Fremont: Whether you have studied in Harvard Business School or any other Business Schools of the world, when it comes to case studies dealing with marketing and branding, they tend to look at large companies, such as Google, Apple or Coke. However, they fail to cumulate the zest of marketing that small businesses need.

Small companies spend a billion of dollars every year to create brand and marketing strategies to replicate the success of big firms. However, the business schools advice tends to ignore the fact that today the market conditions and business environment have changed radically and small businesses can learn a very little from studying the behavior of big brands and firms. The rules under which such business operates are not applicable to small businesses.

Instead, the small firms should concentrate on the organic methods to increase their growth, which may include acquiring more customers, persuading them to buy more or even buying costly products by offering them better quality, services and customer care. This can be achieved by spending more time on market research and creating strategic marketing plan depending on the results of the research.

The small business owner has a limited marketing budget that centers them around the thought to be more creative in terms of marketing and sales activities. One of the best way to differentiate their small business from the larger firm is by offering something that these giants does not offer, such as a unique product or more personalized services. Customer loyalty helps a business to grow, but can be achieved only by providing them quality products or services rather than just branding. The owner himself in the initial stage can do a better marketing and branding of the product and the company as no one knows better what the company and the product stands for. This will also help to create a bridge of faith between the owner and his clients and investors, thus helping the business to grow without spending much.

With a limited fund, they need to create relevant content on their website that will attract users and position their business and brand as a source of valuable knowledge. Also, writing for trade magazines that are relevant for the B2B and B2C categories will help small businesses to gain credibility and exposure. With internet on a grow, it is important for them to have a website that is keyword optimized for what their business does and where they are located.

Online forums were not available during the initial days of Google and Apple, but today the small businesses can leverage it to reach to communities or forums that offer varying level of memberships. This not only gives an exposure but also helps them to get more interactive with the existing new bees and the old ones of the industry, thus providing them an opportunity to explain the market what they are.

Time has changed and so has the strategies and methods to enter the market. The theories of survival has also undergone a huge diversion from the old methods. It is important to follow and learn from the existing stories, but it is foolish to blindly follow them just because you want to be one of them.