kind of marketing, whether they know it or not.” If that statement grabs their interest back, we begin the “What is marketing?” discussion.
In some ways, everything your business does is marketing, from your business cards and the hours you're open, to the way you answer your phone or the packaging you use for your products. I hold the opinion that ANY interaction with a customer or potential customer is a marketing interaction. This does not mean always selling, or using heavy promotional verbiage. It means that any and every interaction you have with a current or potential customer shapes and builds your brand/image, also known as marketing. Many small business owners are marketing every day, they simply are not aware of it – And that’s not necessarily a bad thing. However, when that unknown marketing starts to have a negative impact, it’s difficult to identify and correct an unknown. Facebook pages with no posts for months; website form submissions going unanswered; an apathetic and disinterested evening-hours employee; always getting voicemail instead of a real person… All these examples represent a negative marketing experience. How does a small business avoid these common pitfalls? Realize that while you may not do any advertising, EVERY business does marketing, and does so on a DAILY basis. Identify key customer interaction points and tools, then determine whether the marketing experience provided by each is in-line with your overall brand/image strategy and goals. There are many businesses who do no advertising (until the late 2000’s, Starbucks was one of them), but if your business interacts with customers (good chance it does), then you ARE marketing. Take advantage of it!
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