Small Business Entrepreneurship: Marketing a Business from edX

Marketing for small businesses and start-ups is essential. Do you have the know-how and tools to position your venture for growth? Rice University’s online business courses for entrepreneurs provide a convenient, yet interactive and hands-on, way to learn or brush up on practical entrepreneurship skills.

Taught by industry professionals from Rice Business, the #1-ranked Entrepreneurship Graduate Program in the U.S. (Princeton Review, Entrepreneur Magazine), learners will focus on core competencies like strategic thinking, audience analysis, engagement techniques, and practical marketing planning. Although 100% online, the course is hands-on and will enable you to develop marketing plans, customer journey maps, and even more tools to immediately implement as a busy entrepreneur or small business owner. Through a combination of engaging lectures, practical case studies, group discussions, interviews, and hands-on exercises, students will gain invaluable insights into the principles and best practices that define successful small business ventures.

Recommendation: To gain the foundations of your business venture, we recommend completing the first course in this series, Small Business Entrepreneurship - Starting a Business, before starting Marketing a Business.

What's inside

Learning objectives

You will be able to:
Develop a comprehensive business positioning statement that accurately reflects the brand identity and unique value proposition of their entrepreneurial venture.
Identify and analyze target market segments, utilizing demographic and psychographic data to effectively engage potential customers.
Create detailed customer journey maps that outline the touchpoints and experiences customers have with the business, optimizing these for greater satisfaction and retention.
Familiarize yourself with the legal and regulatory aspects of launching and operating a small business, including business structures, permits, licenses, and intellectual property protection.

Master the art of selling, customer acquisition, and retention strategies to ensure long-term business success.
Scaling and growth: explore techniques to scale and expand your business while maintaining its core values and objectives.
Utilize various marketing tools and techniques to design and implement engagement strategies that build strong, lasting relationships with customers.
Construct a robust marketing plan that includes goals, strategies, and metrics for success, ensuring alignment with overall business objectives and facilitating sustainable growth.

You will be able to:
Develop a comprehensive business positioning statement that accurately reflects the brand identity and unique value proposition of their entrepreneurial venture.
Identify and analyze target market segments, utilizing demographic and psychographic data to effectively engage potential customers.
Create detailed customer journey maps that outline the touchpoints and experiences customers have with the business, optimizing these for greater satisfaction and retention.
Familiarize yourself with the legal and regulatory aspects of launching and operating a small business, including business structures, permits, licenses, and intellectual property protection.
Master the art of selling, customer acquisition, and retention strategies to ensure long-term business success.
Scaling and growth: explore techniques to scale and expand your business while maintaining its core values and objectives.
Utilize various marketing tools and techniques to design and implement engagement strategies that build strong, lasting relationships with customers.
Construct a robust marketing plan that includes goals, strategies, and metrics for success, ensuring alignment with overall business objectives and facilitating sustainable growth.

Traffic lights

Read about what's good

what should give you pause

and possible dealbreakers

Taught by industry professionals from Rice Business, which holds a strong reputation for its entrepreneurship graduate program, providing learners with valuable insights

Develops skills in strategic thinking, audience analysis, and engagement techniques, which are essential for effective marketing planning and business growth

Enables learners to develop marketing plans and customer journey maps, providing practical tools for immediate implementation in their ventures

Explores techniques to scale and expand a business while maintaining its core values and objectives, which is crucial for sustainable growth

Recommends completing the first course in the series, Small Business Entrepreneurship - Starting a Business, before starting this one

Familiarizes learners with the legal and regulatory aspects of launching and operating a small business, including business structures and intellectual property protection

Reviews summary

Marketing fundamentals for startups

According to learners, this course provides a solid foundation in small business marketing, particularly suitable for beginners and those new to creating a marketing plan. Students found the content practical and the hands-on exercises and templates highly valuable for immediate application. While many appreciated the clear lectures and step-by-step guidance, some more experienced learners felt the content was basic and lacked depth in specific areas like digital marketing. Overall, recent reviews indicate a largely positive experience focused on actionable strategies for new ventures.

Instructor provides clear lectures.

"The instructor was clear and engaging."

"Lectures were easy to follow."

Hands-on exercises and templates help.

"The templates provided were super useful."

"The exercises were challenging but rewarding."

"Building my own marketing plan step-by-step was invaluable."

Excellent starting point for novices.

"Some parts felt a bit basic for me, as I already have some marketing experience. Great for beginners though."

"Perfect for beginners! Broke down marketing into manageable steps. The exercises were challenging but rewarding."

"Solid foundation course. Covered the basics well."

Provides actionable tools & strategies.

"I immediately used the customer journey mapping exercise for my bakery. ... Highly recommend for small business owners."

"Fantastic course! Covered all the essentials for getting my online store's marketing off the ground. The templates provided were super useful."

"Loved the focus on practical application. Building my own marketing plan step-by-step was invaluable. It felt very relevant to my startup needs."

Some older reviews noted outdated examples.

"Outdated content. Some examples felt old."

"Needs a refresh..."

Could use more specific digital content.

