This quick marketing tip is all about how to improve your marketing results in the medium and long term. In fact, it will give you one of the marketing foundations behind the most successful businesses in the world.
Marketing & small businesses: Never enough time!
I often hear the owners of small businesses, saying that they don’t have the time to market their services as an ongoing activity. They tell me that it’s only when they lose a major account, that they have the time available, to dedicate to marketing.
The primary problem with this approach to marketing is that it simply does not work. It causes a business to reach a plateau or spin its wheels. This happens because periods of growth mainly come, AFTER there has been a loss of business / revenue / profits. The loss of business having prompted the marketing.
When I hear the time argument, I explain that when marketing is conducted on an ongoing basis, it actually takes very little time each month. Unlike panic-based marketing, when there’s been a big, sudden drop in business, working to a marketing strategy takes surprisingly little time.
In contrast, successful businesses of all sizes, work on their marketing all the time. It’s just a normal, ongoing business activity. The difference between the two approaches to marketing is that one type of business uses tactical marketing, whilst the other uses strategic marketing.
I wrote a post about this, which explains the difference between tactical and strategic marketing and also explains compound marketing / leverage. Be sure to check it out!
Tailor your marketing strategy to your resources
When I work with my clients, I always start off by ensuring that their marketing strategy is tailored, to match their resources. It has to be manageable and easy to do. It also needs to not get in the way of their core business.
Your marketing strategy needs to be similarly developed around your unique situation. When it is, marketing becomes manageable and easy to implement into your working week. This is the secret to developing a predictable, confidence inspiring flow of sales / new business.