I see a lot of marketing advice about how to “make my small business look big”. Before you go about making your small business look big, ask yourself if that is what you really want. Or, more importantly, is that what your customers really want.
I would bet that in most cases, your prospects don’t want a big company, they want a specialized one. One that specializes in helping people like them solve the types of problems they are facing.
Companies that focus on looking big tend to have a lot of “we” marketing – we can do everything, we have the greatest equipment, and (my personal favorite), we have over a 100 years combined experience.
Customer focused marketing sounds more like “you” marketing. Do you have this problem? Here is how life will look for you after we work together. Here is how we have helped others like you.
Big can also have negative connotations. This is why it is so important to have your ideal customer defined before you make these other tactical decisions. Does big mean better customer service or worse? Does big imply expensive or cheap? Does big imply fast or slow? It all depends on the point of view of your ideal customer.
Using your marketing budget to look big can be a great way to burn cash. Most small business owners would do better by focusing their marketing budget on communicating how they serve the needs of a narrowly defined group who will appreciate what they do.
