50% of small businesses have no marketing plan.
These same businesses have no idea how they’re going to grow in the following year.
In fact, half of SMEs spend less than 5% of their annual revenue on marketing.
And this is despite the fact that the vast majority of businesses that invest in their marketing do see yearly growth.
Why don’t small businesses have a plan?
The two most commonly given reasons by business owners as to why they don’t invest in their marketing are:
Lack of money
Lack of time
How much money should I invest in marketing?
Half of SME’s are investing less than 5% of their annual revenue into marketing.
Of these around half are seeing growth.
You might think that doesn’t sound too bad, but compare that with businesses that invest 5-10% of their annual revenue.
81% achieve YoY growth.
How much time should I spend on marketing?
It’s a similar story with time.
2/3 of SMEs are spending less than five hours a week on their marketing.
That’s less than an hour a day on activities that would directly contribute to the growth of the business!
But again, compare this with businesses that spend a little bit more time on their marketing – 5-10 hours per week.
79% achieve YoY growth.
Marketing on a small budget
So what can we learn here?
Firstly, less is more when it comes to marketing on a limited budget.
You don’t have to spend a fortune, and you don’t have to spend hours every day on your marketing to see tangible results in your business.
But the caveat here is you need to use your time and especially money intelligently:
Plan ahead
Research your target clients
Research your competition
Develop a strong USP
Speak your customer’s language