Balancing Act: The Pros and Cons of Marketing for Small Businesses
Small businesses are growing in number as more people learn about things they love and create ways to share that with other people. Owners are frequently switching hats trying to manage the day to day, the accounting, production, and marketing. Sometimes, getting started in your area can be as easy as gaining traction on an icy country road. However, there are benefits to marketing for a small business as well.
Pro: Connecting with Your Community.
Marketing for your small business can be fun and rewarding because of the connections you gain from being involved in the community. Often, small businesses will work together and promote each others’ business. This creates a massive and widespread community that can create more opportunity for your business to grow and expand.
We’ve seen this happen in our community through the use of social media. Small businesses create reels or static posts that promote both their own business and those of others. They use the ‘invite to collaborate’ feature on Instagram to bring awareness to their followers.
Con: Can be Time Consuming
You can’t sugar coat the truth - being both an employee of a business and the owner of a business is exhausting and time consuming. Putting together a social media post can feel like such a large task that one may cut it out of their routine entirely, feeling overwhelmed from the effort required. Each post must be created, designed, approved, and scheduled before going out. Maintaining consistency on social media is no easy feat for a small business!
Outsourcing your marketing can be expensive for a small business, but it can also ease the burden of an owner who is ‘wearing too many hats.’ If your budget is tight, start by outsourcing small tasks. Choose the tasks that are most burdensome to you as a business owner and get those off your plate. Delegate gradually to ease your load, and hopefully, this will free up some time for you as the owner to focus more on growing the business.
Pro: Can Create Worth-While Business Partnerships
As previously mentioned, small business owners often work together to help each other in the community. Sometimes this can lead to a new product, a collaboration, or even a company partnership. This will ultimately help you expand your customer base and help create more buzz about your business! Remember—teamwork makes the dream work! Be careful not to isolate yourself or your business. Talk to other business owners around you, get to know them, and ask questions about what they’re experiencing.
Con: Can be Tough to Organize on Your Own
Because the business is small, marketing is extremely important. However, sometimes you just can’t wear any more hats! It can be super tough to keep track of every task that needs to be done - no matter how small. Keeping everything organized can be a difficult and overwhelming task, one that you are not always going to get right! Make sure you give yourself a pat on the back for getting done what you could.
Owning a small business and running the marketing for it can be extremely rewarding. You are able to see the smiles that are created from your products because of the closeness of the community! I think we all can agree that seeing someone smile when using your products or services can be so fulfilling. However, if you aren’t careful you can lose yourself in the stress and pressure of time constraints and due dates. Just know, you aren’t alone! Marketing for your small business is tough and sometimes a blog or social media post doesn’t create as much traffic as you hoped, that’s okay! Keep going! Consistency is key!
