Small Business Marketing Challenges

Small business marketing is technology driven, and it’s always evolving.  It’s in everything we do.  Social media, email marketing, content publishing, driving visitors to our websites, and even direct mail often has a code to be scanned or entered online.

Many small business owners are busy enough trying to be the best at what they do that things like API keys, tracking pixels, cloud integrations, and embedded codes are just not part of their routine. But these are tools we use to measure performance so we can be smart about where we put our marketing budget.

Your small business marketing goals are simple – you want more customers. Advancing technology makes it difficult to define your strategy, allocate budget, manage expectations and execute consistently across the channels that reach your audience. If you’re caught up in the unknowns, then planning is a complete guessing game, and you need help. I founded the On Fire Group to help businesses that come to this exact fork in the road because small business marketing needs to be simple, affordable, and effective. The real challenge begins here – outsourcing your marketing, or hiring someone internally.

Many agencies don’t work with small businesses, but their websites don’t tell you that, making finding the right ones difficult. Many that do service small business marketing are hyper specialized.  One does branding and design, another does search engine optimization, and another handles social media.  This many vendors is difficult on a limited budget, and it’s like watching a band play that doesn’t rehearse together; all doing their own thing. Marketing is an eco-system that has many channels and platforms working together to move your business forward incrementally. A team approach is much more beneficial.

The alternative is hiring internally which means bringing on an affordable full-time candidate.  This usually translates to mean a recent graduate in the $18-$20 an hour range. But they’re not experienced enough yet to propose a strategy.  And expecting them to be the photographer, videographer, graphic designer, copy writer, email marketer, website developer, search engine optimizer, keyword planner, and analytics administrator is way too much to put on one person.  Even if they’re a quick study, any experienced marketing professional will tell you it’s too many disciplines to keep up with to be proficient. This will delay the results you were hoping to achieve.  

I founded the On Fire Group to give small businesses the team approach they thought they couldn’t afford for about the same price as the entry level marketer.  The difference is you don’t need someone full time.  You need marketing objectives handled and completed efficiently to get results.  We bring a team of professionals that operates efficiently and allows us to offer our services affordably. 

Learn more about our signature Ring of FIRE (Foundation, Infrastructure, Reach, Engagement) approach.

Learn more about our team approach and ideal partnership.