At the time of this writing the country and the world for that matter are in a fairly serious economic downturn that seems to be taking forever to climb out of. At the same time more and more people are starting small local businesses to make ends meet or to realize a dream they have had for some time but for whatever reason did not act on it. In this article we’ll be covering the impact that small businesses have on our economy and why the internet is one of the most cost effective forms of marketing for small businesses.
Why Marketing For Small Business Is Critical
Here are some powerful statistics that should tell you why advertising for your business is not only important but critical at this point in time. According to the United States Small Business Administration (SBA) small businesses make up ninety nine point seven percent of employers, create more than fifty percent of the non farm private gross domestic product in the US. Small businesses employ over fifty percent of all private sector workers and make up ninety seven percent of exporters. There are over five hundred thousand small businesses that start up every year and twenty five percent will be thriving four years later and will create more that seventy five percent of the net new jobs that add to the economy. Due to the economic downturn many people that have been downsized or laid off are starting businesses according a USA Today article “Recession, layoffs fuel many to start small businesses”. What this means is that marketing for small businesses is not only very important but critical in order to help pull ourselves out of the economic downturn.
I Already Know Marketing For Small Business Is Important, Now What Do I Do?
This is where we get into the real cool part about how online marketing can be very cost effective. While the internet is very large and vast and a little misunderstood, it is a great asset when used in marketing for small businesses. Starting with your web presence or your website, you have a twenty four hour presence to the world that can start to create relationships with your potential clients.
How To Use Internet Marketing Correctly
Where a lot of businesses drop the ball is that they don’t make the website work for them very well in terms of developing that relationship. You as a business owner can be generating leads by simply setting up an opt in box on your website to collect contact information and let your potential customers learn more about your products and services as well as offer discounts and invite them to events. Utilizing the power of social networking is also an important and cost effective way of marketing simply setting up a like page or fanpage on Facebook opens your presence up to another five hundred million people that spend at least thirty minutes a day on this giant social networking site. Here again is a great way to get your brand in front of potential customers mostly by word of mouth, the best kind of marketing for any business.
Developing long term relationships with people on their terms and offering them products and services that will help them in their daily life is what marketing is all about. The internet has cleared the playing field for anyone operating a small business and is quickly becoming the most cost effective form of marketing for small businesses.