Marketing Problems Small Businesses Face 

Marketing is a tricky area for any small business to master. It may come as no surprise, then, that no matter if you’re a young entrepreneur with a brand-new business venture or one that’s fully established, you will undoubtedly come across some marketing problems during your business journey.

You aren’t alone. 

This is why, at alldayPA, being experts in all things customer service, we wanted to focus on some of the marketing problems small businesses face, which impact their ability to effectively reach existing or potential customers. 

In our latest blog, you’ll learn how best to kickstart your marketing efforts or, if you’re an established business seeking help, get them back on track.

Budgetary constraints 

As a small business, it can be hard to know where to invest your money when it comes to marketing. Do you focus on creating long-term results or look at getting short-term results so you can attract more immediate customers? Ideally, if you had a huge budget you would do both. 

As a small company with limited resources, you should focus a portion of your budget on lead generation using paid ads while simultaneously developing an SEO (search engine optimisation) strategy which, while being a long-term marketing solution, will help drive traffic to your site. As time goes on and your business grows, expand your budget to focus on other avenues of marketing, such as social media, content creation and email marketing. 

Time

As a small business owner, you are often juggling multiple plates at once, and as you only have certain hours in a day, it is natural for you to put more time into certain things over others. In most cases, this is why marketing is not always given the due it needs at the start of a business’s journey. As with any other part of your business, it requires investment (a marketing budget) from the get go. 

To counteract the lack of time you may have, embrace tools such as marketing templates and automated services, which will allow you to plan ahead and reduce design time when you are creating assets – be they for social media posts or brand newsletters. Using these tools will not only save you time but will also allow you to remain consistent in your marketing efforts. Consistency is key to any marketing plan’s success. 

At alldayPA, we offer a range of customer service packages to businesses across the UK. This includes answering the business telephone and handling enquiries. You can also make use of our virtual receptionist. Contact us via telephone or email and see how we can save you time today. 

Lack of a marketing plan/strategy 

Any marketing effort that does not include a marketing plan is a waste of both time and money. In order for marketing to be effective and achieve the conversion rates you are hoping for, you need to have a marketing plan and strategy in place. Creating a unique marketing plan means you can alleviate your business, targeting your ideal customers effectively. 

When creating your marketing, it is important to be realistic about the time, effort and money you can put in. Once you have outlined the different elements of your strategy, you can focus on the activities under each element and work towards them. 

Not having the digital knowledge and know-how 

As a small business, you cannot expect to have the answers from the get go. Do not be afraid to hire external professionals (ideally from a digital agency) to fill in the gaps in your marketing knowledge. In hiring professionals, you will have an expert from the industry help you by creating effective strategies, steering you in the right direction. 

If you opt to keep your marketing in-house, focus on hiring the right marketing talent and allow yourself to make mistakes. When hiring a team it is important to make sure they not only have the right credentials but they are also the right fit for the company. Marketing is all about interpreting data, and it is natural to make mistakes while developing your strategy. 

Growing your email list 

Email marketing is a great way to keep customers engaged. You can alert customers about new product launches, the latest industry news and upcoming sales and deals. 

Starting that email list and growing subscribers are challenges most small businesses face. One way in which you can do this is by creating something valuable that you can offer for free in exchange for customers voluntarily providing you with their contact details. This can be a free ebook, a course, or a discount code depending on your business. You can create free social media assets to let your target know they have the opportunity to receive this free product on offer. 

In doing this, you are allowing the customer to opt into providing you with their email address, meaning you can keep them in the loop more easily as regards future business announcements. 

Creating brand awareness 

As a small business, it can be hard to grow awareness of your brand and keep it at the forefront of people’s minds, but it is also key to the success of your business. 

Tapping into marketing techniques, such as creating valuable content, effective SEO strategies and a unique business identity, as well as having a referral programme or affiliate scheme for your existing customers, will help raise brand awareness and put you in front of your target audience. 

Retaining customer attention

Now, more than ever, it can be hard to grab the attention of your audience, but it is not impossible. Understanding your audience is key to developing a community with your customers. Using analytics tools like Google Analytics will allow you to understand the dynamics of your audience a little more. 

Thanks to certain SEO tools such as this, you can find out what your customer is searching for and where they are searching for it. You can also use social media data to find out their location and age. This will allow you to create content targeted to your audience, keeping their attention and increasing sales. 

Things you can do today to solve your marketing problems! 

Overwhelmed with the amount of things you have to do to fix your marketing problems? Start with these three simple steps. 

Outsource what you can – In the same way that you hire talent for your business, employing an external company with that added expertise can be of the utmost value to the growth of your business. For example, if you are a small team, outsourcing certain tasks through alldayPA – such as taking on the role of a virtual receptionist or call handling – means you’ll spend less time hampered by customer admin and can therefore better invest in and develop your brand’s marketing. 

Have a social media presence – In 2022, every business should have some form of social media presence. The first thing people do when looking for a product or service is search online – be it on social media or via a search engine. Having a social media presence will give you a better chance of being put in front of your audience. 

Revisit your website – Your website should be the number one way in which you gather quality leads. Making sure you have the budget to design the website to be user-friendly, with the forms needed to generate those leads, is essential. 

Marketing is probably one of the biggest challenges small businesses face, but it is not in vain. It is a powerful tool to have in your business arsenal. The hard work you put into marketing your business will pay off. 

Contact us today and see how our customer service packages will save you time and allow you to focus on making your business flourish.