The most important thing about marketing is to understand what your customers need and hence forth plan and surround those needs. Because when one has any business whether small or big their desire is to make sure that the business grows. The most effective way to make your business grow or expand is by marketing it.

The successful running of a business lays a lot on how much is known of the intended market and if the business is a feasible one. For small and medium enterprises to build a strong market base, market research must be carried out which will provide information about customers needs, the industry, and their competitors.

As the business grows there is need to research into marketing programs, product and service differentiation and growth opportunities. An outstanding company needs to be in touch with what is happening in the market place especially since Customers needs are continually changing.

For SMEs to grow and survive in the business environment there is need for marketing research because as time goes on in their business they will need to decide whether to launch a new product or not, and develop new strategies for their growth and even the survival of their enterprise. Marketing research support decision makers by collecting, analysing and interpreting information needed to identify and solve marketing problems.

With the knowledge of the marketing environment SMEs are also faced with the challenge of what ways they should launch their products and services. Many times they are burdened with the thought of how they have to spend so much money on advertising.

Studies indicated that SMEs could benefit from implementing the internet into their marketing mix e.g. marketing products and services by providing online quotes, advertising is less expenses, using email as a marketing tool and decreasing the cost of printing materials such as catalogues and glossy brochures. They could also enhance their credibility by creating professional imagine through the presence of an efficient web site, answers questions about products and services in several languages and conduct research in foreign markets (McCue, 1999;)

Other benefits include being an easier and more convenient method to maintain customer contact. The internet enables potential customers to source from them and provides a means of cost effective communication to the customers, through the website SMEs can maintain a contact database of their clients, distribute newsletters, take surveys and update their customers regularly. The internet enables a fast, more effective and cheap means of communication which creates a lasting impression about the business.

There are different enterprises that have used e Marketing and have seen the benefit of it example Asian hotels. By the use of internets they have been able to market themselves and expand as days go by just because of e Marketing (Changes in the hotel business G.W. Cornell Hotel and Restaurant Administration Quarterly 1999;40;13)

The Internet is also making enormous differences to the information solution available to the small and medium enterprises, so enabling them to complete on a much more equal basis with their larger competitors. This is made possible by the speed of change, the introduction of innovative new business models ( Business Information Review 17(3), September 2000)

Conclusion:

Small and medium enterprises should have a website; even if there business is small they sell products or services they feel cant be sold on line. There is very little that can’t be sold over the internet as there are millions of shoppers online purchasing everything. There is need for a presence on the web so that customers, potential employees and perhaps even investors can quickly and easily find out more about SMEs business and what they have to offer. One great thing is the internet is a levelled playing field for all products.

References:

The impact of marketing research activity on SME export performance: evidence from the UK

Tzokas, Nikolas

Journal of Small Business Management

April 1, 1999.

Business Information Review, 17(3), September 2000

Delivering business benefits through internet technology

Pauline Bickerton

Business Information Review

1998:15:40

http://bir.sagepub.com/cgi/content/abstract/15/1/40

The online version of this article can be found.