Why SMEs often waste money on marketing – and how you can finally gain clarity about your ROI
Many small and medium-sized businesses invest significant budgets in marketing – but the actual contribution to business success often remains unclear. This article shows why a lack of transparency regarding impact is costly, what mistakes you should avoid, and how an ROI-focused approach with the right setup provides clarity.
Brand strategy
Marketing & Sales
The problem: investments without impact monitoring
You launch campaigns, hire agencies, test new tools—but in the end, one key question often remains unanswered:
What does all this really do for my business?
Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in particular often lack a structured system for measuring marketing success. Activities are decided on gut feeling, budgets are reallocated annually – without any reliable insights into their actual impact. The result:
- Marketing becomes a cost factor instead of a growth driver
- Decision-makers lose confidence in their investments
- Strategies are optimized reactively instead of based on data
The real core of the problem: There is a lack of visibility into impact chains – in other words, how measures, target groups, and business success are really connected.