I was looking up statistics on small businesses the other day and found a statistic that came as something of a surprise to me. Did you know that over 500,000 new businesses are started every single year in the U.S.?*
Another fact you might not realize is that by this time next year, roughly half of the businesses that opened this year will be closed. Within 10 years only 3 out of 10 businesses will still be operating.
Yet every year more than half a million people take the plunge to build a successful business and chase the dream of being a successful entrepreneur.
After consulting with these business owners and managers for several years I have observed that the ones who end up going out of business are the ones who either don’t market at all or refuse to look at or explore the use of modern marketing techniques and channels.
Unless they figure out a way to generate intense demand for their service or products, they eventually go out of business. Simple as that.
With the widespread use of the internet and social networking, if you aren’t using all available channels to market and promote your business, your chances of remaining in business for more than a few years are dwindling by the day.
You might have a beautiful physical location and great window displays and get beat by a fully online company selling the same products at a lower cost but with modern marketing campaigns. Companies no longer need a strong physical presence to attract an audience.
Here are some statistics:
- 61% of global Internet users research products online. (Interconnected World: Shopping and Personal Finance, 2012)
- Companies that acquired customers from Facebook: B2C is 77% and B2B is 43%. (State of Inbound Marketing, 2012)
- In 2014, email marketing was cited as the most effective digital marketing channel for customer retention in the United States. (eMarketer)
There are dozens of other studies on the subject that go over using Social networks like Pinterest, LinkedIn as well as blogging, SEO and PPC.
If all of this sounds like gibberish or some foreign concept to you, you need to start reading up on all of the tools you can and should be using to ensure that your business is one of the few that pass the test and will still be around in several years.
If you don’t understand and use modern marketing techniques you will be throwing away your most effective tool to make your business prosper.
The solution?
Study up on modern marketing techniques so you understand what the most effective channels are to create an intense demand for your products and services.
Get these actions being done by yourself, your staff or an outside company who specializes in them.
Adapting to use these new techniques and continuing to stay abreast of any new developments will ensure you continue to prosper instead of joining the ever-increasing ranks of businesses going extinct each year.
*Source: https://www.sba.gov/sites/default/files/FAQ_Sept_2012.pdf