The Problem With Inconsistent Marketing & No Strategy

With limited resources and a need to make an impact, many small business owners can easily get stuck in a cycle of seeking novel solutions. With so much information out there, it seems like a short cut. Emails about an email marketing fix and the latest social media strategy videos end up leading any marketing activity.

Each piece of advice might be sound on its own, but without a cohesive strategy tying it all together, you’re not building towards anything meaningful. You’re just busy.

The result? Marketing that feels exhausting, delivers inconsistent results, and leaves you wondering why you’re bothering at all.

Then there’s the budget question. Big agencies and expensive advertising campaigns simply aren’t realistic when you’re watching every penny. And even if you had the money, who has time to manage all that?

As a result, many small business owners feel stuck. You know you need to market your business to bring in customers, but the marketing agency route doesn’t fit your reality. You need ideas that are easy to implement and that work around your schedule.

What Is A Marketing Strategy?

A marketing strategy isn’t a complicated corporate document that only big businesses need. At its heart, it’s simply a plan that answers three questions:

1. Who are you trying to reach?
2. What makes you different?
3. How will you consistently communicate that difference?

That’s it. No jargon, no complexity. Just clarity about where you’re going and how you’ll get there.

Think of it like this: if your marketing activities are individual journeys, your strategy is the map. Without it, you might still reach some destinations, but you’ll waste a lot of time driving in circles.

Why Small Businesses Actually Need Strategy More

There’s a common misconception that marketing strategy is only for businesses with dedicated marketing teams and substantial budgets. In reality, the opposite is true.

When you have limited time and money, you cannot afford to waste either. Every hour you spend on marketing needs to count. Every pound you invest needs to work hard for you.

A clear strategy helps you:

Focus your limited resources – Instead of trying to be everywhere, you can concentrate on the channels where your ideal customers actually spend their time.

Create consistency – Your audience needs to see and hear from you multiple times before they’ll trust you enough to buy. A strategy ensures your messaging is consistent, even when you’re juggling everything else.

Make faster decisions – Should you invest in that paid advertising opportunity? Launch a podcast? Attend that trade show? With a strategy, these decisions become much clearer because you know what aligns with your goals and what doesn’t.

Measure what matters – When you know what you’re trying to achieve, you can track whether it’s working and adjust accordingly. No more guessing or relying on vanity metrics that don’t translate to actual business growth.

The Real Cost of Not Having a Strategy

This is what happens without a marketing strategy:

You spend money on marketing activities that don’t connect to each other or support your business goals. You feel constantly behind, reacting to whatever marketing trend or advice crossed your desk most recently. Your messaging shifts depending on your mood or what you’ve just read, leaving customers confused about what you actually do.

Your competitors (even smaller ones with tighter budgets) start to pull ahead because they’re consistent and focused whilst you’re scattered and exhausted.

Perhaps most frustratingly, you work incredibly hard on your marketing but struggle to see meaningful results, which makes it tempting to either give up or throw more time and money at the problem.

It doesn’t have to be complicated

The good news is that creating a marketing strategy doesn’t have to require a consultant, a massive budget, or weeks of your time. It requires clarity, honesty about your business, and a willingness to be consistent.

Start with the basics: understand who your ideal customer is, what problem you solve for them, and where you can reach them most effectively. Build from there, testing and refining as you go.

Your marketing strategy should evolve as your business grows, but having that foundation, that map, makes everything else easier. Your social media posts will have purpose. Your emails will build on each other. Your networking conversations will be more focused and effective.

Before you start your marketing strategy and plan…you need to audit

It can seem overwhelming but the place to start is by reviewing where you are now. That might seem obvious but all-too-often it is the stage most people skip in a desire to get their plan done quickly and get going. However, if you do this, you’re working on assumptions and not data and that could change a lot. You need to do an audit of your marketing and the wider market before you start.

We’ve put together a free marketing audit guide to help you collect the information you need to inform and shape your marketing strategy and plan. That’s it, that’s where you start and then you can start your strategy.

A simple, actionable plan is still realistic for a time-poor business owner. You’re already doing the marketing, you might as well make it count.

Get a free marketing audit guide

A marketing audit is a vital part of your marketing strategy which is why consultants will charge you a reasonable amount for it. I know this, as I do these for clients on a regular basis. This guide means you get the framework without having to pay for my time to deliver it.

The marketing audit guide is normally £19.95 but until the 31st January 2026, you can download it for free.

By following this framework, you’ll pull together the information you need to shape an effective marketing strategy and plan. Taking the time to do this will save you time in the long run as you have a thorough picture of your market, channels and competitors and this will lead your strategy and plan. By the end, you’ll have the information you need to create a simple, actionable plan that will be your satnav for the year.

You’re already doing the marketing, you might as well make it count.