In a recent study by Constant Contact and Ascend2, roughly 39% of small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) across the US, UK, Australia, and Canada are increasing their marketing budgets this year. This uptick in spending is not just about spending more; it’s about strategically expanding marketing efforts to include a wider selection of channels and tactics. In fact, over 40% of SMBs are set to diversify their marketing channels and tactics, recognizing the need to adapt to a rapidly changing market environment.
This expansion means businesses will need to dedicate more time to their marketing strategies. Currently, most SMBs spend less than an hour per day on marketing, focusing their energies instead on essential business operations such as customer interactions and order fulfillment. However, as marketing budgets increase, 44% of SMBs anticipate that more of their time will be allocated to marketing endeavors.
Despite the intention to ramp up marketing efforts, a significant challenge remains: many SMBs (52%) regularly delay or postpone marketing activities, often due to time constraints. Content creation, strategy planning, and social media posts are particularly susceptible to delays. These tasks are not only time-consuming but also require specific marketing knowledge that many SMBs lack. This knowledge gap often confines them to familiar and easy-to-implement channels, potentially limiting growth.
Advantages of Fractional Marketers
To overcome these challenges and effectively use their increased budgets, SMBs can benefit from hiring fractional marketers. Fractional marketers are experienced professionals who offer their expertise on a part-time or contract basis. Here are several key benefits of bringing fractional marketers on board:
- Expertise on Demand: Fractional marketers bring specialized knowledge and skills that may be missing internally. They can strategize, execute, and measure the effectiveness of various marketing tactics, filling the knowledge gap without the cost of a full-time hire.
- Cost Effectiveness: Hiring a fractional marketer is more affordable than employing a full-time senior marketing executive. SMBs can access top-tier talent while staying within budget, ensuring that increased marketing investments deliver maximum impact.
- Flexibility and Scalability: As SMBs expand their marketing efforts, they need flexible strategies that can scale with their growth. Fractional marketers can adjust their involvement based on the company’s current needs and budget, providing more support during strategic launches or scaling back during slower periods.
- Fresh Perspectives: Bringing in a fractional marketer can inject new ideas and perspectives into the business, which can be crucial for innovation and staying ahead of market trends.
- Time Management: By delegating substantial marketing responsibilities to a fractional marketer, business owners can free up their time to focus on core business operations and customer engagement, optimizing the productivity of the business as a whole.
As SMBs prepare to increase their marketing budgets to capture larger audiences and enhance their market share, hiring fractional marketers offers a strategic advantage. These professionals not only mitigate the challenges of time and expertise but also enable SMBs to maximize their marketing ROI, ensuring that every dollar spent contributes to significant business growth.
About the Data: The results are based on a February-March survey of 1,335 small business owners and operators representing companies with fewer than 250 employees, across all industries.
Ready to elevate your marketing strategy without the overhead of a full-time executive? Schedule a call or email Lori at lberson@BersonDeanStevens.com to discover how fractional marketing services can drive your business forward.
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