"You can’t build a reputation on what you are going to do."

Henry Ford, Founder and Industrialist

Many small business owners start their brands with lean teams, seeking support from family and close friends, hiring freelancers and contractors for one-off projects until they can onboard full and part-time employees. While personnel is important for business growth and development, it’s also important to incorporate reliable marketing systems to manage demand and provide a remarkable brand experience. 

Within the first 12-24 months of a business, many owners are usually a team of one with possible help from family and close friends. Incorporating marketing tools for your business is similar to having assistants to help manage and sustain your brand. Examples of marketing tools are: social listening and monitoring, customer relationship management (CRM), and email marketing tools. 

Tracking the growth of the business is important not only to develop the brand but also to sustain it. Oftentimes, owners don’t know what improvements to make to their business because they do not track how their audience connects with the brand. From lead generation to client/customer acquisition and retention, reliable marketing systems should be in place to measure how your business is developing and growing. 

The beginning stage of a business is usually navigated solely by owners to complete different tasks and responsibilities due to lean teams. Establishing marketing habits delegates tasks to various systems that can support business owners with brand growth and development. Setting up time during the week to plan your marketing schedule and automate marketing tasks will not only support the business owner, but also assist in building a sustainable brand.

There are marketing systems that can help align brand strategy with an effective marketing plan for awareness, visibility and audience engagement. Using the right marketing tools can better support the business and incorporate marketing habits for business growth, development and sustainable results.