By Morgen Henderson

Owning and running a small business is a hard job. There are lots of moving parts you need to keep track of and big decisions you need to make. You already have a full plate, but there’s one more thing you need to be aware of: marketing. It’s something talked about every day, but many small business owners only hear what they want and ignore what’s really important for them to know. As much as you don’t want to listen, here are five things every small business owner needs to hear about marketing.

You’ll need to spend money

Nobody wants to hear that they need to shell out some cash, no matter what it’s for. But you shouldn’t think of this a just another expense. Think of it as an investment— something that will achieve a result worth more than the money you put into it.

Marketing doesn’t have to cost a lot, only if you want it to. There are lots of budget-friendly ways you obtain great results – you just need to find what works for your business. If you aren’t confident that you alone can achieve the results you want, you can always outsource. There are many agencies that offer affordable options for small businesses.

You can’t get away with just traditional marketing

If you don’t already have a website for your business or you aren’t using the internet for marketing, you need to. Traditional marketing tactics are still good to use and will have a positive effect on your business, but digital marketing is what’s really making an impact now.

There are countless reasons why you should embrace a digital approach in your marketing strategy. For example, you can reach more people, target a specific audience that is more likely to be interested in your business, and track website traffic and sales. There are more platforms on which you can reach your customers online and various tactics with high success. Some of these tactics include PPC advertising, email marketing, SEO, and social media marketing.

It’s necessary

It doesn’t matter whether or not your competitors are doing marketing. Research shows that 50% of small businesses don’t have their own website and 62% of customers reported that they wouldn’t consider a business if they can’t find it online. If competitors are doing some kind of marketing, you need to stay at least up to speed with them. If they aren’t, you should do it to get ahead and beat the competition. It’s hard to lose when you market your business and easy to fall behind if you don’t.

It takes time

Like most good things in life, seeing the results from your marketing efforts can take a while. You need to identify your ideal customer base, build up a reputation for your brand, and test out different tactics to see which ones work well. It might take a lot of experimenting and testing before you find the right tactics and strategy, but that’s something you should expect.

You probably won’t see success overnight, but your marketing efforts should slowly and steadily improve your company’s visibility, create a recognizable identity, and build a solid customer base.

It’s not as easy as you think

Some business owners think all marketing problems will be solved by posting a few pictures with fun captions on social media or paying for ads, but it’s not that simple. It’s a commitment that requires research, planning, and proper execution, but it is well worth the effort.

Now that you’ve read about a few things that aren’t particularly pleasing, you might be a little intimidated. Don’t be. Every successful business owner has gone through a wake-up call and listened to things they didn’t want to. Now you can market your business and hopefully avoid the big bumps in the road. Commit yourself to it, and you’ll be just fine.

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Morgen Henderson lives in Utah and loves to travel. She has experience in the family entertainment industry, where she’s worked since she was 16 years old. She loves her job and all that comes with it!