…Traditional marketing frameworks fall short for SMEs navigating uncertainty and limited resources
Research Analysis | 14 January 2026
The traditional marketing playbook, with its emphasis on structured planning, predictable markets, and substantial budgets, may be holding back small businesses rather than helping them succeed, according to a comprehensive new study published in the Frontline Marketing, Management and Economics Journal.
The research, led by Hajirah Farooq and an international team of 13 scholars, challenges the conventional wisdom that small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) should simply adapt textbook marketing strategies designed for large corporations. Instead, they argue that entrepreneurial marketing represents a fundamentally different way of approaching customers and creating value.
The Problem with the Old Playbook
Most business school marketing curricula revolve around the “4Ps” framework: product, price, place, and promotion. Developed in the 1960s for mass-market corporations, this model assumes companies have time for extensive market research, stable customer bases, and substantial advertising budgets.
“Small firms rarely operate under such conditions,” the researchers explain. Instead, they face constant uncertainty, razor-thin margins, and rapidly shifting customer expectations. Their decisions often come before formal planning and rely more on intuitive judgement than structured analysis.
The disconnect has become even more apparent during recent economic turbulence. Whilst the OECD reports that SMEs face disproportionate challenges in volatile markets, those that embrace entrepreneurial marketing approaches often demonstrate remarkable resilience and adaptability.
What Makes Entrepreneurial Marketing Different
Rather than following rigid plans, entrepreneurial marketing emphasises four key characteristics that distinguish it from traditional approaches.
Opportunity recognition stands at the forefront. Successful small businesses actively hunt for emerging gaps and unmet needs, often before formal market structures develop. They create new markets rather than waiting for them to appear.
Resource leverage allows firms to compensate for limited budgets through creative problem-solving, partnerships, and networks. They transform constraints into advantages through what researchers call “bricolage,” making do with what they have.
Customer intimacy enables close, direct interaction with customers, allowing entrepreneurs to learn from the market in real time and adapt offerings quickly. This relationship-building creates value that formal market research cannot capture.
Adaptive experimentation replaces betting everything on long-term plans. Entrepreneurs test ideas through trial and error and make rapid adjustments based on feedback. Speed and responsiveness trump rigid planning.
Bridging Old and New
Importantly, the research does not advocate throwing out traditional frameworks entirely. Instead, it positions entrepreneurial marketing as a complementary layer that sits above tactical decisions.
“The 4Ps remain relevant because they offer a language for expressing decisions once an opportunity has been identified,” the authors note. “But they don’t explain how that opportunity recognition takes place or how small firms navigate uncertainty.”
Think of it this way: entrepreneurial marketing provides the strategic compass, whilst traditional marketing offers the tactical map. SMEs use the entrepreneurial approach to spot opportunities through informal networks, then apply traditional tools to structure their offerings once those opportunities are validated.
Digital Age Amplifies the Need
The digital transformation of markets has made entrepreneurial marketing even more critical. SMEs increasingly rely on social media platforms and digital tools to reach customers, build real-time interactions, and compete with larger firms, all on shoestring budgets.
Recent studies cited in the paper show that SMEs’ digital marketing capabilities directly enhance their competitiveness in post-pandemic recovery contexts. The combination of improvisation, experimentation, and platform leverage has become essential for survival.
Yet questions remain about whether these practices align with established frameworks and how they can be systematically taught to the next generation of entrepreneurs.
Practical Implications
For small business owners, the research offers clear guidance: stop trying to mimic corporate marketing departments. Instead, invest in building customer relationships, creating feedback mechanisms that enable real-time learning, and leveraging networks to compensate for financial constraints.
For policymakers, the implications are equally significant. Traditional support mechanisms often emphasise finance and operations whilst neglecting marketing capabilities. The authors call for targeted support for marketing experimentation, digital skill development, and network-building platforms.
“Policy interventions should recognise the iterative nature of entrepreneurial marketing,” the researchers write, “allowing for flexible resource use and staged development of marketing initiatives.”
Research Gaps Remain
Despite growing interest in entrepreneurial marketing over the past two decades, the field still faces conceptual and empirical gaps. The research team identifies several priorities for future study.
How do entrepreneurs balance intuition with data-informed judgement? Whilst entrepreneurial decision-making is often portrayed as purely instinctive, many successful entrepreneurs engage in strategic reflection. This interplay remains under-theorised.
How do resource constraints shape marketing differently across industries? Manufacturing, creative services, and health technology sectors likely require different approaches, but comparative research is limited.
How does technology change entrepreneurial marketing behaviours? The rise of AI tools, platform economies, and data analytics raises new questions about maintaining agility whilst scaling operations.
Most importantly, longitudinal studies are needed to capture how entrepreneurial marketing evolves as ventures mature. Current research relies heavily on snapshots that miss the dynamic learning process.
A Paradigm Shift
The research represents more than an academic exercise. It challenges fundamental assumptions about how marketing works in resource-constrained, uncertain environments, conditions that increasingly define modern business reality, not just for startups but for established companies facing disruption.
“Small firms continue to shape markets in ways that challenge established theory,” the authors conclude. “Their practices demand conceptual frameworks that reflect the fluidity, creativity, and relational orientation of entrepreneurial marketing.”
As markets become more volatile and business cycles compress, the lessons from small business marketing may prove increasingly relevant for organisations of all sizes. The question is whether business education, policy support, and corporate strategy will adapt accordingly.
Key Findings at a Glance
Traditional marketing frameworks assume stability and predictability that small businesses rarely experience. Entrepreneurial marketing emphasises opportunity recognition, resource leverage, customer intimacy, and experimentation. The approach complements rather than replaces traditional tools like the 4Ps. Digital transformation makes entrepreneurial marketing even more critical for SME competitiveness. Policy support should target marketing innovation, not just finance and operations.
About the Research
The study, titled “Entrepreneurial Marketing in Small and Medium Enterprises: A Conceptual Reappraisal of Theory, Practice, and the Boundaries of the 4Ps Framework,” was published in the Frontline Marketing, Management and Economics Journal, Volume 6, Issue 1, pages 13 to 22.
The research team included brains from Scholars School System (Leeds Trinity University Partnership), Global Banking School (Oxford Brookes University Partnership), Universidad Católica San Antonio de Murcia, and other institutions across the UK and Spain. The work was supported by PENKUP Research Institute in Birmingham, UK as part of the PENKUP Collaboration.
Check out the full research here:
