Fast Company guest blogger Francine Hardaway posted a terrific article on how to market to small and medium sized businesses. For many of you reading this post, this is probably not news but it is worth to clarify some of the more particularly interesting points and comment on how "the small business web" can be used to address SMBs needs. Francine ran her own business and provided advice to hundreds of small businesses so these ideas are tried and true. Some ring true to us as well. But some are generalizations that could use some clarification. I've edited Francine's points — make sure you read the article linked above to get the full, original story.
2) Small businesses don't want anything but more money or more customers. … They buy only to get more customers.
That is very true. Small businesses buy products to get more customers. But they also buy to cut costs. IT costs can be dramatic and figuring out a way to pay a very low, set amount each month or year is appealing especially when one wants to modernize operations.
3) They won't use self-service web-based solutions, because they don't sit around surfing and Googling to find them. Groupon succeeded by hiring a large sales force.
That is not really true anymore. There are tons of small business web startups that are catering to the small business audience. And most of them sell direct without a huge salesforce like Groupon. Finding out about them is a bit of a challenge, but your friendly software as a service consultant can help.
5) Since they only have money and time for direct customer acquisition and not for strategic marketing, everything targeting them has to produce results FAST.
This is very much true. This is where software as a service ("cloud-based") tools come into play. You are productive very quickly and the setup is extremely short. What you need to do more than ever is ensure you understand your customer and have an appropriate call to action that makes sense for your business and prospects.
6) I have never met a small business that couldn't tell you the ROI or lack of it on every dollar they've spent on marketing and advertising.
Most small businesses just get customers by referral, and that is the only way they market. There are fantastic ways to market on the cheap, and this usually involves caring about your customers and prospects more than the competitor. Super customer service is a form of marketing for small businesses, and it does not have to be expensive. Time, in fact, and creativity is more important than cash.
7) Their level of media and technical literacy is all over the map.
This is true. Most small business owners don't know what they don't know. Good training is critical as are easy to use web-based user interfaces.
9) Many of them don't even know what their customers are buying; rather, they know what they are selling.
Very true as well. This is where a good customer relationship management system comes into play. It doesn't have to be high end, but it does need to tell you that some of your customers are buying something you are not selling. And that will help you make new product offering. Knowing your clients (and prospects) well is key, and being organized about it is critical.
10) Small businesses in America fall into three main categories: retail, professional service, and manufacturing. The problems of each are completely their own, and so should be the solutions.
I do not agree with this completely. There are very few solutions that are specific to a particular category. Modern tools available today are flexible enough to be shaped into specific needs for specific sectors. In fact, it is those highly vertical solutions designed for manufacturing that prevent these companies from diversifying if their prospects are telling them they want to buy differently. Agility is key in the 21st century, and your systems and processes must be as well.
