Innovation is key for SMBs: Rachana Chowdhary

Marketing is critical to any successful business, regardless of size or the industry. For small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs), effective marketing strategies can help increase brand awareness, attract new customers, and drive revenue growth. Shedding more light on this at the recently held e4m IPRCCC 2023, Rachana Chowdhary, Founder & Director, mediavalueworks – a digital communications agency, took the stage to share some marketing hacks for small and medium businesses.

Emphasizing the need for identifying and understanding who the SMB owners are in order to resonate more with them, Chowdhary added, “Innovation is key for these small and medium businesses as they are driven by innovation, identifying talent and being agile. There are four key characteristics of the SMBs - they have limited resources, are agile and flexible, have a closer customer relationship and personalised services and are focused on local markets and community engagement.” Further talking about the challenges faced by SMBs, she highlighted a few of them being limited marketing budgets, lack of brand recognition and visibility, competition from larger businesses and the challenge of keeping up with technological advancements. However, these challenges make them more open to collaborating with PR, Digital and Social Media agencies.

Marketing for SMBs begins with the ABCs of marketing for any business or brand, says Chowdhary. “It starts with understanding your target audience, conducting market research for gathering insights, utilizing social media analytics and user surveys and tailoring the marketing efforts to address the needs of your target audience. We are already aware of these points, but it will only help us in enhancing our own skills and marketing efforts,” she added.

Sharing the hacks that work the best for these businesses, Chowdhary shared, “The main hacks can be categorized into, firstly, leveraging social media - choosing the right platform, developing a consistent brand voice, engaging with target audience online and use of hashtags and user-generated content. The second thing is creating compelling content - high-quality content, utilizing storytelling techniques, incorporating various multimedia elements, and repurposing content across different platforms, The third important thing is Influencer marketing. We can maximise our efforts by identifying relevant influencers - they need not be glamorous people but subject matter experts, by building collaborative relationships with influencers and leveraging partnerships to expand reach.”

She further shared how email marketing is a tool that has been here forever, but it still works. SMBs can leverage email marketing by making consumers opt in, segmenting customers into different lists, carving compelling content, and then automating email campaigns to nurture leads and drive conversions. Similarly, SMBs can also leverage Search Engine Optimization, Paid Advertising like Google Ads, Facebook ads, etc, Word of Mouth marketing, and mobile marketing.