It informs: On a base level, marketing is useful for customer education. Sure, you know the ins-and-outs of your product but do your consumers? In order to buy into a product, your audience needs to have a solid understanding of what it does and how it works. According to Creativs, marketing is the most effective way to communicate your value proposition to your customers in a fun and interesting way. If consumer education is on your priority list then marketing should be too.
It equalizes: Modern marketing is a less expensive game than ever before. Social media platforms and email campaigns have made reaching out to consumers a much more finance-friendly possibility. For SMBs, smart marketing can help even the playing field when it comes to competing against big name competitors, explained Business 2 Community contributor La Mancha Sims. In fact, marketing may even give SMBs a leg up. Due to the smaller nature of their businesses, SMB leaders often have much more time to pay attention to every client individually via the various marketing platforms. Modern consumers value experience over pricing, so this kind of one-on-one interaction could push customers in your direction over bigger brands.
It sustains: According to Forty, marketing is more like food than it is medicine. Essentially, marketing is meant to sustain a company’s presence – not remedy a lack of engagement. In this sense, marketing is something that businesses need to create and manage every day to maintain a healthy relationship with their consumers. Marketing is important because it allows businesses to maintain long-lasting and ever-present relationships with their audience. It is not a one-time fix, it is an ongoing strategy that helps businesses flourish.
It engages: Customer engagement is the heart of any successful business – this is especially true for SMBs. Marketing solves the question of how to keep a conversation going once your customer has walked out the door. In the past, face-to-face interactions made up much of B2C engagement. You walk in the pizza shop, talk to the hostess, laugh with the waiter, wave hello to the owner etc. While that in-person engagement is still alive and well, it’s no longer enough. Consumers want to be engaged outside the store. This is where marketing comes in, and whatever the medium, you can send your customers content to keep them engaged beyond store hours. Your audience wants to form a relationship with your brand, and marketing can be used to do just that.
It sells: Marketing is important because it helps you sell your products or services. The bottom line of any business is to make money and marketing is an essential channel to reach that end goal. Creativs explained that without marketing many businesses wouldn’t exist because marketing is ultimately what drives sales. Sure, you need to have a good product but if people don’t know about your offerings to begin with then how can you generate sales? Put simply: You can’t. SMBs need to create fresh and inviting content to draw customers in and lead them to a purchase. Marketing helps sales and sales help your business – what more could you ask for?
It grows: Marketing is an important strategy to ensure the growth of your business. While your current customers should always be your main priority, marketing efforts can help you expand this base. Little efforts like social media posts and email campaigns can not only engage existing consumers but spread the word to new potential customers. In essence, marketing secures your business’s future through new and old customer engagement.