Some people will tell you that without a marketing plan, you can’t succeed.  But there are thousands of small businesses who never did any kind of marketing and instead just relied on word-of-mouth, and have been around for decades.  What’s the answer?

As a small business owner, do you have a very clearly defined marketing strategy, or do you find yourself relying on word-of-mouth?  Do you try a certain tactic, like email marketing, direct mail, or even yellow page ads, then get frustrated and move on to the next latest and greatest thing like social media?  The truth is a lot of small businesses take this “dart board” approach, but oftentimes fail in their efforts.

Is a marketing strategy something that you should have? Probably. Is it something that should scare you a little bit, make you think outside the box, and stretch your limits? It depends on who you ask.  As John Jantsch from Duct Tape Marketing argued earlier this week, having a marketing strategy doesn’t have to be truly scary, but it should push you to ask questions every small business should know the answer to, including “Who’s our ideal customer?”

Is your small business marketing strategy paying off, and do you even have one? Is the “dart board” approach working for you?  What do you think about John’s approach? Share your thoughts about this topic in the comments section.