As business owner or manager, there is no shortage of demands on your time, focus, and energy. This is the reason so many small businesses struggle with marketing. It takes time, energy, and (sometimes) money.?

And you know, these are all resources that small businesses tend to be short on.?

Does this make marketing your business impossible??

Far from it.?

But to be successful in marketing your business, you have to use your resources wisely.?

One resource that many business owners and managers overlook when promoting their business??

Their team.?

We get it (believe us)! Many small businesses cannot afford a full-fledged marketing department entirely dedicated to promoting their business.?

But you still have a team that can help you in your marketing efforts.?

Let?s look at how you can cultivate a culture of teamwork that can help you find success in marketing your business.?

Get Input

Getting your employees to buy into your marketing efforts is a key to success. Without your staff, you won?t have much of a chance to reach your goals.?

A great way to get your employees involved is to ask for their input. Ask them about the goals you are setting, or what they think of designs, or marketing copy. Ask them information about your target audience or what they think your unique value proposition is. Ask them how they envision your organization helping the customers you serve.?

Not only will you involve your team in the process of marketing your business, you will also ensure that you have a shared vision.?

And if you are able to use a team member?s input in your marketing efforts, recognize them somehow.?

Share Your Goals

Once your marketing and organizational goals are set, make sure to share them with your staff.

Your organizational goals let them know what you are trying to accomplish, while your marketing goals let them know how you plan on meeting those larger goals.?

You will have an easier time increasing buy-in if your team understands the goals they are trying to meet, how you plan on getting there, and how you need their help and unique contributions. If possible, narrow the specific goals that each person or department has an impact on and what that impact might be. This will help them further understand how vital they are to success.?

Clearly Define Roles

Nothing slows the process down more than undefined roles. If you or your team are unclear as to who has to do what and when it should be completed, you?ll only get chaos. Make the process easy by defining everyone?s roles, including yourself.?

Note: this does not mean labeling the role. While that might have some importance depending on your business, the key to this part of the process is to define exactly what each team member is responsible for and when their tasks should be done.?

There are many types of software, tools, or systems you can use to help you keep track of what tasks need to be done, by who, and by when.?

Celebrate Your Successes

Marketing can be a long and intense process, especially if you are just starting out. We do not say this to discourage you from getting started. We only point it out to highlight the importance of building momentum and morale early on.?

There is power in celebrating small victories. As you begin to promote your business, make sure to celebrate the little victories, such as setting up all your social media channels, or reaching 100 email subscribers, or getting the first lead from a landing page.?

These wins will help build your team?s confidence as well as yours.?

Learn from Your Failures

On the flip side, do not be afraid to learn from your failures. Remember: each failure or mistake is an opportunity to get better.?

For example, last year Beacon Marketing spent several months developing an online marketing guide. We spent so much time making sure the information was good that we didn?t do a good enough job of building interest along the way. When it came time to release the product, we did not have the necessary audience to make it a success.?

Now, as we develop new products or services, we make sure to think about how we can build interest as we go. So much of finding success in marketing is learning from experience.?

Be Honest and Communicate

You may have noticed a couple of themes in this post: honesty and communication. Communicating your goals and detailing everyone?s roles helps you ensure that everyone is on the same page and working together.?

Being honest about successes and failures helps your team know how they are performing and how they can improve. Honesty and communication may be the most important aspect to getting your employees to buy in to your marketing efforts.?

There is so much that goes into successfully marketing your business, and no one person can do everything by themselves. (Especially if you are the business owner or manager with a litany of other responsibilities)?

But even with a small team, success is in reach if you are able to cultivate a culture of teamwork.