"The content was okay, but I expected more depth on digital marketing strategies like SEO or social media advertising."

"Needs a refresh, especially regarding current digital marketing trends."

May be basic for experienced learners.

"Some parts felt a bit basic for me, as I already have some marketing experience. Great for beginners though."

"Very generic information. Didn't provide much new insight for someone with prior business education. Felt like it skimmed the surface on many topics."

"Felt like it skimmed the surface on many topics."

Activities

Be better prepared before your course. Deepen your understanding during and after it. Supplement your coursework and achieve mastery of the topics covered in Small Business Entrepreneurship: Marketing a Business with these activities:

Review Marketing Fundamentals

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Reinforce your understanding of core marketing concepts to better grasp the nuances of small business marketing.

Browse courses on Marketing Fundamentals

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Review introductory marketing textbooks or online resources.
Summarize key marketing principles and frameworks.
Identify areas where your knowledge is weak.

Review 'Building a StoryBrand' by Donald Miller

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Learn how to craft a compelling brand story that resonates with your target audience.

View Building a StoryBrand 2.0: Clarify Your Message... on Amazon

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Read 'Building a StoryBrand' by Donald Miller.
Apply the StoryBrand framework to your own business.
Refine your brand message based on the framework.

Review 'This is Marketing' by Seth Godin

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Gain a deeper understanding of modern marketing principles and how to apply them to small businesses.

View This is Marketing on Amazon

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Read 'This is Marketing' by Seth Godin.
Identify key takeaways related to small business marketing.
Reflect on how these principles can be applied to your own venture.

Four other activities

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Develop a Customer Persona

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Solidify your understanding of target market analysis by creating a detailed customer persona for your business.

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Research your target market demographics and psychographics.
Create a fictional customer persona based on your research.
Outline their needs, motivations, and pain points.
Present your customer persona to peers for feedback.

Create a Customer Journey Map

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Deepen your understanding of customer experience by creating a customer journey map for your business.

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Identify the key stages of the customer journey.
Map out the touchpoints and interactions at each stage.
Identify pain points and opportunities for improvement.
Visualize the customer journey in a clear and concise map.

Build a Marketing Plan Outline

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Apply the course concepts by developing a comprehensive marketing plan outline for your small business.

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Define your business goals and objectives.
Identify your target market and competitive landscape.
Outline your marketing strategies and tactics.
Establish metrics for measuring success.

Mentor aspiring entrepreneurs

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Reinforce your understanding of marketing principles by mentoring aspiring entrepreneurs.

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Volunteer to mentor aspiring entrepreneurs.
Share your knowledge and experience.
Provide guidance and support.

Career center

Learners who complete Small Business Entrepreneurship: Marketing a Business will develop knowledge and skills that may be useful to these careers:

Small Business Owner

A small business owner manages all aspects of a business, from daily operations to long-term strategy. This course is designed to provide practical skills in marketing, especially relevant to new and growing businesses, making it ideal for those wishing to be a small business owner. An aspiring business owner will learn to develop marketing plans, customer journey maps, and strategic thinking. The course goes through how to analyze target markets, build a customer base, and handle business scaling, all of which are vital to success in this career.

See salaries and explore the career path for Small Business Owner

Entrepreneur

An entrepreneur is a person who takes on the risk of starting a new business. They are responsible for every aspect of a business, from developing ideas to managing growth. An aspiring entrepreneur ought to take this course as it provides a foundation in practical marketing skills. These include developing marketing plans, creating customer journey maps, and understanding business positioning statements. The course's instruction on engagement strategies will help an entrepreneur build customer relationships. Given that the course was created for entrepreneurs, it is a crucial first step to beginning a new venture.

See salaries and explore the career path for Entrepreneur

Marketing Manager

A marketing manager develops and oversees marketing campaigns to promote a company's products or services. Those in the role will also analyze market trends and consumer behavior to identify opportunities for growth. This course helps those who wish to become a marketing manager by providing instruction on developing marketing plans, building engagement strategies, and analyzing marketing segments. The course gives useful insight about marketing for small businesses specifically, and it provides hands-on experience, which is critical for excelling in the role. The course's focus on developing marketing plans and customer journey maps are highly relevant.

See salaries and explore the career path for Marketing Manager

Marketing Consultant

A marketing consultant advises businesses on marketing strategies. They analyze market trends, develop marketing plans, and guide clients on how to better reach their target audiences. This course helps build a foundation for a career as a marketing consultant by providing knowledge of how to develop marketing plans and customer journey maps, as well as understand customer engagement techniques. The course's focus on small businesses is very helpful for those wishing to consult in that area. The techniques for analyzing market segments and building brand identity are also highly relevant to the work of a marketing consultant.

See salaries and explore the career path for Marketing Consultant

Brand Manager

A brand manager is responsible for developing and maintaining a company's brand. This involves establishing brand identity, managing marketing campaigns, and ensuring consistency across all channels. This course will be highly useful for a brand manager as it helps build a foundation in developing a business positioning statement, as well as building engagement strategies and marketing plans. It also covers how to analyze target markets, which is essential in understanding how to build a brand relevant to its consumers. Brand managers, in particular, will find useful the course's instruction on building strategies that create lasting relationships with customers.

