Good marketing isn’t about spending more. It’s about spending wisely, with clarity and intention.

If you’ve ever poured time, money, or energy into marketing and felt like you didn’t get much back, most small businesses struggle with this, not because they’re doing anything “wrong”. Marketing today competes with “attention fatigue”, all the noisy, overwhelming, and shiny objects competing for your audience’s attention.

The truth is simple:
You don’t have to waste money on marketing.
You just need a clear plan and the confidence to stick to it.

Before we get into it, I’m going to offer you a Be The Good Marketing Exclusive Pro-Tip to adopt for yourself:

You and your business are not for everyone, and everyone is not meant for you. And that is more than okay!
The Little Mermaid, Ariel sang about wanting to be where the people are, and you should want to be where the people are too.
BUT you should be where YOUR people are, you know your target audience, so be discerning in your strategy to reach them and your messaging for them when you get there.

Moving on… The following are the ways businesses overspend (or spend in the wrong places) and the surprisingly simple fix putting you back in control.

1. They Try Too Many Things at Once

When business feels slow or uncertain, the natural response is to try everything, all at one time :

run ads
hire freelancers
post more on social
redesign the website
launch a new offer
send emails
buy new tools

Spreading your energy across ten different strategies is a fast way to burn out AND a slow way to see results.

What to do instead:
Pick one or two strategies aligning with your audience and your goals.
Then do them consistently for 90 days. Anyone can do anything for a week, but three months/90 days is enough time to see measurable results if something is working or not.

Consistency always outperforms intensity.

2. Their Messaging Isn’t Clear Yet

It’s easy to think you need more traffic, more followers, or more content; but most of the time, you don’t need more — you need clearer.

If people don’t instantly understand:

what you offer
who you work with/serve
why you’re different
what they should do next

…then no amount of marketing spend will fix the problem.

Clear messaging is the answer as to how to make every marketing investment work harder.

Pro-Tip:
Rewrite your main headline to say exactly what you do in the simplest terms.

3. They Invest in Tactics Without a Strategy

Boosting posts. Running ads. Hiring a social media manager. Buying templates. Posting daily.

These can all be useful.
Without a strategy, they’re just random acts of marketing.

A strategy answers questions like:

What are we trying to achieve?
What’s the simplest path to get there?
What does success look like?
What will we stop doing?

If you know me personally, you’ve worked with me professionally, or you’ve hired me to work with you, there are two questions I ask for every project:
(1) What is the goal and (2) what does “success” look like.

The answer to “why” I hyper-focus on those two questions is simple: Once you know the “why,” the “how” becomes much easier.

4. They Don’t Track What’s Working

This one isn’t about spreadsheets — it’s about awareness.

When you know:

where your leads come from
which content resonates
which offers convert
which channels bring real customers

…you gain the power to shift resources towards what actually moves the needle.

Challenge:
For the next 30 days, ask every new customer how they found you.

You’ll be surprised how much clarity one question brings.

5. They Build Before They Test

Businesses spend money polishing assets before they know if the idea works.

This shows up as:

perfecting a website
branding before messaging
launching a big campaign before talking to customers
writing long email sequences before validating the offer

Testing early with small, scrappy versions is almost always the better move.

Think:
“Let’s test this first,”
instead of
“Let’s build this perfectly.”

How do to this:
A/B Testing is a great way to test your marketing. Try it on Facebook with your posts, the following are the screenshots via mobile app as to how to create A/B tests:

So… What’s the Simple Fix?

You fix wasted marketing spend by focusing on clarity, consistency, and simplicity:

✔️ Get clear on your message

What you do, who your target market is, and why it matters.

✔️ Pick one strategy to focus on for 90 days

Email, social, SEO, partnerships, choose what best aligns with your audience.

✔️ Track what’s working

Even loosely tracking provides you awareness. Awareness leads to smarter decisions.

✔️ Simplify everything

People buy when things feel simple. Make it easy to do business with you.

When your marketing is aligned with these principles, every dollar and every hour you invest starts working harder. Your dollars should be tied to a clear goal instead of scattered efforts.

Final Thoughts

You don’t need more tools, more content, or more spend.
You need a simple strategy and a partner who keeps you focused on what actually works.

If you’re tired of guessing or second-guessing your marketing decisions, I’m here to build a clear, confident plan that will respect your time, money, and mental energy. Let’s figure out what good we can create together.

Ways Most Small Businesses Waste Money on Marketing — And the Simple Fix