Feb 26 2008
Is the Chartered Institute of Marketing relevant for small businesses?
Once upon a time the Chartered Institute of Marketing was perceived by many as the stamping ground of big brands only, with equally big marketing budgets to spend on expensive and high profile marketing activities. But the times, they are a-changing. As the number of small and medium-sized businesses and their importance to the ecomony continues to grow, particularly in the South West of England, the CIM is also growing in a whole new direction.
The recently established Small Business Group within the CIM now has a clear remit to become the ‘marketing champion’ for small businesses across the United Kingdom. Through this group, the CIM and its members across the country are now focussing on establishing links with local Chambers of Commerce and other business support agencies and organisations to provide this burgeoning number of SME’s with access to the CIM’s expertise across a whole range of marketing issues.
A number of targetted workshops and seminars will enable small businesses to access this expertise first hand whilst a specially-created Marketing Toolkit provides in-depth information on a wide number of marketing topics all of which are totally focused on the needs of SMEs. These include advice on how to create a website, how to analyse business sales and how to grow through existing and new customers.
Not before time, it looks like marketing consultants - like TMS - who work with SMEs everyday will now have the backing and resources of the CIM to support them in providing high quality and effective marketing help and advice. Time will tell, of course, but feedback from the pilot programme in Northamptonshire has been very positive. It will be up to the CIM members to ensure that their advice is focussed, relevant and practical, but this could be the start of a beautiful friendship where all sides benefit. The CIM gains increased credibility and member numbers whilst small businesses become better equipped to take their products and services to market both profitably and effectively.
