How are marketing efforts working out for your small business? If they aren’t going as well as you want, it may feel as if it isn’t worthwhile. It’s frustrating when your investment in small business marketing isn’t panning out. Don’t give up yet. It may not be marketing that’s the issue, but these seven harmful marketing myths that prevent business growth.
Social Media Marketing Only Works For B2C
If your focus is B2B, then social media marketing is a waste of time. That’s pretty common advice, but it’s absolutely untrue. Any company can use social media marketing to connect with potential customers, increase brand awareness, and share its message with the world.
Remember that marketing is never directed at a business. It always targets people. Even if your products or services are meant for other companies, it is people who are going to decide to do business with you or not.
Successful Marketing is All About Leads And Sales
Conversion rates are certainly an important marketing metric, but shouldn’t be your only goal. You should be using marketing to:
- Increase brand awareness
- Boost social media engagement
- Maximize website traffic
- Establish or improve your reputation
- Show thought leadership
Remember to focus on all levels of the sales funnel, not just the bottom when you create your marketing strategy.
Small Businesses Should Only Focus on Social
Social media marketing works. It’s also pretty easy to adopt. Most of us use social media platforms already, so the learning curve is low. There are plenty of reasons to make it the key focus of your marketing, but it should not be the only focus.
Social media marketing and advertising are great for engaging and driving traffic. But, not everyone uses these platforms to interact with brands. Some make an effort to avoid doing that entirely. You may even have prospective customers who are not active on social media at all.
It’s important to diversify. Marketing efforts should also include:
- Blogging
- Website content
- Search engine marketing
- Email marketing
- Referrals
- Influencer marketing
- Events
- Long-form content
When you focus on social media, ensure you get the most out of your efforts. For example, your competitors may focus on the largest platforms, such as Facebook and Instagram. Rather than attempting to be seen in those crowded spaces, consider the impact you might have on Reddit, Tumblr, or Discord. This is particularly true if you offer a product or service that has appeal outside of the mainstream, such as niche sports, transgender dating, or haunted house tours.
Only Digital Marketing Matters
Should you stick to digital marketing only? That depends. If you will only ever engage with customers or potential customers through a device, then the answer is maybe. Otherwise, it may be worthwhile to spend at least some of your marketing efforts on offline strategies.
Some proven offline techniques are:
- Trade shows
- Print marketing
- Sponsorships
- Merchandise
- Conferences and webinars
- Networking
- Radio and television
You Need a Big Marketing Budget
How will you ever compete with big businesses and their sizeable marketing budgets? You can’t, and you won’t. Simply put, focus on other things. Be creative. Be engaging. Lean into your expertise. Don’t be afraid to be opinionated.
Most important of all – learn. There are marketing tools, techniques, and best practices. Learn them and use them to your advantage.
Partnerships Don’t Matter
When you are running a small business, you may feel as if the time you spend on marketing is taking away from the time you could be spending on product development, operations, and other tasks. The last thing you want to do is invest even more time pursuing marketing partnerships with other brands or influencers.
While partnerships may not be a necessary marketing strategy, the right partnership can lead to some awesome results. Do you want to expand your audience overnight? That can happen if you team up with the right partner for a collaboration.
Targeting The Most Customers Gets The Best Results
You need a strong ROI on your marketing campaigns. Shouldn’t you target the widest audience possible? It seems like simple math. The more people you target, the more people you convert, but this isn’t how it works.
Instead, what you end up with is a general-purpose campaign that comes off as bland and homogenous. By trying to appeal to everybody, your marketing efforts aren’t particularly meaningful to anybody.
To get the best return on your investment, you’ll want to target your campaigns. This way, you will reach the people who are most likely to move through the sales funnel with you.
Final Thought: Myths Are Born From Assumptions
Take a close look at the seven myths listed above. Each starts with a simple assumption that a particular strategy will or won’t work. That leads small business owners to make bad decisions about their marketing campaigns. Never assume that is or isn’t right for your small business marketing strategy. Instead, approach things with an open mind, collect data, and make informed decisions going forward.