See salaries and explore the career path for Brand Manager

Business Development Manager

A business development manager focuses on growing a company by identifying new business opportunities and building strategic partnerships. This course helps those wishing to become a business development manager by providing a foundation in strategic thinking and customer acquisition. This role will require an understanding of marketing plans. The course's focus on small business marketing strategies will allow a business development manager to understand how to approach new ventures, as well as scale current ones. The course will help anyone seeking to become a business development manager build valuable skills.

See salaries and explore the career path for Business Development Manager

Sales Manager

A sales manager leads a sales team. Those in the role develop sales strategies and manage customer relationships. This course will be helpful to those who wish to become a sales manager, as it provides skills in customer acquisition, retention, and engagement. The course also allows sales managers to understand how to analyze customer journey maps, which promotes a deeper understanding of client needs. The course specifically covers using marketing tools to build lasting relationships with customers, which is critical in sales management. A sales manager can take this course to build skills that support their sales team.

See salaries and explore the career path for Sales Manager

Content Marketing Manager

A content marketing manager develops and oversees content strategies to attract and engage customers. This includes blog posts, social media content, and other marketing materials. This course will be particularly helpful to those who wish to be a content marketing manager as it shows how to create content plans, develop audience engagement techniques, and build an understanding of marketing strategy. A content marketing manager would greatly benefit from the course's instruction on creating detailed customer journey maps. This is a valuable skill for those who wish to create content that speaks to their audience.

See salaries and explore the career path for Content Marketing Manager

Digital Marketing Specialist

A digital marketing specialist develops and implements digital marketing campaigns. This includes managing social media, email marketing, and search engine optimization. This course may be useful for those who wish to enter this field, as it helps to develop a foundation in strategic thinking, audience analysis, and engagement techniques, all of which are relevant skills for a digital marketing specialist. The marketing plans discussed in this course will be useful in developing effective digital marketing strategies. A digital marketing specialist could take this course to build a more holistic understanding of marketing.

See salaries and explore the career path for Digital Marketing Specialist

Market Research Analyst

A market research analyst studies market conditions to examine potential sales of a product or service. They analyze data on consumer behavior to provide insight into the needs of customers. This course will be helpful to those interested in a career as a market research analyst because it provides a foundation in audience analysis and market segmentation. It also teaches how to create customer journey maps. These are all crucial skills in the field of market research. The course's focus on small businesses provides an angle for market analysis that some may find useful.

See salaries and explore the career path for Market Research Analyst

Social Media Manager

A social media manager is responsible for handling a company's social media presence. They create content, engage with followers, and analyze social media metrics. This course may be useful for those who seek to be a social media manager, as it covers audience analysis and engagement techniques. The course will help a social media manager build an understanding of how to develop a brand voice and reach particular target markets, as well as develop an overarching marketing plan. The course's discussion of social media's role in building marketing plans is a very important component.

See salaries and explore the career path for Social Media Manager

Customer Success Manager

A customer success manager works to ensure clients are satisfied with a company's service or product. They build relationships, ensure clients are onboarded properly, and act as a resource. This course will be helpful to those who wish to become a customer success manager as it gives a foundation in customer engagement, satisfaction, and retention strategies. The course's instruction on creating customer journey maps will also help a customer success manager understand client needs better. A customer success manager can use the course's principles to create stronger relationships with their clients.

See salaries and explore the career path for Customer Success Manager

Public Relations Specialist

A public relations specialist manages a company's public image. They develop communication strategies, write press releases, and handle media relations. This course may be useful for those seeking to be a public relations specialist, as it provides a foundation in how to build relationships with customers and create a brand identity. The course's treatment of audience engagement techniques will help a public relations specialist to develop more effective outreach strategies. The focus on marketing within small businesses will inform a public relations specialist's approach to communicating with external stakeholders.

See salaries and explore the career path for Public Relations Specialist

Product Manager

A product manager oversees the development and launch of a product. They define product strategy, analyze market trends, and work with engineering teams to bring a product to fruition. This course may be helpful to a product manager as they will gain an understanding of target markets, customer acquisition, and engagement strategies, which are all relevant to product development. The course's instruction on creating customer journey maps may inform a product manager's creation of products, as they will be able to map the customer's interaction with the product. In particular, the course's focus on the small business provides an interesting lens through which to approach new products.

See salaries and explore the career path for Product Manager

Business Analyst

A business analyst helps companies improve their processes and systems. They analyze business performance, identify areas for improvement, and help implement solutions. This course may be useful to those who wish to become a business analyst because they can apply marketing techniques, strategic thinking, and customer engagement practices to areas of the business where solutions are needed. The course's focus on marketing plans will help those who wish to be business analysts approach improvements with a strategic mindset. A business analyst may also apply marketing strategy to internal improvements.

See salaries and explore the career path for Business Analyst

Small Business Entrepreneurship

Marketing a Business

What's inside

Learning objectives

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Reviews summary

Marketing fundamentals for startups

Activities

Career center

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