The entrepreneurial spirit is as American as apple pie and baseball. Americans of all walks of life still maintain the dream of owning their own business. According to the US Small Business Association, there are 30.2 million small businesses employing 58.9 million people (nearly half of all private employment) in the United States.
Unfortunately, we know too well the other statistics about small businesses: only about half of all small business survive five years and only a third will make to their first decade.
Why such a large rate of failure?
I believe it's due to a fundamental misunderstanding and lack of appreciation of the importance of marketing. That's not a knock at small business owners (of which I'm one). The vast majority of you didn't start your business so you could spend your time marketing. Your passion lies in your product or service, not in the business of promotion.
I didn't have kids to change poopy diapers or so I could discipline them either, but that's a big part of the job.
So what mistakes are small business owners making in marketing themselves? I see three pretty common ones that can have critical impact on a small business's success.
No website or poor website
Believe it or not, according to Inc. magazine, 60% of small businesses don't have a website. In 2018. That's absolutely shocking! That's like a business 100 years ago not having a sign out front or a door through which customers could enter.
Why does that happen? Well, despite the universal presence of the internet in our daily lives, actually building and maintaining a website is still pretty daunting to a lot of people. It doesn't have to be, but that perception is still out there.
Just as harmful (maybe more so) than having no website is having a poor one. If your small business has a website that's full of glitches or merely a "digital brochure" it can reflect poorly on your business. Potential customers might think, "If that's the quality of their website, what does that say about the quality of their product or service?"
No social media presence
So let's say you have a website and it's user-friendly and updated regularly. How are people finding it? Are you doing all you can to get your product or service in front of the most sets of eyes?
That same Inc. article tells us that only 12% of small business have a Facebook page. Why is that a big deal? Last year, Facebook reported 2.19 billion users. That's with a "b." The beautiful thing about promoting your business on social media is that you can get your brand in front many of those eyes at no cost, just whatever you invest in creating compelling content. For a small investment (compared to "traditional" marketing outlets like TV and radio) you can precisely target an audience that's already indicated they're interested in your product or service.
That doesn't even begin to address what you might do on Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn or other social media channels. If your business doesn't have a Facebook page, chances are you're not using those other platforms either. Why not?
Forgive me for being blunt here, but that's just dumb! If you have the opportunity to reach even a fraction of the number of people who are frequenting social media with little to no cost, why wouldn't you do it?
Some small business owners counter, "I'm just a local business. I depend on quality of service and word of mouth." That's great. But 97% of all customers, even those who've heard of you via word of mouth, go online to check out businesses before making buying decisions. They look at websites, reviews and make a lot of general assumptions based on your online presence (or lack thereof). Now that may not give them an accurate perception of how good your business is, but it's the perception they have.
Unless you intentionally don't want to grow your business, ignoring the web and social media is a horrible business decision.
Handing off digital marketing and not getting involved
Now here's where I'll make my pitch for Knuckleball Digital. If you want to make smarter marketing choices for your small business or non-profit and want to do that with an investment that won't break your budget, we're here to help. You can find out more about what we do here.
But if you're looking to hand off your marketing efforts to someone and never check to see what return you're getting, or never contribute to the design and strategy of your marketing plan, don't call us! Please call some other agency who'll be willing to take your money without delivering anything of value.
Digital marketing probably isn't your passion, but it's an integral part of building and sustaining your success. You must do it. If you want help, we can give it to you. Whether it's building websites, managing social media, email, video...whatever your need, we're there for you.
Making these marketing mistakes won't just hurt your business. Ultimately, they'll kill it. Decide whether you want to be part of the minority that survives and thrives or the majority of businesses that are belly up in under a decade.