As 2017 begins to unfold there is one message for SMEs: it’s time to innovate marketing strategies to compete with bigger businesses. Gaining consumer attention is becoming an increasingly difficult task, as competition increases for SMEs and the channels with which to reach audiences continue to fragment. How can a small business stand out from the crowd in this environment? The answer is to use the width of your brain rather than the width of your wallet.
SMEs need to find smarter, more agile ways of attracting ideal consumers, using engagement to cut through the increasing noise in the marketing sphere. My colleagues and I call this marketing technique ‘inbound’ and, for the unfamiliar, it means marketing that targets customers in the platforms they already exist in, in a manner that resonates.
Despite the benefits of inbound marketing, many SMEs still use outbound techniques, designed to demand attention by ‘interrupting’ their audiences. While it may seem like an impactful way to get attention, in reality these messages often hit the wrong audience, are poorly timed, are expensive and, as they are unwanted, can sometimes result in the opposite desired outcome with consumers feeling negatively towards the brand.
Audiences have grown wise to outbound techniques – they’ve been around for years and consumers are learning to detect and ignore them. The latest Interactive Advertising Bureau Ad blocking in Australia study found almost 30% of consumers are now using ad blocking technology and this trend is only set to continue. The democratisation of the internet means power rests with the audience and they are actively using technology to filter content they don’t want.
The benefit of inbound marketing is its ability to pinpoint particular groups that should be targeted and avoid bombarding other people with information they aren’t interested in. The flow on effect is businesses more likely to reach potential leads, reduce advertising wastage and save money. The real-time metrics of inbound mean they can also see where their strategy is really firing and amplify those activities, rather than spending money where it isn’t working.
So how can small businesses capitalise on their consumers’ behaviour and move to inbound marketing techniques in 2017? While inbound as a strategy has existed for more than a decade, fundamental shifts in technology mean it too is changing, and new inbound marketing techniques are coming to the fore. Among these, compelling content stands out as key, and this year what will engage audiences is different to what worked in the past.
How to Compete With the Big End of Town – Without It Costing Your Sme the Earth
By: Ryan Bonnici
As 2017 begins to unfold there is one message for SMEs: it’s time to innovate marketing strategies to compete with bigger businesses. Gaining consumer attention is becoming an increasingly difficult task, as competition increases for SMEs and the channels with which to reach audiences continue to fragment. How can a small business stand out from the crowd in this environment? The answer is to use the width of your brain rather than the width of your wallet.
SMEs need to find smarter, more agile ways of attracting ideal consumers, using engagement to cut through the increasing noise in the marketing sphere. My colleagues and I call this marketing technique ‘inbound’ and, for the unfamiliar, it means marketing that targets customers in the platforms they already exist in, in a manner that resonates.
Despite the benefits of inbound marketing, many SMEs still use outbound techniques, designed to demand attention by ‘interrupting’ their audiences. While it may seem like an impactful way to get attention, in reality these messages often hit the wrong audience, are poorly timed, are expensive and, as they are unwanted, can sometimes result in the opposite desired outcome with consumers feeling negatively towards the brand.
Audiences have grown wise to outbound techniques – they’ve been around for years and consumers are learning to detect and ignore them. The latest Interactive Advertising Bureau Ad blocking in Australia study found almost 30% of consumers are now using ad blocking technology and this trend is only set to continue. The democratisation of the internet means power rests with the audience and they are actively using technology to filter content they don’t want.
The benefit of inbound marketing is its ability to pinpoint particular groups that should be targeted and avoid bombarding other people with information they aren’t interested in. The flow on effect is businesses more likely to reach potential leads, reduce advertising wastage and save money. The real-time metrics of inbound mean they can also see where their strategy is really firing and amplify those activities, rather than spending money where it isn’t working.
So how can small businesses capitalise on their consumers’ behaviour and move to inbound marketing techniques in 2017? While inbound as a strategy has existed for more than a decade, fundamental shifts in technology mean it too is changing, and new inbound marketing techniques are coming to the fore. Among these, compelling content stands out as key, and this year what will engage audiences is different to what worked in the past.
As 2017 begins to unfold there is one message for SMEs: it’s time to innovate marketing strategies to compete with bigger businesses. Gaining consumer attention is becoming an increasingly difficult task, as competition increases for SMEs and the channels with which to reach audiences continue to fragment. How can a small business stand out from the crowd in this environment? The answer is to use the width of your brain rather than the width of your wallet.
SMEs need to find smarter, more agile ways of attracting ideal consumers, using engagement to cut through the increasing noise in the marketing sphere. My colleagues and I call this marketing technique ‘inbound’ and, for the unfamiliar, it means marketing that targets customers in the platforms they already exist in, in a manner that resonates.
Despite the benefits of inbound marketing, many SMEs still use outbound techniques, designed to demand attention by ‘interrupting’ their audiences. While it may seem like an impactful way to get attention, in reality these messages often hit the wrong audience, are poorly timed, are expensive and, as they are unwanted, can sometimes result in the opposite desired outcome with consumers feeling negatively towards the brand.
Audiences have grown wise to outbound techniques – they’ve been around for years and consumers are learning to detect and ignore them. The latest Interactive Advertising Bureau Ad blocking in Australia study found almost 30% of consumers are now using ad blocking technology and this trend is only set to continue. The democratisation of the internet means power rests with the audience and they are actively using technology to filter content they don’t want.
The benefit of inbound marketing is its ability to pinpoint particular groups that should be targeted and avoid bombarding other people with information they aren’t interested in. The flow on effect is businesses more likely to reach potential leads, reduce advertising wastage and save money. The real-time metrics of inbound mean they can also see where their strategy is really firing and amplify those activities, rather than spending money where it isn’t working.
So how can small businesses capitalise on their consumers’ behaviour and move to inbound marketing techniques in 2017? While inbound as a strategy has existed for more than a decade, fundamental shifts in technology mean it too is changing, and new inbound marketing techniques are coming to the fore. Among these, compelling content stands out as key, and this year what will engage audiences is different to what worked in the past.