5 Ways Small Business Sabotages their Marketing Efforts

It’s never easy to write blogs like this. I always feel like I’m giving someone a hard time. Trust me, this isn’t the case! The purpose of this month’s blog is to hopefully enlighten you about common foibles many small business owners encounter in the area of marketing and how they can be avoided.

1.  I can do it all myself

Many small business owners, whether because of budget limitations or the fear of handing control over to others, insist upon managing and running their marketing efforts themselves.

The question every business owner must ask themselves is ‘do I have the skills to do this effectively’? If yes great, go for it, but if there are any doubts about your capabilities, you owe it to yourself and your business to at least talk to a professional marketer to determine if they might do things differently.

2.  I have to hand over complete control

While this could be an option for some businesses, it’s neither the norm nor even advisable. While a marketer can do much of the so-called heavy lifting, any good marketer will tell you that the most successful marketing campaigns are those that involve considerable input from the client. After all, who knows your clients best?

3.  Old School Crowdsourcing Works

Better known as following the Jones’, this approach is such that you mimic much of what your competitors do under the adage if it works for them, it will work for me. Wrong! One of the key learnings that marketing teaches us is the term ‘differentiation’. By differentiating what you stand for, what you do and how and why you do it, you can stand out from the crowd and look unique and distinct from your competitors. In this day and age where being different matters, why would you want to be like someone else, especially a competitor?

4.  They’re just interested in blowing my marketing budget

While this adage may have been the case a few decades ago, any good marketer will tell this mentality has gone the way of the dodo bird. Today, an effective marketer is often defined by how good they are at NOT spending your marketing budget. At the least, a smart marketer should be defined by the creative ways they can stretch your ad budget.

5.  But they don’t know my business!

There’s no arguing this point. Any good marketer will admit to this. More importantly, they will do their best, with your help, to get to know your business as quickly as possible. And that is also why they value their client’s input so much. The fresh perspective they do provide, not to mention the marketing expertise they bring to the table, can shed a whole new light on your business and your marketing activities.

In the end, hiring a marketer to help you with your marketing needs is a smart business decision that will add another expert to your team, someone who can provide a unique perspective on your firm, complete with new ideas and ways of doing things. Just like hiring a good lawyer or accountant, your trusted marketer will become a worthy investment you’ll never want to do without!

For those of you looking for a trusted firm to partner with to take your marketing efforts to the next level, give us a buzz at Sydcam Marketing Communications. We’d be thrilled to sit down with you to learn more about your business and how we can help.