Marketing strategy for SMEs

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Bikky Khosla | 26 Jul, 2011
Small and medium enterprises (SMEs) today need to think beyond conventional marketing practices of large companies and search for alternative marketing approaches such as personal contact networks, social networks, e-commerce tools, B2B portals, business networks and industry and marketing networks.

I have seen many SMEs who have failed to get buyers or even enough inquiries because they had never developed the Unique Selling Point (USP) of their products. They are not sure about how their products were different from those already in the market. Since they were unaware of this vital aspect, they were unable to understand the needs of their target audience.

SMEs today must realise that they have very different needs to larger companies and can thus not engage in campaigns at par with the giants. Mimicking the strategies of the large companies will invariably end in disaster for SMEs. So, SMEs need to think differently when it comes to building an effective marketing strategy. For instance, they need to identify their goals first. Secondly, they need to know their market well. Unlike the big players who cater to the masses, SMEs need to clearly define their audiences and focus their limited resources on reaching them. Extensive research and review of their budgets is therefore vital at this point of time.

Additionally, after deciding on the marketing strategy, it is very important to spend some time in ensuring that the strategy is implemented in such a manner that it yields maximum results. Meanwhile with the advent of online marketing, SMEs today have a level playing field wherein they can compete with even the largest of companies in a bid to attract buyers.

Sadly though, I have noticed that small companies have this notion that one has to be a big company to enter the online arena to market one's products. However, on the Internet a big company will have the same chances as an SME to make an impact on the buyer. With the correct techniques any SME can make it to the top leaving behind even the biggest of companies.

However, most of the SMEs are yet to wake up to the fact that online marketing can and is the only cost-effective, measurable and targeted advertising channel. At a time when the major markets are shrinking considerably, I strongly believe that each and every SME should have a marketing strategy to not only showcase its products, but also to easily get inquiries from other markets.