Small business owners get opinions, facts, and myths thrown at them daily. It’s hard to tell what’s real and what’s a sales pitch in sheep’s clothing. Like any other, the topic of marketing for small business is full of myths and inaccurate or outdated information. It’s important to take a moment and learn the facts and logic behind some of these myths.

In this post, we’ll provide 6 examples of myths or outdated assumptions about marketing a small business. Your business is important to you, so let’s dive into the facts and get you in an investment and growth mindset!

Why is Marketing Important for Small Business?

To run your business, you need tools you can leverage. The investment in these tools needs to leverage a big return. That big return can save you time or money — or bring in more customers and customers that buy more. You already know this about the tools and services you use for your business right now, like accounting software, computers, and delivery services.

Marketing for your small business is no different. There are many assumptions about marketing that turn out to be true — like the Rule of 7 that states a prospect needs to “hear” the brand message at least 7 times before they’ll take action to buy that product or service — but there are many more that are myths and can harm your business growth.

As Gary V states, marketing for a small business is the very strategy they need to connect with their customers and clients.

6 Myths About Small Business Marketing

1. Marketing is only for big business.

Some say marketing is a waste of money (and time) for small business. Total myth! Every small business benefits from all elements of modern marketing — especially when partnering with an expert who cares and brings by a solid strategy.

Every dollar invested by small business into marketing has a higher return than big business does. Instead of large, complicated teams creating expensive content, a strategy built for small business can use fewer dollars to convert the customers you need to grow.

2. Anyone can do marketing easily

There are tons of resources on the internet to make marketing easier for non-experts, true. But would you trust a mechanic who learned how to change your brakes from YouTube? Would you trust a surgeon to operate on you after they read a few blogs? 🤔 I hope not! 😬

Don’t trust your small business marketing to just anyone — including yourself! You’re trying to convince your customers that you’re the expert they need. So, consider the type of expert you need to help with marketing your small business.

3. Marketing is only for new customers

Marketing has two roles: education and retention. New customers need new information (education) about how to solve their problems. And your current customers need reassurance (retention) they’ve made the right decision. Should they come back and buy more? Marketing helps them answer that question.

4. Marketing has immediate results.

This is part myth and part truth. The reality is that changes in marketing work about as fast as your customers do in making decisions.

If what you’re selling is an easy decision, marketing can feel like it’s giving faster results. Bigger purchases that take longer research and consideration — that can also make results feel like they’re taking longer. An expert partner takes the time to understand your customer’s journey and will help walk you through what to expect for your unique small business.

5. My product (or service) will sell itself.

I’ve heard “if it’s a quality product, people will buy without marketing.” There might a few customers who decide quickly without help — but today, customers do more research than ever before. They want to see ratings and reviews. Customers want to see if your website quality matches the perceived cost to buy. They want answers to their questions before engaging with your sales questions.

They way you invest in marketing helps every part of the customer’s journey to buy. A successful small business will help the customer educate themselves through marketing. That education makes it an easy yes when asked to buy.

6. I don’t need a website.

If you’ve thought “why do I need a website when I have social media?” you’re not alone. Especially when there’s so much free traffic on social media platforms — wouldn’t investing in a website be wasteful? Absolutely not!

Social media only helps customers educate themselves through a time-based format. Whatever you posted last is the first thing customers interact with. The customer needs to dig through your posts to find their answers. A website designed to convert customers expands into an information-based format — guiding your customer through an easy process to find *all* the information they need to decide.

🤔 Also consider this: social media is expensive on your time, even if you’re not paying for help with creating content. A website can stay the same for months and years while still converting customers — but a social media account begins losing engagement within a week without new content.

Bonus: 7. Online marketing is all I need.

Everyone’s online, so it certainly makes sense to be where your customers are. But physical marketing efforts still make a huge difference in finding and educating customers. Even more so for a small business with a physical presence. Think flyers, post mailers, decals, business cards, and road signs — there’s so much to consider!

While some myths are nothing more than cautionary tales that are meant to protect you, some myths like these seven can actually do harm to your small business! Marketing is crucial to the growth and success of your small business. Marketing can help you connect with the right customers that help you expand the business. Not just any freelancer or agency will do — so do your research properly on the marketing expert you’ll partner with who cares about your business as much as you do.