1990s witnessed the evolution of marketing as a pivotal tool for small business enterprises. Now with the social media coming in a big way and yielding benefits for many. Lets take a closer look at what challenges have forced these changes in the marketing scenario of SMEs in the past 10 years
Marketing activities have gone through a paradigm shift in a span of 10 years. The Internet boom is one of the reasons. Today’s entrepreneurs are restless and keep exploring innovative marketing strategies. Whether it’s the design of a company's website or an email to the client, the change is omnipresent in every marketing activity.
Face of the company
Ten years back how many of us used to check website of a company before a visit? Not many of us would exactly remember the numbers but it was negligible. Business enterprises now understand the significance of the website of the company. In the designing of content too change is evident. Instead of 'we', more personalized references are frequently used. The change is led by the fact that authenticity is what everyone looks for.
CSR is mainstream
No conventional means of marketing would reap as much benefits as new and innovative ones. In the pursuit of new and unconventional marketing strategies, marketing departments have begun leveraging social factors like being more environment friendly and charity funding.
If any organization is installing any eco-friendly device, the information about it is passed on to the wider world of their business circle. To circulate the message one does not need to rely on TV or newspaper. Today, web pages and micro blogging sites are sufficient enough to yield benefits.
Companies have learned that showing 'we care' is good marketing.
Word of mouth marketing or viral marketing
In today’s age there are so many campaigns that it becomes really difficult zeroing in on a single option. Amidst this info-clutter if a suggestion comes from our relatives, colleagues, friends or partners, we prefer choosing that to others. Small business enterprises have learnt that the old-world word-of-mouth marketing is still the best option albeit with a touch of technology.
Information on the go is another marketing challenge that has led small business owners to adopt advanced technology. Today’s marketing strategies suggest uploading business updates on any of the social networking sites and let the world know about it.
Networking over net
Networking serves as the integral part of businesses. The way a business owner, today, gets connected with people is different from how he did earlier. The challenge was to connect with key business people at ease. To enhance networking, small business owners now tweet their business updates. The role of networking sites is also very significant in making the change.
Sponsoring an event
Ten years back sponsoring as a tool of marketing was restricted to big business enterprises only. Now the growing marketing challenges have forced the small scale business owners to put their foot forward in this marketing activity. Small business enterprises have been using this medium of marketing very smartly over the years. They have taken to sponsoring socially relevant events, which helps a business project its social responsibility image and indirectly improves visibility among its target audience. In business, no one can ignore visibility factor as it leaves mark in the minds of the customers and competitors as well.
Customer centric businesses
Small businesses in the past did not essentially swear by being customer centric, hence the commonly faced challenge was the gap between services offered and the actual demand. Over the years, the small business owners realized the increased need to be customer friendly. It was no more a mom-and-pop show.
End Note
To sum up it’s safe to conclude that this evolution of marketing trend has helped small business entrepreneurs in many ways.
It’s now the responsibility of the enterprise owner to get the marketing mix right to yield good results.
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