I recently gave a presentation about Consumer Behavior to a group of Freshman business students at UT Dallas. Consumer Behavior is one of my favorite marketing topics. Customers are (or certainly should be) at the center of a marketing plan and typically even a larger business plan. Overall consumer trends and macroeconomic factors impact so much of how customers behave that some of the best marketing organizations I deal with now rely heavily on data to make informed decisions. This data can be sourced from different tools, but most of those tools cost money. I talked about some of the tools that bigger clients and my previous larger employers used, plus some of the tools that everyone uses, regardless of size.
The student group I spoke to asked questions about the difference between data that comes from the expensive tools and the free tools. They asked me about the edge that a large company has because of scale, size, and buying power. They asked me why anyone would even start a small company when it’s so hard to compete with companies with scale, size, and expensive tools.
Then, we talked about the edge that a small company has because of a nimble team of generalists who understand fundamentals and don’t have to run every idea through a committee. We talked about how a small company with a small budget can convert more customers than a large company with a large budget if they understand the customer they’re targeting and put out messages that fit the platform and audience. If marketing is the megaphone for your company, a large company can certainly buy a larger megaphone or more small megaphones. Any company can use the megaphone in the right place, with the right group of customers, regardless of size. Even a small company can create compelling marketing that sells through the limited product stock they are initially able to procure or produce.
Finally, we talked about one of the Four Ps: Product. Back to Basics for the Marketing 101 class! Unfortunately, Product is too often overlooked in practice. Any company, regardless of size, can focus on the products they create. Delivering a quality product is incredibly important for your marketing efforts, and it can be a competitive edge if your product is novel to the market or better quality than the competition. If a customer receives a high-quality product and is satisfied with their purchase, they can become an advocate for a small brand. Small brands must create quality products, but every brand should create quality products.
There are many other differences between marketing for startups and at large companies, but both can be successful in the market.