What is it about marketing as a discipline that means business owners treat it so intuitively?
An excellent 2024 study by The Marketing Centre in drew attention to –
- 54% of businesses don’t have a documented business plan.
- 67% don’t have a marketing action plan.
Sounds alarming doesn’t it? Sounds like something needs to be done. But these businesses are trading, they don’t see it as alarming, they’re too busy working hard.
And this is where the problem lies. Marketing teams, often double hatting in the smaller businesses with other roles and responsibilities, are wasting time being busy.
If you’re sending out the same newsletter, posting half-hearted social content because you think you should, or sponsoring your grandkid’s football team and calling it marketing – you’re probably being a busy fool. Which is a shame. Because chances are you aren’t.
These are some of the tell-tale signs we’ve picked up on.
1. Doing what you’ve always done. Without understanding the impact
Many business owners that we work with talk to us about sending out monthly email newsletters. No one tracks open rates, click-throughs, let alone sales. The only measure of success is that the thing went out again.
Questioning the time spent on these repeatable tasks can feel awkward. Doing it will make you more effective.
2. Doing what you think you should do. Because it’s available and you like the channels
Have you seen the plumber’s vans driving around with Facebook, Instagram, X and LinkedIn logos? That never have any content posted to them. And no contact details.
Without a thorough audit of why you’re choosing to connect with potential customers on specific channels, chances are you’re wasting budget. A phone number might suffice.
3. Spending the budget on the owner’s grandkids football team. Because you like them.
Feels good as a business owner doesn’t it? To give something back to the community. It is good! Sponsoring your grandkid’s football squad is lovely. Just don’t call it marketing – unless you’ve got a squad of eight year olds ready to sign purchase orders.
At Rushmoor Growth Consultants we’ve seen what happens when SMEs trade chaos for a plan. It’s not about working harder – it’s about making every ounce of effort deliver something back to the business.
So, come and have a 45-minute free chat with us about
the steps that will accelerate your marketing growth.
