Lean Marketing: Save Money & Increase Performance
The theme of how to do more with less is always in vogue. Especially now, with the economy slowing, particularly for small businesses, and given helpful, assistant AI tools have entered the scene, (i.e., ChatGPT) managers/entrepreneurs are looking at their workforce differently.
The fact is, the small business economy is changing and trying to keep up with our corporate counterparts who are firing and hiring at maximum speed now. And if your company must follow that path to better performance, you’ll need to look at how to reorganize marketing to ensure you’re going to excel in the years ahead. Using AI, you might be able to go superlean.
Going lean makes perfect sense. The key: putting money where it’s going to create the sales results you need.
Powering Up Your Talent: Putting Money Where it’s Most Needed
While the AI tools are increasingly helpful, they aren’t a replacement for creative talent. In fact, they may not help mediocre talent at all. Because competitive, market-leading performance needs imagination, ingenuity, strategy, right-brained sophistication, and a feel for the customer’s personality. Yet talent needs resources, which in many companies is not available. Having great creative imagination or clever strategy without funds for instance, simply falls flat, so it’s a crippling factor. Today, money drives performance. The goal then, is to carve out that money in your current budget and reallocate it so it’s super productive.
And with growing performance and efficiency, your request for a larger budget might be approved.
“Lean marketing means putting every dollar into what powers strong marketing to bring in real customers — and cutting everything that burns time, payroll, or ad spend without delivering results.”
Take a Closer Look at AI Tools
AI tools are only our assistants and their contribution depends on the overall experience, imagination and specific talents of the user. Yet, I have to mention them, because they do give me immense potential for improved depth, accuracy and persuasive copy, image and video production, and they help erase any gaps in skills (and awareness). And the marketing automation features make my eyes open up wide.
Do they save time? Perhaps, when quick and dirty is the priority, but for most serious work, they provide more ideas, news, info, etc. to incorporate or take into account. Research shows AI increases work time by about 20%. Still great considering improved content quality and promotional performance.
The power of AI tools is in lean marketing: improving quality, workflow, and execution. Your talent needs these tools.
For your manufacturing, travel agency or real estate business, AI’s efficiency and comprehensiveness are a nice value add. Meaning, it isn’t just about taking work off your staff’s desks. It’s more about improving their work quality and creating workflows that make publishing, engaging, and selling easier (and more comfortable for customers). You’re doing more of what works, and less of what doesn’t. Are they wasting a lot of time?
How Slim is Too Slim?
How far might you go with hiring only one or a few people as your marketing team? With more funds for essential activities, software, and promotional support, they’re going to see their efforts come to fruition.
Going lean or efficient helps you grow salaries too and thus retain your superstar talent, as there is more budget for salaries and everything else they need to excel. If they’re highly valued, the role suits them and the pay is good, they’re likely going to commit to it. Add on equity, travel, flexibility, and it’s a value prop they won’t let go of.
Lean Growth Marketing Package — Sample Services & Deliverables
Let’s look at the general value proposition of a lean team:
- SEO & Search Visibility Development
I take full ownership of your organic traffic/lead growth — from keyword research and content optimization to technical improvements, promotions, and outreach strategy. The goal: make sure your ideal buyers consistently find you first and engage more deeply, and without paying so much on ppc advertising. - Content Strategy & Content Creation
Instead of random posting, I build content with a purpose — mapped to your customer journey. Blog posts, landing pages, guides, and media assets are crafted to not just attract traffic, but generate trust and qualified leads no matter what point they are in their purchase process. - Analytics & Personalization Strategy
I don’t just report numbers — I translate behavior into opportunity. We’ll use better tracking to see who’s engaging, what’s converting in your funnel, and use that data to tailor messaging and offers to different customer segments for higher response rates. We can try new software that offers improved personalization of messaging to make your offers the most significant ones they’ll experience. - Promotion & PPC Campaign Optimization
For paid channels, there is much waste, so I ensure no dollar is lost. I plan, launch, and optimize ads across Google, or Meta — using more relevant targeting, higher-performing creative, and conversion-optimized landing experiences. - Email Nurturing & List Activation
We create automated sequences that educate, warm up, and re-engage your audience. Instead of letting leads go cold, I keep them moving toward purchase through sequenced storytelling and valuable, nurturing follow-ups. - Social Media Growth & Engagement
Rather than posting for vanity, I focus on what connections are interested in, going into their favorite topics to build engagement. And through posting, I establish authority in your niche, grow relevant followers, and spark meaningful conversations that turn into leads or referrals. - Relevant Software
Using the latest AI or SaaS software solutions, we can automate campaigns for each platform with text, imagery and generate appropriate offers for more consistent and powerful branding on each platform. We can take your current marketing collateral and upgrade it with these new tools.
Which channels, content types and strategy will work best? Well, we have to conduct our research, create our first test runs, and let the analytics reports tell us which works, and then adjust as necessary.
Whatever it is you decide I should be focusing on for maximum performance, I will welcome it and dedicate myself to perfection. The most important objective is competence in your segment/market, knowing how to promote and sell your brand/products, and improving all marketing and sales metrics.
Whatever gaps or learning needs exist, I’ll dive into them to get your marketing and promotions working well.
If you’re managing a traditional hospitality or travel business, you’re likely in need of AI modernization. Why don’t we get started this week? Call me Gord at 416 998 6246 to begin creating that plan.
