A business owner I was speaking with recently was expressing frustration at all of the things that are called “Marketing”. And it is true that everything from branding to lead generation to social media fall under the category of marketing. The important thing I think that many business people (and even many marketers) forget is to focus on the goal of marketing. No matter what type of marketing you are doing, it should be with one goal: grow your business. As long as you keep that in mind, you can assess whether any type of marketing is worth doing for your business. Most of the marketing work I do for clients is in lead generation. This has the closest tie to growing the business. Bringing in more leads and converting them to customers is one sure way to grow a business. However, it is not the only way that marketing helps grow a business. For example, when branding is applied appropriately, it can have a significant impact on growth. One client I am working is moving upmarket in his industry. He is pursuing and winning larger companies as clients. That is why we are upgrading his brand in terms of the website, logo, presentations and other marketing materials. The current design of his website and other marketing materials are sufficient to land small to midsize companies. The message really resonates with them. The problem is that when some people from larger companies look at his website, they do not think that his business is a serious enough player to consider. So, it is time to improve the branding in order to grow the business. Of course branding can also be a big waste of money, if you are doing it for the wrong reasons. That is true for any type of marketing. So be sure to measure the potential of any marketing initiatives you are considering. If it does not look likely to grow your business, then you should invest it somewhere else. If we can be of any assistance in helping you apply marketing to grow your business, please contact us.