Crowd Favourite made an interesting point in an article quite some time ago, saying that “Marketing is more like food than it is medicine.”  Marketing is not meant to be a quick fix for all of a company’s problems, marketing is meant to sustain a company’s presence. It’s something that businesses need to invest in, cultivate, and work at every day so that they can be sustained and have longevity. Marketing creates long-lasting customer relationships that help the business flourish and grow. 

Marketing evens the playing field. For small to medium-sized businesses, marketing can help even the playing field with big name competitors. With information age among us and the power of web presence and social media, small to medium-sized businesses do have the ability to compete with large retailers like never before. Some would even say, small to medium-sized businesses have an advantage, as they have the ability to build meaningful customer relationships, which every customer desires. Modern customers have been known to value experience over pricing. Effective marketing evens the playing field to make small businesses successful. 

Customer engagement is key for successful small to medium-sized businesses. It allows you to communicate your message and engage customers and potential customers through a number of mediums. Instead of having to get people to come to your store, as has been the case in years past, you can engage people over multiple platforms now through e-commerce, social media, and so on. Marketing gets and keeps customers engaged, beyond store hours. Marketing is about building a brand and then nurturing a customer relationship with that brand.