What is Marketing and Why is it Important for Small Businesses?
It might be the most told story in small business. You know, the one where you decide to start a business because you’re really good at something and can help people or have a talent for creating things most people can’t (and want). But not too far into the whole I-own-a business-thing, you realize “build it and they will come” is total BS.
And that is the moment you realized the marketing hat got plopped on your head.
The thing is, you’ve never done marketing before. So, you have no idea where to start (other than getting yourself on Instagram), and you definitely don’t know how to talk about your business in a way that makes people interested in buying.
Don’t worry. Pretty much every small business owner starts here.
But the ones who are successful don’t stay there. They figure out the marketing thing, come up with a way to do it themselves, and do the little something extra to make sure they’re getting better at it over time. And that’s exactly what we’re going to do—right here. Right now. Read on for your small business marketing crash course!
What we’ll cover:
What is marketing?
Why marketing is important for small businesses
Tips to help you do your own marketing
Marketing tools you can use
What is marketing?
You could totally Google this, but (in my experience) that just makes the answer more complicated than it needs to be. Because the fact of the matter is, as a small business owner the type of marketing you need to do is pretty simple. So, let’s start with a simple definition:
Marketing is what you do to make sure people know your business exists.
Why is marketing important?
At the risk of sounding like an asshole, just knowing what marketing is makes it pretty clear why it’s important. Because only people who know your business exists can give you money! But to take it one step further, let’s get into why consistent marketing is important.
If you’ve been in business for even just a year, it’s pretty likely you’ve taken a ride on the feast or famine roller coaster. You know, the “I marketed my business” phase that’s followed by “I’m busy with work” phase that leads into a “I don’t have time for marketing” phase that has you freaking out about the fact that your leads or sales have come to a screeching halt that finally forces you back into the “I marketed my business” phase. All to start this cycle over and over again.
It’s exhausting. And it’s a big part of the reason you hate marketing—because you only do it when you’re feeling desperate. Which is why getting yourself to a place where you can do your marketing with more consistency is important. It dials the emotional temperature way down at the same time it helps to steady your stream of leads and sales.
Tips to help you do your own marketing (well and consistently)
Back to the fact that marketing is just one of the hats you have to wear for your small business—because it’s new or it doesn’t feel like it fits right or it’s currently the one sitting on the top of the stack (which means it’s furthest from what you’re focused on). Regardless of which one of those feels most like “it me”, there is a way for you to do a good job marketing your small business—even when you’re not a marketing expert.
Keep reading. This is the part you’ve been waiting for.
The first thing you need to do is create a marketing strategy.
I know what you’re thinking. “Tayler, I legit just learned what marketing is—this strategy thing sounds hard!” I hear you. So, you’ll be happy to hear that a marketing strategy is just a plan to help you organize what marketing you’re going to do. And there are just 4 things you need to figure out/write down to have your strategy ready to rock:
Goals
Customer personas
Marketing channels
Tasks
Let’s go through each one.
Your goals are the thing(s) you are trying to accomplish with your marketing. And as you think of yours, make sure they go beyond things like “get to 10,000 followers on Instagram.” Why? Because vanity goals aren’t guaranteed to help you reach your real goal of making more money. So, make sure the bulk of your goals are centered around the things you need to do to boost bookings and sales.
Pro-tip: If your marketing strategy isn’t documented, it’s like it doesn’t exist. So don’t just think about this stuff and let it live in your head. Put it down on paper!
Then you need to build your marketing calendar around a routine.
It doesn’t matter how freakin’ awesome your strategy is—if you don’t do your strategy, it might as well not exist. So, after you’ve created your small business marketing strategy, the next thing you need to do is organize what you’re going to do on a calendar.
And this is where people make mistakes. So, here’s how I suggest you approach this.
Ask yourself, “How much time do I have to dedicate to marketing every week?” BE HONEST with yourself!
Think of your average week. What day of the week could you block that amount of time and PROTECT IT?
Create a marketing routine on that day of the week and that fits into the amount of time you have
Let’s talk through an example. Maybe you have 2 hours a week to dedicate to marketing and Tuesdays are the day you’ve blocked the time. Your monthly marketing routine might look like this:
Week 1: Write and publish a new blog post
Week 2: Schedule 2 weeks of social media posts
Week 3: Write and schedule 2 email newsletters
Week 4: Schedule 2 weeks of social media posts
Pretty doable, right?!
The last thing you’re going to do is start looking at your numbers.
And by numbers I mean KPIs (key performance indicators). Because once you start doing your marketing, you’re almost immediately going to start wondering if it’s working—or where it’s working best. And while your gut can sometimes give you an idea, you need numbers to know for sure.
Here is a 6-minute video to help you learn more about tracking KPIs!
Marketing software for small business owners who have to do their own marketing
If you’ve made it this far, I hope it’s because you’re feeling like you learned a bunch of stuff and are feeling like you’re ready to go out there and make some marketing moves! If you are, there is one thing that might make you pause (just a little). And that’s whether there is something to help you get all this going—fast.
Meet Enji—marketing software for small business owners who have to do their own marketing but aren’t marketing experts! It’s easy to set up, quick to get started, and is the closest thing to an all-in-one marketing platform there is!
Create your marketing strategy in 5 minutes
Organize your marketing calendar
AI copywriter
Social media scheduler (with auto-posting!)
A place to track your metrics (with integrations!)
Marketing campaign templates
A place to organize your brand assets
“Enji is my ride-or-die. My CMO. It’s THE tool I get the most passionate about.”
You don’t have to be an expert to do a really good job marketing your small business. And you don’t have to constantly struggle with it either! Give our small business marketing tools a try free for 14 days, and get your first two months for just $19 each.
This post was written by my talented friend, Tayler Cusick Holman! ✨ Tayler is a marketing consultant and small-business builder, as well as the founder of Enji—an easy-to-use software designed to help small business owners handle their marketing with confidence. After nearly a decade of helping businesses grow through marketing, she’s packed all that wisdom into Enji, making marketing faster, more efficient, and way less overwhelming. Honestly, she’s a powerhouse, and I’m lucky to call her a friend.
