Maximizing your SMB marketing efforts—SMB meaning "small or medium-sized business"—often involves navigating an ever-evolving landscape on a lean budget. Whether you've got a dedicated marketing expert on your team or you're a one-person powerhouse, it's important to squeeze the most out of your campaigns and connect with your target audiences.

This guide runs through the basics of what you need to know about SMB advertising and marketing. We'll also share a few SMB digital marketing tactics to help you start spreading the word about your product, service, or subscription.

Thinking big as a small business: How to approach SMB marketing

SMB marketing involves a dash of ingenuity. You're trying to compete with bigger brands and stand out in a crowded marketplace—with limited funds. But effective SMB marketing isn't about how deep your pockets are—it's about the imaginative use of your resources.

This means thinking outside of the box with your efforts. Beyond the things you know you need to do—like leveraging social media and crafting engaging content—you may also want to consider a multifaceted or omnichannel approach.

A few options include experiential marketing activations at brick-and-mortar store locations, strategic partnerships or co-branded collaborations online, guerilla marketing tactics that raise awareness about your company, or localized influencer campaigns that speak to young and engaged potential customers. Newer advertising formats like digital audio ads may also play a role in your wider SMB marketing strategy.

By carefully identifying the most appropriate channels and optimizing marketing spend, SMBs can begin to amplify reach, boost brand visibility, and even drive conversions.

Marketing for SMBs vs. mid-market and enterprise businesses

A multinational dairy brand likely has a much bigger marketing budget than a local chain of froyo shops. But another key difference between SMBs and large companies comes down to core and target audiences. While large enterprises are often trying to connect with a wide segment of the population across larger—and more expensive—channels, as an SMB, you can use your smaller size to your advantage.

For example, reaching a narrow audience through geotargeted digital audio campaigns may be more affordable—and ultimately, more effective—than casting a wide net of TV commercials, magazine spreads, and billboard ads.

6 SMB digital marketing tips and tricks

Ready to dive headfirst into marketing your small or medium-sized business? Get started with these strategies.

1. Identify your goals and objectives. When you set goals, think beyond simply "attracting new customers." Are you striving to increase conversions from mobile? Do you want to boost traffic to your SMB site? Or do you hope to get more people to sign up for your email newsletter? By setting SMART (specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-bound) goals, you'll be better equipped to track your progress and meet your SMB advertising objectives.

2. Go where your customers go. You don't need to be everywhere all at once—but you do need to be where your customers are. Prioritize social media networks and marketing channels based on what you know about your target audience. Maybe they live on LinkedIn or spend their leisure time listening to podcasts on Spotify.

3. Explore multiple channels and advertising formats. Tailoring your efforts to the right channels will help you put your budget—and your time—to good use. Digital audio ads, for instance, can help you reach audiences in screenless moments—like when they're engaged with their favorite playlists or podcasts.

4. Focus on SEO. Search engine optimization (SEO) can help more people find your business. Effective SEO requires analyzing the search terms that drive the most traffic to your website and identifying additional terms to weave into your content. Keyword research may also uncover keywords or phrases you can use to structure your audio ad script.

5. Leverage your email list. If you have a list of customers who have opted in for email marketing, don't let it collect dust. Use your favorite email marketing platform to create campaigns that promote specific products, get the word out about offers and promotions, and share news with your customers.

You can also take your email marketing to the next level by experimenting with A/B testing: Try out different subject lines, designs, and timing to gauge which emails result in the highest open or click-through rates. Use those findings to optimize future campaigns.

6. Give your customer service a human touch. These days, good customer service can double as a public relations play. Respond promptly to inquiries and complaints on social media, whether public comments or private DMs. If you choose to respond to negative reviews on sites where you sell or promote your product, do so with grace and compassion—prospective customers will notice if your approach is measured or combative.

SMB marketing on Spotify

Advertising on Spotify isn't just for big brands—SMBs can create self-serve campaigns even on a shoestring budget. Robust targeting and reporting capabilities make it easy to start reaching your target audiences as they listen to their favorite music and podcasts on Spotify.

Get started today with Spotify Ad Studio, our self-serve ads manager.