5 Marketing Tips Every Business Owner Should Know to Stop Wasting Money
The expert panelists: Clive Enever | Katya Ellis | Linda Reed-Enever
Key Takeaways from the Women in Business Success Forum
If there was one clear message to come out of this year’s Women in Business Success Forum, it was this: many business owners are not short on effort - they are short on clarity.
Too often, marketing becomes a long list of things we feel we should be doing. Post more. Show up everywhere. Try the latest platform. Invest in a new website. Pay for ads. Launch another offer. Keep up with what everyone else seems to be doing.
But more marketing does not always mean better marketing.
The forum brought together practical insights from trusted experts from Enever Group and Strategy to Impact who understand the reality of running and growing a business. Across the discussion, one theme kept surfacing: if you want better results, you need to stop throwing time and money at scattered activity and start focusing on what actually works.
The Women in Business Success Forum sunset group shot
Here are five of the most useful takeaways from the evening.
1. Get clear before you get busy
One of the strongest messages shared on the night was the importance of clarity.
It sounds simple, but it is one of the biggest things business owners lose sight of when they are trying to grow. When your ideas are scattered, your message becomes diluted. When your message is unclear, people do not understand what you do, who you help, or why they should choose you.
Panelist, Clive Enever, emphasised that clarity helps you focus on the work that matters most. It helps you communicate your value more effectively. It also makes decision-making easier, because you stop chasing every opportunity, trend or suggestion that comes your way.
This was a key point raised during the forum discussion. The reminder was not to keep adding more and more, but to come back to your core direction, your strengths and the real purpose of your business.
For many business owners, this alone can save a huge amount of wasted spend. Because once you are clear on your message, audience and priorities, it becomes much easier to see what deserves your attention - and what does not.
2. Stop chasing vanity metrics
Another standout takeaway was the reminder that not all marketing results are obvious on the surface.
During the discussion, Linda Reed-Enever spoke about the importance of watching what she described as the “silent metric” - the people who save your content, remember what you said, mention that they saw your video, or quietly act on something you shared later on.
That is an important shift in thinking.
Many business owners waste time and energy worrying about likes, views and other public-facing numbers that can feel impressive but do not necessarily translate into trust, enquiries or sales. Meanwhile, the quieter indicators of influence are often the ones that matter most.
Someone may not comment on your post, but they may remember it.
They may not publicly engage with your content, but they may mention it in conversation later.
They may not look like a lead yet, but they may already be paying attention.
This does not mean metrics do not matter. It means we need to be smarter about which ones matter most.
If your marketing is only being judged by visible engagement, you may be undervaluing the content and messages that are actually building trust over time. It can be hard psychologically to put in all this effort into your content and for the response to feel like crickets and tumble weed, but posting does grow your audinece, that is a fact, as long as you are clear on the messages that resonate with your target audience and your contect creates value and feels authentic.
If 200 people see your reel, think of what a room full of 200 people looks like…
3. Not everything needs to happen at once
This was one of the most practical reminders of the night.
There are many things that can support business growth. Content, PR, partnerships, strategy, offers, social media, systems, networking, client experience - all of these can matter. But trying to do everything at once is often where waste begins.
At the forum, the message was clear: all marketing is a good idea, but not everything needs to be, or can be done now.
That is especially relevant for small business owners, solo operators and growing teams with limited time and budgets.
Marketing waste does not only happen when money is spent badly. It also happens when energy is spread too thin, when priorities are constantly shifting, and when nothing gets the consistency needed to actually work.
This is also where strategic frameworks become useful. Rather than asking, “What else should I be doing?” a better question is, “What is the next smartest thing to focus on?”
That thinking sits behind the Lowest Hanging Fruit approach, which are designed to help business owners identify the actions most likely to create momentum without unnecessary complexity. You can apply this way of thinking to your marketing immediately, download this worksheet provided to the attendees - download the Quick Marketing Audit template
4. Measure the actions that lead to results
One of the most useful business insights shared on the night was around measurement.
It is easy to say you want more sales, more leads or more growth. But those are outcomes. On their own, they do not tell you whether your business is doing the right things consistently enough to create those results.
A point raised during the panel was that many businesses focus too heavily on end results without paying enough attention to the activities that drive them. In other words, if you only measure the final number, you may not know whether you are truly on track until it is too late.
Better measurement means looking at the actions that support your goals:
Are you consistently reaching the right audience?
Are you having enough meaningful conversations?
Are people responding to the offer?
Are they taking the next step?
Are the touchpoints in your customer journey actually working?
This is where better strategy can prevent wasted spend. Because when you understand which activities drive results, you can stop investing blindly and start making better decisions based on what is actually happening in your business.
5. Build strong foundations before spending more
A final takeaway from the forum was that many business owners do not necessarily need more tools, more trends or more noise. They need stronger foundations.
That means understanding your audience.
Knowing what you want to be known for.
Having a clear message.
Choosing the right priorities.
Building consistent habits.
Using practical tools that support action rather than overwhelm.
The speakers also highlighted resources designed to help business owners strengthen these foundations, including books, planning tools and practical guides. Linda Reed-Enever’s My Book of PR Tips focuses on helping business owners better understand PR and media opportunities, while Clive Enever’s Business Wisdom: Strategies for Success and planning tools were positioned as practical resources to support stronger business decision-making and growth. Katya Ellis’ Lowest Hanging Fruit for Business - Marketing Guide helps business owners understand the essential principles of marketing and asks the questions you need to answer to ensure you are not wasting money on your marketing.
For those wanting to keep exploring the ideas raised at the event, the Strategy to Impact reading list also provides a broader starting point for continued learning and action.
Food for thought
The Women in Business Success Forum was not really about doing more for the sake of it.
It was about stepping back and asking better questions.
Where are you wasting effort?
What are you measuring?
What are you doing just because everyone else says you should?
Where do you need more clarity?
What would happen if you focused on the few things most likely to create real momentum?
That is where smarter marketing begins.
In summary, the 2026 forum had all the feels — warm, welcoming, inspiring and genuinely useful. With a mix of business owners, marketing managers and start-ups in the room, it created great conversation and plenty of opportunities for people to connect and share more about their businesses. A real highlight was hearing directly from individual businesses and having the speakers respond with practical insights to help strengthen their strategy. As one attendee said, “I didn’t want the night to end.” Click here for more highlights
Thanks to the businesses that made the event look amazing
Melbourne businesses Made to Graze, catered the evening with a too-pretty-to-eat grazing table. And, Habitat Aesthetic injected some lush pot plants to create a vibrant atmosphere and symbolise growth - a much more sustainable and wasteless approach to event styling. (Special shout out to Habitat Aesthetic’s founder Tilana, who is only 16! Young entrepreneurs are such an inspiration)
Continue the momentum
If the conversation sparked ideas for your business and you would like trusted support as you take the next step, you can explore the speaker resources, practical tools and recommended reading discussed throughout the evening. The reading list is a great place to start, along with the broader strategy and marketing guides created to help business owners focus on what will create the greatest impact.
