Recent economic events have somewhat soured the mood of owners as the NFIB’s Small Business Optimism Index fell to 102.8 from December’s upward tally of 105.1. Trump’s tariff strategy has a direct and negative impact on small businesses as operational costs rise and consumer spending slows in the face of a possible US recession. In spite of growing uncertainty in the consumer and business spheres, small and midsize businesses should consider this uncertain economic phase an opportunity to check in and optimize marketing plans and strategies. Potentially slower economic activity increases the need for branding and services reminders as well as outward marketing presence. For SMBs with limited resources, pinpointing the best marketing opportunities will be the biggest challenge in the short term but smaller sized organizations have the advantage of being able to pivot quickly and redirect resources to better and more valuable channels. Pessimism among ownership is a clear signal to ramp up marketing efforts to recapture existing business and create new business opportunities.
Identify Opportunities to Maximize Resources
When it comes to running a business, having a detailed plan will always yield better results and this wholly extends to marketing and brand presence. Even solo owned small businesses should have a defined strategy for getting the message out. With the potential for economic imbalances on the horizon, now is an opportune time to take full stock of the businesses marketing elements and tools to build a marketing plan tailored specifically for the business. A few general questions that can be asked when defining a marketing strategy are:
- Who is my ideal customer? Define intended demographics.
- Does my customer prefer to shop or interact online or in person?
- Marketing to the community or are there global opportunities?
- What social media sites, if any, do my customers use?
Researching and planning marketing initiatives can help uncover new and viable opportunities to build brand presence and capture new audiences. During periods of economic instability, brand reminders and marketing pushes are even more critical to build awareness and reverse negative sentiment.
Using Social Media to Build Presence
There are now over 5 billion social media users in the world that are using platforms 2 hours and 21 minutes per day on average. From a marketing perspective, that is sold attention and presents many opportunities for small and midsize business marketing. Marketing on social media can have 3 phases:
- An actual online store or business front that enables customers to engage with the brand within the social media platform
- Content marketing, expertise and reputational building
- Engagement with business related content and users along individual platforms
Heavy engagement makes social media platforms an excellent low and no cost vehicle to market brands and capture new audiences. Extended functionality allows SMB owners and managers the ability to fully interact and engage with customers within that specific social media ecosystem. The key factors in success in social media marketing are giving the channel enough time and effort to build brand recognition as well as consistency in application and engagement.
Mobile Devices and Brand Marketing
Web presence is an essential marketing tool for small and midsize businesses but is often overlooked or updated as needed. An important facet of web presence is mobile devices. Each year, more smartphones are activated and more individuals are using these devices for daily tasks, internet browsing, shopping and performing transactions. Having a web presence is important but having an optimized and fully functional mobile web presence is critical as more people turn to smartphones in their day to day lives. When deploying any type of website, testing and development for mobile devices should be the design priority and extending functionality and usability will make potential customers spend more time viewing the brand’s site. Brand dedicated mobile apps can also deliver high engagement but may be impractical for certain business models but any business can have a highly optimized and efficient mobile device accessible website that can potentially convert browsers into buyers.
The Bottom Line
Small and midsize businesses are staring down some of the biggest economic challenges in this century. Current US trade policies are set to create huge economic imbalances and are already causing negative effects among SMBs in North America. For SMBs, potential economic slowdowns are considered opportunities to revamp and refresh marketing efforts to increase brand awareness and business opportunities. Exploring current efforts and redirecting resources to higher velocity methods of marketing are possible with SMBs ability to pivot quickly to market conditions. Optimizing the overall marketing presence and strategy will ensure that all potential customers have easy and quality access to the brand. In spite of the current economic climate and increasing operational costs, SMBs should continue to ramp up marketing and branding efforts to keep presence and engagement high and consistent.
