FAQs

Marketing activities but no growth? Here’s what’s holding your business back

If your business is doing over £1m in revenue and you're investing time, money, or energy into marketing… but not seeing the growth you'd expect, you're not alone.

We talk to founders and CEOs every week who say the same thing:

“We’re doing all the right things… but nothing’s really moving.”

It’s frustrating. You’re posting on social. You’ve tried some ads. You might’ve done trade shows or applied for industry awards. But leads aren’t increasing, brand awareness feels static, and the growth just isn’t happening.

So what’s really going on?

1. The trap of "random acts of marketing"

Most companies at this stage get stuck in tactics mode.

They’re doing something every week: a LinkedIn post here, a webinar there, a few Google Ads (which probably didn’t work), or sponsoring a trade show.

But there’s no strategy behind it.

No clear plan. No consistent messaging. No alignment with what customers actually need. Just motion. Activity. Busyness.

And that’s the trap: doing lots of stuff without it stacking up to real results.

2. What usually goes wrong

Here are the common issues we see with businesses between £1m and £5m:

No strategy. Everything’s reactive. There’s no roadmap that links tactics to business goals.
The CEO is driving marketing with gut feel. They're lobbing tasks at the team based on what sounds good, not what moves the needle.
Sales and marketing aren't aligned. They aren’t talking about customer pain points or journey stages.
The website isn’t converting. Even if you get traffic, your message doesn’t connect.
Inconsistent effort. Campaigns start with good intentions, then fizzle.
Trying to sell too early. Pushing the product before trust is built.

And here’s a big one:

Without a clear audience, tone of voice, or plan, social content doesn’t build the brand or bring in leads. It just fills the feed.

3. What’s really missing: strategy + leadership

The root problem isn’t effort. It’s leadership.

Most businesses in this range don’t have someone owning the strategy and being accountable for results. Marketing becomes a task list, not a growth function.

That’s why so many teams feel overwhelmed, under-resourced, and stuck.

4. How we help fix it

When we start working with a client, we don’t dive into tactics.

We start with strategy.

We clarify their goals and target audience
We define what their customers actually care about
We shape the brand’s positioning, messaging, and tone of voice
We build a plan that includes the right mix of channels (organic, paid, outbound)
We measure what matters, and drop what doesn’t

We call this our VALUE builder method — and it’s the system behind our most successful clients.

And the moment everything changes? It’s usually when they get their first lead that didn’t come from the founder’s network.

That’s when they see it:

“Okay. Marketing is finally working.”

What to do next

If your marketing feels busy but not effective, it might be time to stop and zoom out.

Start with strategy. Get aligned. Measure the right things.

And if you want help getting that clarity, let’s talk.

We’ll help you figure out where you’re stuck — and what to do about it.