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Marketing for SMEs

Customer acquisition doesn’t always have to be expensive. Clever, cost-effective marketing strategies are often just as successful.

Company Leadership and Strategy Growth Talk 06 Apr 2026
Romina Lukas-Luccarelli
Head of Project B2B Live Marketing UBS

Contents:

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The main points in a nutshell

Small- and medium-sized enterprises face the challenge of remaining visible despite limited resources. The following marketing activities can be particularly effective.

  • An up-to-date, professionally designed website is the basis for a compelling online presence.
  • Content and social media marketing enable cost-effective visibility and targeted communication with target groups.
  • Local activities such as events, sponsorship or partnerships strengthen regional presence and image.
  • Clear goals and systematic performance measurement help ensure that marketing resources are deployed in a targeted and efficient manner.

The importance of marketing for SMEs

Marketing is essential for young and established companies alike. The following applies universally: Marketing activities help companies become known among their target group, gain customers and grow. Without marketing, many potential customers would not find out about the company and its products and services. A targeted marketing strategy enables small companies to stand out and to showcase the unique features of their products or services, even in a market dominated by large corporations. 

Effective marketing enables SMEs both to win new customers and to retain existing ones and increase their loyalty to the company. This is far more cost-effective than acquiring new customers. If current offers do not reach existing customers, they may decide to switch to other providers.

For these reasons, every company should be clear about the importance of marketing to their long-term success on the market.

Budget planning for effective marketing

A well-thought-out marketing budget is an investment in success on the market, not just a cost center.

Marketing can be effective and achieve maximum impact, even with a small budget. Notable success can be achieved when companies prioritize promising marketing activities and scale them as needed. In addition, marketing activities can be made more efficient through targeted use of artificial intelligence (AI), allowing you to achieve greater reach and a personalized approach, even on a limited budget.

Ongoing performance measurement and cost control are key to ensuring that optimal results are achieved, even with limited resources.

Your goals in focus

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Online marketing measures

In the digital world, an online presence is essential. Many SMEs are not yet exploiting its full potential. Online marketing offers small businesses in particular the opportunity to be visible and to reach customers, who are often active on digital channels, directly.

Local marketing measures

In addition to online marketing measures, local campaigns are a good way for SMEs to increase their visibility on a limited budget.

Achieving marketing goals thanks to performance measurement

Successful marketing is based on clearly defined goals. Only once the specific goal has been defined can the appropriate strategy be chosen, the budget set and success measured. Continuous performance monitoring is not a luxury; it is crucial for deploying resources where they will be most effective. The key performance indicators used depend on the defined goals.

Criteria and key figures for performance measurement

Here is a selection of possible criteria and key figures for measuring the success of marketing measures:

  • Increase in sales: One method is to observe increases in sales, for example by comparing sales before and after a marketing campaign.
  • Return on Investment (ROI): ROI is one of the most important metrics for evaluating the financial profitability of marketing activities. It compares the profit or sales generated by the campaign with the costs of the marketing activity.
  • Lead generation: The number of generated leads is an important indicator of success for companies with business clients (B2B) or in the services sector. It makes sense to measure the number of qualified leads generated by the campaign. These are potential customers with a higher probability of purchasing.
  • Customer acquisition: How many new customers were acquired during or after a marketing campaign? The answer gives you an insight into how effective the campaign was in acquiring customers.
  • Website traffic: Measuring website traffic is essential for online marketing. Tools such as Google Analytics can help analyze the increase in visits and interactions, the sources of traffic and visitor behavior on the website.
  • Social media engagement: Engagement rates can be viewed for social media campaigns. These include likes, shares, comments and new followers. These metrics provide insight into the level of interaction and reach of the content.
  • Customer satisfaction and feedback: Collecting customer feedback through surveys or reviews provides information about customer satisfaction, which in turn is an important indicator of the success of marketing strategies.

Conclusion: Smart marketing for SMEs – effective without high costs

Marketing for small- and medium-sized businesses does not have to be expensive to be successful. Targeted strategies can effectively increase both visibility and customer loyalty.

  • An up-to-date website and a professional social media presence increase credibility and reach.
  • Content that appeals to the target audience attracts attention and promotes customer loyalty.
  • Events, sponsorship or partnerships raise awareness of the company in the region and improve its image.
  • Clear goals and systematic performance monitoring ensure that all the marketing budget invested delivers maximum benefit.

It is fundamentally important to remain open to change and actively listen to the target group. By taking feedback seriously and aligning theirmarketing activities accordingly, companies can respond flexibly to new trends and needs and remain successful in the long term.

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