When I ask business owners about their marketing plans, the conversation almost always centres around the same things. Social media. Google Ads. A new website. Perhaps a brochure or a company profile. These are all important elements of marketing, but they’re only part of the picture.
What I have come to realise over the years is that many businesses unintentionally narrow their view of marketing to the channels they pay for or the content they produce. In doing so, they overlook many of the activities that have the greatest influence on how their business grows.
I recently had the opportunity to speak to a group of SME business owners about this very topic. We spoke about the difference between goals, activities and outcomes, and how easy it is to focus on where we want the business to be without giving enough attention to the behaviours that will actually get us there. Every business wants more clients, stronger relationships, increased revenue and a healthy pipeline of opportunities. Those are the outcomes we are all working towards. The question is whether our daily activities are intentionally designed to produce them.
Marketing is something we do
One of the biggest shifts in my own thinking has been recognising that marketing is not simply something we communicate. It is something we do.
Networking is marketing.
Following up on proposals is marketing.
Checking in with previous clients is marketing.
Asking for referrals is marketing.
Sharing knowledge through articles or speaking opportunities is marketing.
Even the way we respond to emails, answer the phone or handle a customer complaint contributes to how our business is perceived. Every interaction either strengthens or weakens the confidence people have in choosing us.
That is why I believe a marketing plan should extend far beyond advertising. Advertising is an important tool, but it is only one of many ways we create visibility. Sustainable businesses are built through consistent, intentional activity across multiple touchpoints. They don’t rely on a single campaign to generate momentum; they create momentum through discipline.
Marketing happens through people too
There is another aspect of marketing that I think is often underestimated, particularly by small businesses.
We spend a great deal of time thinking about how we communicate with prospective customers, yet we sometimes forget about the people who represent our brand every single day.
Our team.
Whether you employ three people or three hundred, your employees are often the first experience a customer has of your business. They answer the phone, deliver the service, solve the problems and build the relationships. If they don’t understand the purpose of the business, the values you stand for or the experience you want customers to have, how can we expect them to consistently represent the brand?
Marketing doesn’t begin when a customer sees your advert.
It begins long before that, with the culture you create internally.
In many ways, the same is true of the wider ecosystem around your business. Your suppliers, strategic partners, referral network and existing clients all influence your reputation. They recommend you, talk about you, introduce you to opportunities and validate your credibility. They are, in many respects, an extension of your marketing team.
Perhaps this is why the businesses that seem to grow consistently aren’t always the ones with the biggest marketing budgets. More often, they’re the ones who understand that growth is the result of many small, intentional actions, repeated consistently over time. They don’t see marketing as a department or a monthly campaign. They see it as a way of doing business.
Maybe it’s time we stopped asking whether our advertising is working and started asking a different question.
Are all the people connected to our business helping to tell the story we want our market to hear?
I’d love to hear your thoughts.
When you think about your own business, what has had the greatest influence on your growth? Has it been advertising, relationships, referrals, your team… or something else entirely?
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