The Learning Center

When you launch a small business, there is always some level of risk involved. However, for some business owners, the multiple risks are not the scariest part of being an entrepreneur. Many business owners are scared of marketing and all the challenges associated with it. With the rapid technology changes, marketing concept adoptions and more, marketing can be quite frightening to the average entrepreneur.

Since marketing is a rapidly changing industry, entrepreneurs without a marketing or technical background are having a hard time succeeding in their promotional efforts. In turn, they become fearful of marketing and ward off those looking to help!

Entrepreneurs have 3 common marketing fears:

• Spending far too much money on marketing and receiving minimal results
• Not properly understanding how marketing tactics operate
• Choosing the wrong agency to handle your company’s marketing efforts

Luckily, there’s a common solution for each of these fears.

Spending FAR Too Much Money and Receiving Minimal Results

Small businesses are always conscious of their budgets. If a business owner is not critical of how their budget is spent, it won’t take long for them to be out of business. Their marketing budget is no exception. Marketing dollars must be stretched to the fullest and yield the highest possible return in order for the small business to truly benefit. Otherwise, they have wasted their marketing budget.

It is not too hard to understand why small business owners are afraid of spending a portion of their budget on marketing. Often times, they’ve been burned by self-proclaimed professionals who told them to dump far too much money into a billboard, a social media advertisement or some other tactic. Upon paying, they begin to regret their decision. I’d be fearful of marketing too if I lost a significant sum of money!

The solution to this fear? Small business owners can either start small and experiment with various tactics, or instill their trust in a professional or agency that understands the marketing field. Instead of pooling dollar after dollar into a method that clearly isn’t working for you, seek out the assistance of a marketing expert.

Marketing agencies have experts dedicated to specific components of online marketing. With their expertise, these professionals know exactly how much money you should spend on marketing.

Not Understanding How Marketing Tactics Operate

At Titan Web Marketing Solutions, we hear the following phrases all the time:

“I really don’t know how to market my business.”

“I’m not super tech-savvy, so I’d just rather avoid marketing online.”

“I don’t know that much about marketing in the first place!”

Unless the small business owner has years of professional experience in the marketing field, very rarely do they know how to properly market their company. Understanding the many marketing tactics takes time and practice, which many business owners are lacking, since they have other areas of their business to focus on.

With the fear of limited knowledge in the back of their minds, many business owners completely forgo marketing and decide to focus on finances, operations or another aspect of their company instead. What they may not realize is that without paying attention to marketing, they will end up losing business in the long run.

Once again, as a small business, you have two options:

• Learn how to market your business on your own through research, trial and error.
• Use an agency that knows what they’re doing!

Learning how to properly market your business will take quite a bit of time, and you will experience ups and downs. When you partner with an agency, they will take control of your marketing so you can have peace of mind knowing it’s all taken care of! Instead of worrying over a Facebook advertisement, designing your business cards or your online local directories – let the professionals take care of it. You’re the expert at your business, and they’re the expert at theirs.

Potentially Choosing the Wrong Agency

Should a business owner choose to do business with a marketing agency, they will always have a constant fear that something will go wrong. Although, with the assistance of any agency, the business owner will in turn have more time to focus on other areas of their company. However, in the back of their mind, the thought of potentially choosing the wrong agency will linger.

Many business owners have a phase where they feel as though they should control every part of their business. While this is an unhealthy way to operate, every business owner experiences this stage. With this in mind, some small business owners do not trust agencies to take control of their marketing strategies. Meanwhile, most agencies have exactly what the small business needs to succeed, such as:

• Years upon years of marketing experience
• Dedicated professionals
• The knowledge and skills needed to produce results
• Capabilities to adapt tactics

As a business owner, feel free to browse the marketing agencies in your area. If you do not feel that an agency cannot provide you with what you need at a price you are comfortable with, you can simply move on to the next one. You should never feel pressured to sign a contract with an agency that you do not feel comfortable with. If an agency is pressuring you, move on! Do your research, learn as much as you can about the agency, and sign up for their services once you are comfortable.

You don’t have to be afraid of marketing your small business this Halloween or at any point during the year! Instead, either find the motivation to conquer your fear and learn about marketing your small business, or let a trusted marketing agency take the reigns.