Top 3 Reasons Small Businesses Fail at Marketing

I sometimes talk to groups of small business owners and I keep hearing the same comment over and over again with many of them saying that marketers don’t matter or marketing doesn’t matter anymore.

There are many reasons I’ve heard why marketing doesn’t matter: “all my business comes from referrals”, “I never spent any money on marketing and my business grew”, “marketing is a waste of money”, “I don’t see any value in marketing”, “marketing is pure luck, so why spend money on it?”, etc.

Oh how they are so wrong! Below are the top 3 reasons why:

1. Your definition of marketing is wrong

When business owners tell me that marketing doesn’t matter, they usually have a totally different understanding of what marketing is than those who recognize how marketing contributes to business goals where it allows you to charge as much money as possible for your services. and products.

Marketing is first about spending time building a solid foundation before coming up with a series of strategic tactics aimed at increasing sales. Until the company finds a way to change the context of What their ideal customer sees what they do and then becomes the obvious vendor of choice, they’ll find that their marketing efforts never seem to build momentum or get any return on investment.

You need to be able to get into the conversation going on in your customers’ heads. Or, to put it another way, being able to address the number one question on your customer’s mind at exactly the right time.

So how do you do this? The conversation that takes place in the mind of every prospect revolves around two main points. There’s a problem they have that they don’t want…and there’s a result they want and don’t have.

Those who often misunderstand marketing believe that it is only about ad campaigns, brochures, flyers, website, email marketing, SEO, trade shows, social media, copy, etc. These are the tactics: the way you implement your marketing. I would say that marketing is essentially at the core of business strategy because it is about understanding the current customer, tapping into their fears, their goals and their aspirations, and then creating products and services that the ideal customer is willing to buy from a brand that they now have. they know, like and trust.

2. They believe they or their co-workers can do it

Sometimes in the do-it-all world of small business (or even big business for that matter), it’s hard to pinpoint areas that require outside help. A business can set up their newsletter, add plugins to WordPress, write a Facebook or LinkedIn post, and clumsily create header graphics, but they need someone who is trained, practiced, and skilled at looking at the market strategically and holistically. understand the customer and then create unique opportunities based on this understanding.

Just think about it for a minute; just because you have a calculator and excel does that mean you are an accountant? If you have a ruler, a pencil, and you’ve seen a few episodes of Grand Designs, does that make you an architect? If you regularly post for your friends on Facebook and Instagram, does that mean you’re a social media expert?

So why do small businesses think that by buying a Mac and some software they will become designers, marketers and communications experts?

It should be led by a strategic marketer who can then develop an integrated marketing approach. Can you or your co-worker do this? In some cases, you can. But those who can are more likely to come from marketing or consulting where they have transferable skills and experience in defining AND delivering a growth strategy.

If you are a small business, you need someone who has a very strong, process, streamlined, consistent and repeatable approach. First, they will research and learn about your company in great depth, market dynamics, and identify shifts, trends, and shifts. From there, the strategic marketer will be able to present the different elements of their marketing plan in the logical order of how they should be built, updated or revised; and identify the key areas you need to focus on, whether it’s generating leads, converting leads, increasing transactions to changing prices.

3. They hire the wrong marketing help

There is a huge misunderstanding around marketing strategy, marketing tactics, and marketing execution.

There is a difference between being strategically capable, creatively capable, and executively capable.

Small business owners don’t hire a strategic marketing firm/coach to develop creative graphics and headlines; nor should you hire an advertising/graphic design agency to handle the marketing strategy. A small business doesn’t need to hire a consultant or a company that is a strong marketer when their biggest need is a sustainable growth strategy. You may get more attention, but not the best results.