Owner-operated businesses may not have marketing budgets of bigger brands, but that certainly doesn’t mean they can’t compete, the Inc.com article “Why Small Businesses Have a Natural Marketing Advantage” explains.

“You are naturally, unbelievably close to your customers,” Gail Goodman, CEO of marketing firm Constant Contact, told her audience at a recent National Small Business Week event. “You don’t need focus groups and national research, you talk to them every day. That is easy to translate into revenue growth and more business.”

Goodman went on to detail these specific advantages that smaller businesses hold:

Ability to create a meaningful experience. The smaller the business, the more flexible and the easier to adapt to each customer to provide a unique ‘wow’ experience. “The sad truth is that the customer experience bar is low and small businesses can easily rise above that without it being expensive,” Goodman said. “It just needs to be real. It’s all about bringing a smile to the face of your customer.”

Everyone knows your name. As well as getting to know customers personally, small business owners know the names of their neighbors, community members, and fellow business owners. This provides unique opportunities for cheap cross marketing and promotion through community events. Get involved with the chamber of commerce, and become a staple in your community.

You know your market. You don’t need focus groups and market analysis to tell you how to promote your business…you already know the market like the back of your hand. That doesn’t mean you don’t need to get information from your customers, but you can do it in a cheap and natural way.

The view of the customer experience. You have a first-hand view of what’s going on in your business and how clients are responding to it. “You don’t need a secret shopper–or undercover CEO–to understand what’s happening today in your business, what’s delighting your customers, where are the challenges, where the opportunities are to create that great experience. And it’s these real relationships that make easier marketing,” Goodman said.

Click here to read the Inc.com article, including specific strategies for leveraging these advantages.