If Your Friend Was Named Cliff, Would You Jump Off Him?

I remember as a child, while trying to escape punishment from my parents, uttering the classic phrase, “All the other kids did it too.” At this point, one parent would say something like, “Well, if all your friends ate soap, would you,” while the other would come at me with “Our concern is you, not the other kids.” This same parental wisdom can be helpful with small business marketing.

Small business owners tend to travel in the same circles, where ideas and best practices are discussed and shared. One business owner will mention a huge success with a certain marketing tool, say, direct mail, while another boasts of their fantastic online campaign. An ad agency will discuss the importance of multi-level messaging, while your banker promotes the advantages of online distribution and sales. 

Funny how life comes full circle. Small business owners can feel pressure from professional and personal peers to replicate “successful” business practices of other business owners, including marketing (usually advertising, not really marketing.) Just as when you were a child, simply because others are doing something does not mean you need to as well. Every business has specific traits, needs and budgetary limits, which requires a specialized and personalized marketing plan, based on YOUR business needs.

Often, the decision to replicate others comes from lack of time to do the proper research to make informed decisions, a lack of knowledge about the topic, or both. As I’ve stated before, small business owners need to excel at what THEY know best, and delegate everything else to others. If marketing is not your area of expertise, reach out to a marketing professional to help you determine which marketing tools are best for your business… but not if you’re doing so just because everyone else is.