Small Businesses - Search Marketing Doesn’t Bite

According to the recent Microsoft’s survey results, many small businesses failed to invest in search marketing.  It appears that many small businesses are willing to make an investment in creating a website for their business, but neglect to enhance their online presence once the website is complete.  Their results showed more than 50% of small business with a website do not use paid search marketing and 90% of them have never even tried it.

The majority of the participants have said that they would rather do their taxes than create a search marketing plan for their company’s website.  It is definitely a dangerous thought. The following are the concerns small business owners have:

• Almost 90% of the respondents worry the keywords may get to be too expensive
• Approximately 80% of the participants are questioning if paid search marketing is truly the best way to spend their marketing budget
• 25% of the participants believe paid search marketing is too complicated
• Nearly 21% of the respondents felt starting a search marketing campaign may be too time-consuming
• 35% of the participants felt it would be necessary for them to hire a search marketing agency to help set up a successful campaign

Based on the data Microsoft has revealed, it does appear fear is the #1 concern for small business owners. After all, search marketing is still considered the unconventional way to market your products or services. Since not too many people are familiar with search marketing, fear will consume you. Fear of the unknown. Fear of using the marketing budget ineffectively. Fear of the new technology. Fear of spending too much time, money, and energy on search marketing campaigns that may not be profitable. Mainly, the fear of taking a risk. Due to the recent economic downfall, it’s understandable many small business owners want to use their marketing budget effectively by not taking too much risk (especially by stepping into an ‘unknown territory’ such as search marketing). Therefore, many small business owners may prefer using the conventional marketing strategy by reaching their target audiences through radio advertising, direct marketing (via flyers, postcards, brochures, and etc), newspapers, and televisions.

Whether you are choosing the conventional or unconventional way to market your products/services, no one can predict the outcome of your marketing campaign(s).  The purpose of marketing is to gain exposure, in hope the increase in exposure may turn into a profit.  Marketing is a necessary investment so you must look into different marketing strategies before you can determine which marketing method truly works for you. Most importantly, knowing your target audiences should be your main focus because they are your potential clients so you need to think like they do. Before you plan out your 2009 marketing campaigns, why not look into different search marketing campaigns and see which may be more suitable for your business. It can be Pay-Per-Click advertising, search engine optimization, or even banner advertising. Your options are unlimited. Give it a try before your competitors do!