In the decade (and more) I've spent working with growing businesses, there's perhaps no phrase I hear more often than "our budget is limited" or "we need marketing that doesn't cost an arm and a leg." These words have become almost ritualistic in initial conversations with potential clients.
Let me be direct: beginning your marketing search with budget constraints as your primary focus is fundamentally backwards.
Inverting The Equation
When small businesses approach marketing as a cost to minimise rather than an investment to optimise, they're setting themselves up for disappointment. Marketing isn't an expense like rent or utilities—it's an engine for growth.
Consider this perspective: Would you tell a financial advisor "I want investments that don't cost much" instead of "I need investments that generate a 10% annual return"? Of course not. Yet this is precisely how many approach marketing.
The Output-First Approach
Smart marketing decisions begin with clear commercial objectives: "We need to generate 50 qualified leads per month" or "We need to increase our conversion rate by 15%." With these targets in mind, the conversation shifts from "How little can we spend?" to "What resources do we need to achieve these results?"
This output-first thinking allows both business owners and marketing partners to work backward from commercial goals to determine appropriate investment levels.
Leveraging Digital Marketing's Greatest Strength: Measurability
One of the greatest advantages of digital marketing is its trackability. Unlike traditional marketing channels, digital platforms allow you to see precisely what revenue is attributed to specific campaigns, as well as the user interactions along the journey. This means you can identify, with remarkable precision, the returns on your investments.
This measurability isn't just a nice feature—it's transformative for how businesses should approach marketing budgets. When you can directly connect marketing activities to revenue generation, the conversation shifts from cost to value creation.
Understanding Your Commercial Fundamentals
An output-first approach must go beyond basic objectives to truly understand your commercial fundamentals. This means calculating, after all your costs and considering your Average Order Value (AOV), what a break-even Return on Ad Spend (ROAS) looks like for your business, and consequently, what ROAS threshold means you're generating actual profits.
With this commercial acumen, you can confidently discuss your needs with prospective agencies or experts, gauge how achievable your targets might be, and properly vet their proposed strategies to achieve these outcomes.
The True Cost of "Affordable" Marketing
When businesses prioritise finding the cheapest marketing option, they often end up paying far more in opportunity costs than they save in direct expenses.
I've witnessed countless businesses cycle through multiple "affordable" marketing providers, spending 18 months and tens of thousands of dollars with little to show for it. Had they invested appropriately from the beginning, they could have been enjoying substantial growth instead of starting over again.
Expertise Carries A Price Tag (For Good Reason)
Marketing professionals who consistently deliver profitable returns command premium rates because their work creates measurable value. The digital marketing landscape grows more complex daily, requiring specialised knowledge across numerous platforms and disciplines.
When you hire skilled marketers, you're not just paying for their time—you're paying for their accumulated expertise, strategic thinking, and ability to navigate an increasingly competitive digital landscape.
Breaking Free from the Budget Mindset
Arming yourself with solid commercial understanding gives you freedom to seek better marketing partners, save money in the long run, and start to drive your brand successfully forward. When you approach agencies with clarity about your commercial metrics, you immediately distinguish yourself as a sophisticated client worth prioritising.
Reframing The Conversation
Instead of beginning with "our budget is limited," try starting with:
"We need to grow revenue by X% this year and believe marketing can help us achieve this goal. We know our break-even ROAS is Y, and we're targeting a profitable ROAS of Z. What level of investment would be appropriate to reach these targets?"
This approach immediately elevates the conversation from cost-cutting to value creation, allowing your marketing partners to recommend solutions based on your business objectives rather than arbitrary budget constraints.
The most successful businesses I've worked with view marketing not as a cost center but as their primary growth lever—one worth investing in properly to achieve the returns they seek.
If you truly want marketing that drives business growth, be prepared to invest accordingly. The question isn't whether you can afford good marketing—it's whether you can afford to do without it.
You can learn more about this, access purpose built calculators, that take the hard work out to determine your metrics and more at The Empowerment Project. Find out more and when the next intakes are here.
