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If I Had To Market A Small Business in the Current Economy, Here’s Exactly What I Would Do
Marketing has changed A LOT in recent years because customers now have more options than ever before. Not only has it changed, but it’s also more expensive; social media is requiring more effort to stay visible, and with everything happening in the economy, spending thousands of dollars on marketing isn't realistic for every business.
Even through those changes, the fact remains that people still need to discover your business, they need a reason to choose your offer, and they still need to be reminded that your business exists.
One HUGE mistake I’ve noticed with businesses attempting to adapt to these changes is the lingering question of “How much can I/we afford to spend?”
But maybe consider changing that question from “what can I spend” to “What can I/ we do with what we already have?”
As an owner and marketing strategist, I’ve identified FOUR essential ways I’d adjust my marketing in the current economy.
1. Start By Focusing on ONE Offer
Small businesses believe that awareness is people knowing EVERYTHING all at once! If you sell five services, you want people to know about all five; just as if you have ten products, you want to promote all ten products.
If you have an upcoming event, a new product launching, a sale happening, and your regular services available, it can feel like everything needs to be posted immediately.
The common problem is that your customer doesn't experience your business the way you do because, though you know everything you offer, your customer doesn’t
When your marketing consistently introduces different products, services, messages, and promotions, customers have to do too much work to figure out what they should pay attention to.
If I were taking over the marketing for your small business today, I'd choose one primary offer to push for the next 30 days by identifying:
What makes the business the most money?
What do customers already show interest in?
What solves a problem people are actively trying to solve?
What is easiest to explain and easiest for a customer to make a faster buying/booking decision?
This doesn't mean you stop giving marketing attention to everything else; instead, it makes ONE offer the star of your marketing for 30 days, making it easier for your audience to receive a message they can remember.
2. Make Every Piece of Content Work Harder
As small business owners, you’re constantly being told on many platforms and email lists that you need to create MORE content!
You’re hearing that better success on social platforms means creating more reels, stories, posts, videos, and following more trends, but by now you may have realized that creating more content isn’t always the answer.
The real content hack is getting more value out of the content you’ve already created!
When I film one video for a business, I don’t look at it as one piece of content but rather an idea that can be split and even repurposed into multi-use pieces.
For example, let's say you're a skincare brand and you create a video answering a social media user's question that says “Why does my skin still feel dry after I moisturize?”
That one video idea could turn into:
A short-form video
An Instagram carousel
A Facebook post
A TikTok
An email
A Story with a poll
A product recommendation
A customer FAQ on your website
From that ONE video, we’ve built out EIGHT pieces of content that can be used across multiple platforms and multiple formats.
3. Stop Chasing Every Trend
Despite what social media may convince you of, following every social media trend IS NOT a marketing strategy.
If a trending sound, format, conversation, or meme makes sense for your business and gives you a creative way to communicate your message, use it.
But not every single trend works for every business!
A lot of small business owners spend time figuring out how to make their business fit into whatever is trending online, but I would take a different approach.
I'd look at what's already happening inside the business, because whether you notice it or not, your customers and viewers are giving you content every day. They ask you questions, misunderstand things about your product/services, compare different products, share their worries about your offers, leave reviews, and even ask for advice.
Everything I just mentioned is the definition of MARKETING OPPORTUNITIES!
If you're a restaurant and customers constantly ask, “What's the best item on the menu for someone who's never been here?” that's content.
If you're a hairstylist and every new client asks how they should maintain their style, that's content.
You don't have to wait for a trend to tell you what to talk about because your customers are constantly telling you what they want to know. This approach is a much stronger foundation for marketing.
4. Start With the Audience I Already Have
This is one of the MOST overlooked opportunities in small business marketing. Before spending more money trying to reach thousands of new people, I'd look at the people who already know the business exists and have shown interest or bought into my business.
Your existing audience is already made up of:
Previous customers
Email subscribers
Social media followers
People who have visited your website
People who have asked about your products or services
People who attended a previous event
People who have engaged with your content
People who started the buying process but never completed it
These people have already crossed the biggest hurdle in marketing: knowing that you exist, and that matters MOST!
Getting a completely new person to discover your business, trust you, understand what you offer, and eventually buy can take time. However, someone who has already purchased from you, followed you, or asked about your services doesn't need to be introduced to your business from scratch.
So before I focused all my energy on finding more people to join these segments, I'd create reasons for the people already paying attention to come back for more.
This could look different depending on the business you own. It could be a new offer, a limited-time promotion, a customer appreciation campaign, new use for an existing product, or a service they may not know you offer.
This is where marketing becomes less about constantly finding new customers and more about building a relationship with the people who have already shown interest… no larger audience necessary when you have the opportunity to do more with the audience you’ve already built.
If I had to market a small business in this economy, I wouldn't try to be everywhere at the same time, post seven days a week, or chase the trends. Instead, I’d focus on what the business already has and build from there.
I wouldn't tell the owner they need to post seven days a week or build a strategy around chasing every trend, and I wouldn't start by spending money on ads just because everyone says you need to run them. When resources are limited, strategy is more important than ever before.
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Small Business Marketing
Marketing Strategy
Content Marketing
Social Media Marketing
Small Business Growth
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