Get Started with Marketing for Small Business
Learning Objectives
After completing this unit, you’ll be able to:
- Understand the importance of marketing for small businesses.
- Identify key differences between SMB and enterprise marketing.
- Explore how Starter Suite supports your marketing efforts from day one.
What Is Marketing for Small Businesses?
Marketing for small and medium businesses (SMBs) is about building awareness, attracting customers, and keeping them engaged without a large budget. Whether launching your first campaign or promoting a sale, marketing helps your business grow.
Marketing for SMBs is more than just sending emails or posting on social media. It’s about reaching the right customers with the right message, and using the right tools at the right time. You need marketing tools for audience segmentation, campaign automation, performance tracking, and relationship building across channels.
The best marketing combines personalization with consistency. Modern tools like email automation, social media management, and analytics dashboards work together to create experiences that feel personal while running efficiently.
Good marketing doesn’t just bring customers in. It keeps them coming back—and that’s why it’s so important for SMBs like yours.
SMB Marketing Is Different from Enterprise Marketing
Enterprises have big budgets and large teams. Small businesses are usually working with tighter budgets and leaner teams—sometimes a team of one.
That means your approach to marketing needs to be different. It should be easy to manage, flexible enough to grow with your business, and focused on building real relationships, not just volume.
SMBs also benefit from tools that help simplify—not add complexity. You need to launch quickly, personalize messaging, and stay consistent—without needing a dedicated marketing team.
Why Marketing Matters for Small Businesses
For small businesses, marketing is the center of growth. Prospects can’t buy from you if they don’t know you exist. Whether you’re running a bakery, a consulting service, or an online store for skincare, marketing helps you build visibility in a crowded market. Good marketing (with the right tools) establishes trust with customers, generates quality leads, and turns casual browsers into loyal buyers.
The Salesforce Starter Suite has the marketing tools that bring this all together. It all starts with a customer relationship management (CRM) tool.
How Starter Suite Helps
Starter Suite offers marketing tools built directly into your CRM so you can grow your business without switching between multiple applications or juggling manual spreadsheets.
A CRM built for marketing lets you create and send personalized email campaigns while keeping track of every customer interaction in one place. You can set up automated campaigns that follow up with leads based on their actions using Flow. Ready-made templates make launching new campaigns quick and easy. Real-time performance data gives you the insights you need to make smarter marketing decisions.
Resources
- Website: Salesforce for Small Business
- Trailhead: Salesforce Starter Suite and Pro Suite
- Trailhead: Salesforce for Small Business
- Trailhead: Email Marketing with Salesforce Starter, Pro, and Marketing Cloud
- Salesforce Blog: AI for Small Business (Tools and Best Practices)
- Video: How to Find More Leads & Win More Deals with Salesforce Starter Suite