“I’ve been doing my own marketing for years - why isn’t it working?
If you’ve been in business for 3-5 years and you’re still doing most of your own marketing, this probably sounds familiar:
You’ve posted consistently.
You’ve tried the reels, the emails, the Canva graphics, the “content ideas”.
You’ve watched the webinars, downloaded the freebies, followed the advice.
But enquiries are inconsistent, bookings feel unpredictable, and you’re quietly wondering why it still feels this hard.
The truth is, if you’ve been doing your own marketing for years and it isn’t working, it’s not necessarily because you’re bad at it - it’s because marketing without strategy has a ceiling and you’ve probably hit it a while ago and just stayed in place.
Let’s talk about why.
You’ve likely been busy, not strategic.
This is the most common thing I see with established small business owners.
Your marketing probably includes:
Regular social media posting.
Consistent eDMs.
Updates to your website when you “get time”.
Trying whatever tactic feels important at the moment.
Individually, none of these things are wrong.
The problem is that without a clear marketing strategy, they’re disconnected. You’re doing lots of activity, but it isn’t working together to move someone from “I follow you” to “I want to work with you”.
Busy marketing feels productive. Strategic marketing creates momentum.
You’re relying on tactics instead of a system.
When you’ve been DIY-ing your marketing for a long time, it’s easy to fall into an “I’ll just try this next” cycle:
A new platform.
A new content idea.
A new lead magnet.
But tactics don’t convert on their own. They need a system behind them.
A marketing system answers questions like:
Who exactly am I trying to attract right now?
What problem are they actively trying to solve?
Where are they getting stuck before they enquire?
What needs to happen before they’re ready to book?
Without a system, marketing becomes reactive and exhausting.
Your business has outgrown your old approach
What worked when you started your business often doesn’t work once you’re established.
In the early days:
Visibility is the main goal.
Any enquiry feels like a win.
You’re building confidence as much as clients.
But 3–5 years in?
You want better-fit clients.
You want consistent enquiries.
You want marketing that supports your business, not runs it.
If your marketing still looks like it did years ago, that’s not a failure - it’s a sign your business has evolved and your marketing needs to catch up.
You don’t actually know what’s working (and what’s not)
One of the most frustrating parts of DIY marketing is the guessing.
You might be asking yourself:
Is Instagram worth the effort?
Should I be emailing more?
Do people even read my blogs?
Why do enquiries come in waves?
Without clear goals, messaging, and measurement, it’s almost impossible to tell what’s driving results and what’s just noise.
This is where strategy changes everything - it gives you clarity, focus, and confidence in where to put your time.
This is usually the moment people think about getting help
If you’re nodding along, this is often the point where business owners say:
“I don’t want to hand everything over, I just want it to work”, and that’s an important distinction.
Getting support doesn’t mean losing your voice, becoming salesy or even posting more than you can manage.
It means building a clear, sustainable marketing strategy that:
Aligns with how you want to work.
Attracts the right people.
Turns your efforts into actual enquiries.
If this feels familiar…
If you’ve been doing your own marketing for years and it isn’t working the way it should, it’s not a motivation issue. It’s a strategy gap.
And once that gap is filled, marketing starts to feel clearer, lighter, and far more effective.
If you’d like help creating a marketing strategy that actually supports your business, rather than adding more to your plate, you can learn more about working with me [here], or get in touch to see if we’re a good fit.
I offer 1:1 coaching that is tailored to your precise needs. I can work with you directly, or if you’re ready to hand marketing over, I can work with one of your team or both of you to create strategy, develop systems, increase skills and more. After 30 years working in marketing and customer experience and a decade in coaching - I’m your best bet for taking your business to the next step - sustainable marketing that increases your profits but decreases your efforts.
Hi, I’m Erika McInerney - a marketing and customer experience specialist with decades of experience understanding customer behaviour and helping small businesses grow with strategies that are sustainable - not stressful.
My coaching is all about cutting through the overwhelm, simplifying your marketing, and showing you what will actually move the needle.
I help business owners one-on-one and deliver action-focused workshops, masterclasses and webinars for organisations, business groups and Boards looking to build skills and confidence in their marketing.
If you’re ready for marketing that feels clearer and more effective, book a free discovery call or send me an email and let’s get started.
