When will our marketing start working?

Is your marketing working now? If not, will it ever work? What do you mean by it working anyway?

These are very good questions, if I say so myself, perhaps the most fundamental questions people ask about marketing, especially when they're spending their own limited money on it! 

However, have you wondered when you started actually 'marketing' in the first place?

From Garage to Growth: How Small Businesses Evolve and When Marketing Truly Matters

Every business starts somewhere, an idea in a notebook, a concept sketched out at a kitchen table, or a product crafted in a garage. Over time, those first creative sparks often grow into thriving enterprises, shaped by persistence, problem-solving, and the willingness to keep building even when the blueprint isn’t clear.

Marketing can, and ideally should be, at the birth of any business. It isn't always as visible, some businesses grow organically at first before anyone feels the need to do 'marketing'. They've already found their market, or even their market has found them.

In the UK, there are now over 5.6 million small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), accounting for around 99% of all private sector businesses*. Many began with one person’s idea, tested through word of mouth long before a logo, website, or marketing plan ever existed.

Yet, most small business ideas at least stem from some sort of business plan with an idea of the market you wish to sell to. This initial plan, even in its vaguest form, will constitute a way of identifying who your market is and how you intend to reach them, communicating who you are and how your prospective customers will benefit from a relationship with you.

The Accidental Marketer

Imagine a maker creating handcrafted wooden carvings from a home workshop. At first, the work is a hobby, something shared with friends and family. As admiration grows, others start to take note, and the business grows gradually, organically.

Without realising it, that maker has already entered the world of marketing. Each happy customer tells another; every shared photo on Instagram spreads awareness. They may not call it “brand advocacy,” but that’s exactly what it is.

Word of mouth remains, and I believe will continue in perpetuity to be one of the most powerful forms of marketing. That's because it's built on emotion, trust, and authenticity. Many microbusinesses still rely on it as their primary driver of growth, and it's initiated by your customers, they are doing your marketing for you essentially, you're just providing an exceptional product or service. This doesn't mean this incredibly high value marketing isn't taking place, it is, but you're not necessarily monitoring it, controlling it, or amplifying it, but could you? 

When Marketing Becomes a Strategy

As a business evolves from a hobby to a full-time occupation, the need for structure becomes clearer. Websites, social media pages, newsletters, and presence at events emerge, sometimes piecemeal. This could be termed “marketing by accident.”

But there comes a stage where intention matters. Once sales start increasing or new audiences emerge, strategy replaces instinct. What was intuitive becomes measurable, and that’s when marketing can transform a business rather than just support it.

Established companies formalise this instinct into plans: annual campaigns, trade shows, CRM systems, trackable ROI, and regular content calendars. These processes help align creativity with outcomes, ensuring the right message reaches the right audience at the right moment.

The Art and Science of Knowing What Works

That's all very well for those scaling companies though, but what about earlier on in the startup phase where you're starting to invest time and money in marketing activities, but you're lacking evidence of effectiveness. This is where the difficult question of When will my marketing start working? is at its most pertinent. 

We have to accept that marketing is both art and science. It demands data-driven precision and the human touch, understanding people’s emotions, motivations, and desires, tracking, quantifying and making decisions based on these factors is what completes the marketing package.

Back to the question of when this all works though, frustratingly, there’s no universal answer. Marketing effectiveness depends on clearly defined goals, understanding the audience, and having measurable metrics. Even then, uncertainty remains, and testing is essential, especially when the 'messy' humans you're selling to react in unexpected ways.

Measurement doesn’t have to be complex either. Tracking patterns such as customer referrals, repeat buyers, or social media engagement can reveal which tactics drive results. For example, if sharing customer photos leads to noticeable spikes in orders, that single habit can become the core of a marketing strategy.

Patience, Persistence, and the Pivot Point

Startups often face a tension between patience and pivoting. Checking metrics too early can cause businesses to abandon strategies just as they begin to work. On the other hand, clinging to something unproven wastes time and energy. The key lies in knowing when to evaluate results and how to interpret them logically rather than emotionally.

Like the wood carver who moved from hobbyist to artisan entrepreneur, every business eventually reaches a turning point where marketing stops being an afterthought and becomes the bridge between a passion and sustainable growth.

In conclusion

Every thriving enterprise begins as an idea. Marketing doesn’t create that spark, it fuels it, shapes it, and helps it reach the audiences who need it most. Knowing when to lean into it and how to measure its impact can transform a business from a side project into a brand.

If you're starting out with a small business, I'd encourage you to:

1. Start with what’s working. If your customers are coming through word of mouth, embrace it, but think about simple ways to make it easier for them to share your story.

2. Know your goals. Be clear on what “working” means for you: more sales, repeat customers, or simply consistent income from your craft. Set Specific Measurable Achievable Relevant Time-bound objectives which help you stay on track. 

3. Make small things measurable. Track what naturally happens, social mentions, referrals, repeat orders; note patterns before chasing new metrics.

4. Be patient, but stay alert. Give marketing ideas time to build momentum, but don’t keep going blindly. Ask whether effort and results align over time.

5. Lean into your strengths. Keep the authenticity that drew customers in, your craft, your tone, your personal touch and let marketing amplify it, not replace it.

6. Reflect and refine. Take time every few months to ask: what’s connecting, what's working better or worse than expected, what can I test next?

Over to you...

Do you agree with this approach? It's far from perfect, and it's quite a complex conversation to have, but I'd love to know what others think and to have their three top tips for understanding if marketing is working. Thanks All!