Some 23 per cent of small business owners say they are finding it ‘almost impossible’ to find a marketing director to cover all skills, according to a study by PeoplePerHour.
Other areas businesses owners admit to struggling with are PPC (41 per cent), with respondents saying low click-through rates are easily monitored, but can be difficult to rectify.
SEO (37 per cent) is another struggle, with Google changing the way that it ranks websites leaving many businesses in confusion.
Social media marketing is cited by 27 per cent of respondents as difficult, and email marketing is cited by 34 per cent as a frustration, with respondents finding that avoiding the SPAM folder is notoriously difficult.
Other difficulties lie in telesales (22 per cent), where business owners finding ways to engage customers without irritating them can be problematic.
Content marketing is another struggle, with respondents reporting that finding fresh means to call customers back to your website can be difficult (18 per cent).
Some 64 per cent say that measuring return on investment is particularly challenging, while 48 per cent find that it is difficult to define their target audience.
Keeping up with current trends proves awkward for 30 per cent of respondents, while nearly a quarter (23 per cent) think that hiring the right people to take care of marketing duties is their biggest issue.
Such are the difficulties that businesses are facing that two in ten (21 per cent) small business owners admit to having no clear marketing plan for the next quarter.
As it’s revealed small businesses have spent more on marketing in the past year and it would seem many (12 per cent) have budgeted 15 per cent of their revenue for marketing for the next 12 months despite more than one in ten small businesses struggling to recruit for marketing roles.
Xenios Thrasyvoulou, PeoplePerHour founder and CEO says, ‘Marketing plays a really important role in business; it’s not just about reaching customers, but reaching the right customers and creating a brand story that the public can buy into and identify.
Having an amazing product or service is really only the very first step in building a successful business, the important part is letting the world know about it, he adds.
‘When you’re starting out it can be tempting to put marketing on the backburner, but if you do, I guarantee that you’ll regret it.’
The trick is to target your marketing; find a way to reach your customer base, says Thrasyvoulou.
‘And embrace hyperspecialists for each marketing role. It’s almost impossible to find one marketer who can effectively perform for each marketing channel, so build a team of experts in their own particular field and you’ll have a dynamic and effective marketing team.’
Further reading on marketing
