The #1 Small Business Marketing Mistake

In the world of business school case studies, problems must be met with prestige. Name brands with billion-dollar portfolios, film studios, and iconic creative agencies approach uncertainty on which area to invest their funds.

It's a glamourous life --- where jobs aren't lost, lawsuits won't occur, and pockets are deep.

However, it isn't the reality most marketers will face.

In the United States, 99.9% of all businesses have 500 or fewer employees, according to the US Chamber of Commerce (US Chamber, 2023). Average revenue spans from $44.7 Million for the larger of this group to $1.08 M for those with less than 10 employees.

That's not much capital to work with.

Stop Throwing Spaghetti

The one mistake that I see over and over in small business marketing is trying to do too much.

Businesses see success with one thing -- one product or one service -- and assume adding more things will help grow their business.

The analogy I use is: "Do you want the person who scrubs your toilet cooking you lunch?

Most people recoil at the image. Yes, there are people who do these things. But, if you are running a business you need to be careful about the products and services you choose to offer as well as how they position against each other.

What is a marketer to do when the CEO asks:

"How many toilet-cleaning meals have you sold? How many emails did you send? Facebook likes? Website traffic? Tabletop trade show booth scans? Oh, and my 10-year-old niece went viral on TikTok. Why aren't we?"

So, the marketer goes into, what I call, spaghetti on the wall marketing.

Do a lot of things and see what sticks. Usually, the spaghetti is thrown everywhere -- without a target, value proposition, or message that works for the group most likely to buy.

In this scenario, activity replaces quality. You reduce the likelihood that your target buyer will actually purchase as they can no longer relate to what you are selling. Or, worse, your marketing lands on the wall of those snarky non-pasta-loving folk who comment on the absurdity of selling toilet lunches.

This is a real conversation I had in business. And yes, it included toilets and cooking meals.

Do Less, But Better

Marketers have an obligation both to the business and the customer.

Marketing should be invested in developing customer relationships. It's a long game to develop loyalty which ultimately increases the profitability of each customer.

In fancy business school case study terms, this is customer lifetime value. It is the reoccurring revenue from a customer divided by the length of the relationship minus the original acquisition cost.

The longer a customer stays loyal to your firm the more you make from them.

What can a marketer do when faced with the urge to hit every possible outlet with their product or service? Stop. Target. Test. Reload.

Ask These Marketing Questions First

Your current customers are a wealth of information. Look at their profile. What makes them most likely to buy? Are there similar attributes or themes that connect them?

Next, expand to the adjacent market. Similar, but may have a different trigger, geography, slightly different need or problem, socioeconomic status, size, etc.

Then use this quick framework to figure out your next marketing steps:

• What are the 1-3 things that make your product most appealing to that customer?

• If all the rest lined up -- price, availability, quality, etc. -- what could prevent them from buying?

• What media channels do they consume?

• Where do they hang out?

• What is the one thing you can say to them that will make them buy?

Use this as your guide before you put effort into your marketing. With the answers, you can choose one or two channels or messages to test.

If it works, great. If it doesn't, then re-evaluate, rework, and try again. Do less, but better.

More is more is never the right answer.