Six ways to do less and get more from your marketing in 2026

The fastest way to do less is to stop doing what doesn’t work.

But many business owners don’t actually know what working means — not clearly or concretely. So they just keep on going, hoping something sticks.

An audit gives you something better than motivation: evidence.

Looking at lead sources, website traffic, email engagement, inquiries and past sales shows you where momentum already exists — and where effort is being spent out of habit rather than impact.

This is the first step in what I call just enough marketing:

Keeping what’s effective, adjusting what’s unclear and letting go of what’s draining your time and energy. goes here

Your business model — what you sell and how it’s delivered — should dictate how much marketing you do and what kind.

A service-based business built on relationships and referrals does not need the same strategy as an e-commerce brand built on volume.

And yet, I often see service providers pouring energy into high-volume tactics that don’t match how their clients actually find them.

When I first worked with Emily, she was everywhere: Instagram stories, reels, grid posts. Long-form video. A newsletter she diligently sent every week.

But when we audited her marketing and mapped how she got her last three clients, something became clear:

None of them came from Instagram.
None of them were even on her email list.

Her clients found her through conversations, recommendations and connections.

Once we aligned her marketing with her actual business model, she stopped trying to keep up with content cycles — and started focusing on thought leadership and relationship building instead.

The results: less output. More relevance. And increased revenue (like double her annual revenue). 

A marketing plan doesn’t box you in — it gives your effort somewhere to go.

Without a plan, marketing becomes a collection of disconnected actions. With one, every action has a purpose. Instead of constantly having to think up what to do next, you can put that energy (and time) towards implementation. 

Inside the Just Enough Marketing framework, I work with four layers of the funnel:

🧲 Attraction — being visible to the right people
🔗 Connection — building trust
💰 Conversion — inviting sales
💖 Delight — repeat business and referrals

A plan helps you see how these layers connect — so you’re not accidentally creating dead ends.

If someone hears you on a podcast, what happens next?
If they join your list, where are you guiding them?
If they enjoy your content, how do they actually work with you?

The goal isn’t more tactics. It’s clear pathways.

If you’re making sales — but they feel inconsistent — that’s not failure.

It’s a signal.

Something is working. There’s just a gap in your approach or a leak somewhere in the funnel. 

Maybe people are opening your emails, but you’re not consistently building your list.
Maybe you’re getting in front of new audiences, but you’re not giving them somewhere to go next.
Maybe you’re not planning for proactive sales campaigns. 

Before you throw everything in the bin and start building a brand new strategy, look for the leak.

Often, small adjustments — clearer calls to action, better sequencing or even one or two more specific tactics — create more stability than an entirely new strategy ever could.

Market research isn’t a one-time task. It’s an ongoing conversation.

Talking – and listening! – to your customers helps you understand:

How they make decisions

What almost stopped them from buying

What actually mattered once they did

Most importantly, it shows you how they talk about their problems, needs and desires.

When marketing reflects your customers’ own language, something subtle happens: they feel recognized.

That recognition builds resonance and trust — and trust is what makes sales feel natural rather than forced.

I’m going to say this with love: You probably don’t need a new freebie.

If you’ve been in business for a while, you already have insight, frameworks, tools and stories worth revisiting.

What I see most often with creative business owners isn’t a lack of material — it’s hesitation. Waiting to make something new before taking action.

Reusing what you already have is not laziness.
It’s discernment.

It’s an exercise in enoughness.