Doing the bare minimum required to give the greatest return - the 80:20 approach (also known as the Pareto principle) - is ideal for small business on a budget.

You may have limited resources to devote to your marketing, and it may be tempting to hire in a recent graduate to take care of it for you. That can be a big mistake.

What's wrong with a young, dynamic marketer on the payroll?

It's not just the age that matters. Marketers can fill their hours posting lots of content on a variety of social media, without it giving you a proper return on your investment. First, you are employing someone, with all the associated costs involved. Secondly, what they propose may not be in the best interests of your company. For many B2B companies, investment in social media may be great news for the marketer, but an irrelevance for your potential customers. In my experience, too many marketers are obsessed with tactics rather than strategy.

What are the priorities for a small business?
First, you need an experienced head to audit what you are doing at present? Then, you need an overarching strategy that will guide what needs to happen. In many small businesses, money does not grow on trees. Your approach needs to focus on a strategy that will provide the maximum return for the smallest investment. This is about harvesting the low-hanging fruit.

 And there are two ways to increase your ROI.

1. Target your expenditure where it will do the most good - and that means knowing exactly what to do and how to do it.
2. Reduce your outgoings by using a experienced consultant only when you need them.
   

What's wrong with Social Media?
If you are in the right industry, nothing at all. However, for many small businesses - especially B2B - social media may be a distraction, producing very little engagement with your customers. There's a clue in the name, which is why it is not called 'business media'. After all, if you produce industrial widgets, nobody is going to be looking for you on Instagram.

What is the 'bare minimum'?
I have worked with a number of manufacturing and engineering companies. For those businesses, what they needed was to be highly visible where people are searching, and that usually means having a well-optimised website. Additionally, it may be prudent to have a YouTube Channel (as YouTube is the second most popular search engine after Google). And in certain industries, you can promote your content using LinkedIn. That's it. Forget the rest. They are a distraction.

The very bare minimum
Have a well-optimised website. It's where people will find you. Optimise it well by ensuring that a marketer is involved in creating the content. Most website designers are skilled coders, but not trained in marketing. The website not only needs to be well-coded, but needs to sell your business by speaking to the customer and fulfilling their needs. If you do only one thing - get the website right.

Why is a consultant like me a good idea?

• I know what I am talking about - I understand SEO and marketing at a high level.
• You only pay me for what I do - nothing else.
• You get access to high level expertise and experience without having to pay a salary, NI, pension contributions and all that comes with an employee. Totally flexible. Expertise on tap.

What to do next?

Email me or give me a call. And do it today. I can visit you (with no obligation on your part). If what I tell you doesn't impress you, then you have lost nothing. If it does, then I can help transform your business - the way I have done for many others.