting to see how a small business can find ways to keep up with the bigger companies. One thing I'm wondering though is which direction are small businesses going in comparison to the big companies? Like are these methods helping them just barely keep up with the big companies or will small businesses possibly begin to thrive over the bigger companies? I personally think I would eventually like to own my own small business so reading this opened my eyes as to how small companies can keep up with the big guns! Great job.
ReplyDeleteI'm glad you enjoyed the post! I learned in one of my classes this year that small businesses think more long-term as opposed to big companies because small businesses are more concerned with staying in business and making profit. Good luck with your hopes to open your own business in the future!
Delete