My five 1%ers you can change today to make a huge difference in your marketing

Are you spending time, money and energy on your marketing but still wondering why it is not generating the leads or momentum you expected?

Marketing Espresso is back for its third and final season of 2026, and I am kicking things off with some fairly big personal news: I am pregnant.

It is a big part of why the podcast has looked a little different this year. Recording, training and running strategy sessions while dealing with months of morning sickness was not exactly the breezy experience I might have imagined. Breaking the podcast into seasons gave me the space to continue sharing useful conversations without trying to maintain an unrealistic production schedule.

This will be the final Marketing Espresso season for 2026 while I take some time away to have a baby. It is not the final season ever, so everyone can calm down. Before I head off, I want to give you some practical ideas you can use to strengthen your marketing and prepare your business for 2027.

This episode was prompted by a client conversation about generating consistent cold leads. Two new leads a month might sound like a straightforward goal, but whether it is realistic depends on how the entire business is set up.

Can you switch on an advertising campaign and generate leads relatively quickly? Or are you operating in a relationship-driven industry where business development, referrals, trust and direct conversations do more of the sales heavy lifting?

Marketing does not operate separately from the rest of the business. Your positioning, brand, website, customer experience, sales process and ability to build relationships all influence what your marketing can achieve.

Instead of giving you another list of content ideas, I am sharing five marketing “one percenters”: relatively small areas that can create a noticeable shift when you approach them properly.

In this episode, I explore:

• Why your website remains an important digital storefront, even when most of your leads appear to come through social media, LinkedIn or referrals
• Why generic AI-generated branding, imagery and design could be making your business less memorable
• How improving your customer flow can increase repeat business, referrals and customer satisfaction
• Why every marketing channel needs a clearly understood purpose and realistic expectations
• How to use a 70/20/10 approach to plan your marketing while leaving room for experimentation

Your website does not need to be the most expensive or technically impressive site on the internet. It does need to be functional, easy to navigate, visually aligned with your brand and clear about what you do, who you support and what someone should do next.

The same principle applies to design. Canva and AI tools have made it easier than ever to create something quickly, but quick does not always mean distinctive. When every business uses the same templates, stock imagery and AI-generated visuals, everything begins to look remarkably similar.

Your brand should feel like your business. It should build recognition, trust and emotional connection rather than looking like something generated from the same prompt as everyone else.

The third one percenter is your customer flow. This is one of the areas businesses often fail to think of as marketing, despite the potential return.

What happens after someone enquires? What happens after they buy? How do you continue adding value? How do you encourage repeat business? When and how do you ask for referrals?

Before spending more externally, take a look at what is happening internally.

The fourth area is understanding what each marketing activity is designed to do. Organic social media may create visibility, trust and familiarity, but it cannot be expected to complete the entire sales process on its own.

Posting consistently is not the same as building relationships. Sending a weekly email is not the same as having a complete conversion strategy. Being active on LinkedIn is not the same as carrying out intentional outreach and engagement.

You need to understand where an activity sits within the customer journey, what kind of return it can reasonably produce and how much time it may take.

Finally, you need a marketing plan that combines consistency with flexibility.

One approach I use with a client is the 70/20/10 model:

• 70 per cent is the proven business-as-usual marketing we know we want to continue
• 20 per cent is activity we have already tested and now want to improve or expand
• 10 per cent is reserved for new ideas, experiments and calculated risks

A good marketing plan should include the campaigns, sales periods and activities you know matter to your business. It should also create room to test something new, form a hypothesis, review the result and decide whether it belongs in the long-term strategy.

You do not necessarily need to tackle all five areas at once.

Choose one. Give it proper time, energy and attention. Decide what success would look like, create an execution plan and follow it through.

The answer to a difficult market is not always to spend more or create more noise. Sometimes the smartest thing you can do is stop, assess what is already happening and make one meaningful improvement.

If you are ready to set your marketing up properly for 2027, reach out and let me know. I will be returning to strategy sessions from mid-November.

Follow Marketing Espresso so you do not miss the rest of this final season for 2026, and share this episode with another business owner who feels like their marketing is stuck.

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If you're ready to work together, I'm ready to work with you and your team.

How to work with me:
1. Marketing foundations and strategy consultation
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3. Book me as a speaker or advisor for your organisation
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This podcast has been produced and edited by Snappystreet Creative