How important is marketing to the success of a business? There are many that would say that marketing is a waste of money and if a product or service is good enough, people will know or hear about it. But is this really true?
As a small business, you offer an excellent product or service, but no one has heard of you. Yes, you have a few customers and they have told their contacts who in turn have told their own, but the growth and the recognition you deserve hasn’t started; this is because, fundamentally, you need some form of marketing to take your business to market.
Yes it is important that you have an excellent offering, as it doesn’t matter how much marketing budget you have, if your business isn’t solid in its foundations then it will only be successful for a very short amount of time.
So you have a great product or service, how else can you let people know about it? Marketing in all shapes and forms delivers your business product/service to the masses and creates opportunities to define brand recognition, raise awareness and change attitudes. Whether you are selling a product or service or if you are providing information, marketing allows people to create an opinion about your business, have an experience that interacts with you and allows a discussion to take place. There needs to be marketing across all channels, and it doesn’t need to be expensive; social media is now at the forefront of many marketing strategies and can be free (if you remove the labour cost). Speaking to the masses, engaging in a conversation. Marketing is much more about conversation nowadays than in the past – we are inviting customers and clients to join us, talk to us and engage with us, rather than just pumping out contrary messages that no one cares about.
Customer generated content is the best marketing that a business can have and can have such a positive impact, more so than any other form of marketing. It allows customers to tell others how good or bad you are, gives them instant access to you and to all the people that like you. One great way to generate customer content is to write a topical blog that relates to your audience and business, inviting comments – free marketing (as long as you keep an eye out for any negative comments to counteract)!
So, what is the answer – in my opinion marketing can add value to businesses, but there needs to be something of value to start with for the business to be a success.
What is your opinion, do you think a business needs marketing to be successful?
