Marketing isn’t impossible, although we admit, at times, it can feel overwhelming and daunting. There are a few misconceptions about marketing that we would like to clear up.
Marketing Is Cheap
The first misconception is that marketing is cheap. This is far from the truth. Marketing is by far an investment for any business. And at times, depending on your approach, marketing can be a risky investment at best. But for the people (or businesses) that think marketing is cheap, it often reflects in their brand and overall business model.
Different forms of advertising have been around for years. From old school traditional advertising like direct mailers, flyers and the miserable looking sign-flippers. Then came the PR burst. Where small businesses thought getting good press was the only way to go. Although, at times, public relations can be a good tactic, this is also a very tricky strategy. It’s very expensive, and very hard to measure any direct ROI more often than not. Now moving in a more current state, the boom of digital marketing. Digital marketing has completely changed the game. It’s made marketing more integrated, more complex, more measurable, and yes, you guessed it, more expensive. So to say that marketing is “cheap” is a strong misconception.
Cheap is a bad word. If you’re a business owner and you’re looking for cheap, you are going to find cheap results. It’s that simple. We understand the importance of being strict and smart with your budget, but we can’t relate to being cheap.
Marketing Is Impossible
The second misconception here is a big one. Many people think marketing can be impossible. Not impossible in the sense of actually “promoting their business”, but impossible in the sense of actually achieving measurable results.
Marketing isn’t impossible, but to many small business owners, marketing can be very intimidating. If your core focus is YOUR product or service specific to your industry, then it makes perfect sense why one would feel overwhelmed with any type of marketing efforts. It’s not your job, and nor should it be.
We stated in our last blog that many small businesses fear marketing because they have been burnt before. We have found that as a boutique marketing firm we seem to always be putting out fires and misconceptions about marketing agencies.
So let’s look at this objectively. If you’re a small business owner who doesn’t have a background in marketing and have tried some simple outreach and didn’t get any solid return then of course you would be sceptical. Now add on the fact that this small business may have been quoted a ridiculous price by an agency in the past. Or even worse, they have been burnt by a marketing agency before. Yeah, that would leave a bad taste in your mouth in terms of marketing. It also would make marketing seem daunting and impossible if this was your experience. And the sad truth is, there are a TON of smaller businesses out there that can relate to this scenario.
Here’s the good news. Marketing isn’t impossible. Marketing is mandatory. If you’re not marketing your business or getting your brand in front of a paying audience, you are failing, and your revenue is probably hurting. Marketing is an investment. It’s that simple. The hard part is choosing how to make that investment. Do you do it yourself? Hire a marketing firm? Maybe hire internally? So the real question is how do we invest correctly in marketing?
We get it, most small businesses aren’t going to go “all in” on a full fledged marketing strategy right off the bat. That’s why we recommend you get your feet wet first. Start making marketing a priority. Start small with low risk high reward type strategies. Walk before you can run. If you start thinking strategically with your marketing and making it a priority, you will see traction and positive results sooner before you know it. So now, please say it with me “marketing isn’t impossible”.
We just released a case study and eBook about five effective marketing strategies we used to get over 1,000% ROI. What’s unique about this eBook is that it’s tailored to people with a marketing budget of $250 or less! Yes, you read the correctly. Our eBook is for businesses wanting to know how to market effectively on a shoestring budget.