For many small business owners, marketing can be a path to madness. Not only do they lack the skills to market effectively, but there are only so many hours in a day. Keeping up with marketing campaigns can be a full-time job all its own. However, effective marketing is the best way for a small business to draw the customers it needs to grow. This creates a space for a partner to help small business owners manage their marketing needs, according to Terry Hicks, chief product officer at Infusion Software Inc.

To shed some light on marketing for small business, John Walls (@JohnWalls21) and Jeff Frick (@JeffFrick), co-hosts of theCUBE*, from the SiliconANGLE Media team, spoke to Hicks during the QuickBooks Connect conference in San Jose, CA.

Managing small business relationships

What does marketing mean for small business owners? Hicks described what the work Infusion Software does, including customer relationship management, marketing and building engagement. He mentioned that the company can reduce risk and empower customers through the use of custom tools and marketing automation.

Hicks explained that Infusion Software packages its products to meet a range of customer needs depending on how the client goes to market. Businesses can also get additional functionality to meet their specific needs. Prices based on size and complexity allow companies to find the solution that’s right for their budget.

Planning for the right marketing tools

Infusion Software designs its products for where the customer is. Hicks pointed out that small businesses are not marketing experts, and they’re starved for time. They want smarter tools to help solve their problems. He stated that Infusion Software needs to design to remove the complexity of marketing.

Customers tend to start with a simple plan. Hicks spoke about how they help the customer lay out how to interact with their own customers, and how to follow up with with software automation. He felt it was inspiring to see this vision of the future of automation built around natural language and helping to solve problems.

Watch the complete video interview below, and be sure to check out more of SiliconANGLE and theCUBE’s coverage of QuickBooks Connect.

*Disclosure: Intuit and other companies sponsor some Quickbooks Connect segments on SiliconANGLE Media’s theCUBE. Neither Intuit nor other sponsors have editorial control over content on theCUBE or SiliconANGLE.

Photo by SiliconANGLE