In the business world, last weekend marked the official start of the summer season. For many small businesses, the summer is the busiest time of the year. But for others, warm weather brings the complete opposite effect. Uncontrollable factors like vacationing customers and the shrinking appeal of spending time indoors create a massive slump in […]
Small businesses that are naturally successful at marketing (or naturally marketable) like to preach their strategies as if they were the law. They make marketing look easy and relatively inexpensive. As long as you put enough effort into a select few strategies, their message seems to say, you’ll grow your business in no time. But […]
Marketing has become an increasingly polarizing topic for small businesses. It works for some and fails miserably for others, usually those who don’t have a lot of money to play around with. This suggests that the only way for marketing to work for your small business is to spend thousands upon thousands of dollars on […]
Small business owners are understandably hesitant about marketing because achieving the desired result is no easy feat. It seems that only a select few small businesses are able to boost revenue with marketing campaigns while the others run into cash flow issues. Members of the latter group might report year-over-year growth of approximately 5% despite […]
Marketing doesn’t have the best reputation in the eyes of small businesses. At first, it seems business owners have far more reasons to avoid investing in marketing than to move forward with a promising strategy. Most small businesses are short on the necessary resources, and it only makes sense not to spend money on something […]
New restaurants seem to be popping up left and right. With so much competition, it’s only natural to wonder how all these small businesses plan on building a solid customer base that won’t just find another spot a few months down the road. The answer lies in the fact that a proven system has been developed for making restaurants “cool” in the eyes of young customers, particularly millennials.
Many small business owners have a difficult time understanding the value of mass marketing campaigns. This hesitancy is only rational since you can never be 100% sure your brand awareness efforts will be successful. But what these skeptics often forget is that a truly effective campaign doesn’t just create compelling advertisements or ramp up your social media activity. Companies that seriously invest in branding and advertising essentially undergo a rebirth that positions them for an extremely prosperous future.
Any successful small business owner will tell you that no form of marketing is as reliable as a customer referral. Potential leads might not trust your Facebook ads but they will almost always trust the opinions of their friends. According to Entrepreneur.com, Wharton marketing professor Jonah Berger claims word-of-mouth buzz is ten times more effective as traditional advertising strategies.
Last November, journalist David Sax released “The Revenge of Analog,” one of The New York Times’ top ten books of 2016. The non-fiction work describes how even though digitization is on the verge of world domination, an increasing amount of shoppers are embracing seemingly “outdated” products that are real and tangible. Brick-and-mortar retail stores are on the rise as well as smaller restaurants and bars focusing on experience as opposed to efficiency.
If you wish to expand your business but aren’t sure how, the best route is more often than not to study the tactics of the giants of your industry. It won’t take long to learn what they are pouring more money into as of late, or figure out the elements of expansion they seem to be prioritizing in order to adapt to a changing environment. Capital is obviously being invested in a great deal of areas but it’s safe to say that surges in popularity or demand can usually be attributed to a particular focus on one or two tactics.
