Why getting organised with your marketing isn’t about doing more - it’s about setting the scene to do less.
January has a way of making small business owners feel like they’re already behind. Tell me if this feels familiar - suddenly, everyone is talking about fresh starts, big plans, new strategies, and ambitious goals and you, like most business owners, are already juggling marketing, staff rosters, customer enquiries, delivery, admin, and real life. The idea of “getting organised” can feel exhausting before you even start.
I’d love you to take this advice into 2026 - Getting organised isn’t about doing more. It’s about making what you already do feel easier.
Especially when it comes to your marketing, advertising, and customer experience.
Organisation isn’t more effort - it’s less friction
When people say they want to be more organised, what they usually mean is:
“I don’t want to feel so scattered”
“I want things to feel less hard”
“I’m tired of starting from scratch every week”
“I know some things work, but I can’t remember what or where they are”
Disorganisation doesn’t always look like chaos. Often it looks like:
Rewriting the same email again and again.
Guessing what to post on social media each week.
Responding to customer questions reactively instead of confidently.
Running ads without being sure what worked last time.
Feeling busy, but not effective.
Organisation isn’t about adding systems on top of this. It’s about removing unnecessary decisions and effort.
Start by finding what already works (this is the shortcut)
Before you plan anything new for the first half of 2026, the most valuable thing you can do is look back, not forward.
When it comes to your marketing activities, ask yourself:
Which posts actually got engagement or enquiries?
Which platforms felt easiest to show up on?
What content did you enjoy creating?
What platforms gave you a return?
What marketing activities actually worked?
With your advertising:
What offers converted without a lot of convincing?
Which campaigns felt simple to run?
Where did customers actually come from?
With your customer experience:
Where do customers seem most confident and comfortable?
What parts of your process run smoothly without intervention?
Which steps generate the least confusion or follow-up questions?
👉 Anything that already works with less effort is gold. Your job in January isn’t to reinvent - it’s to replicate.
Make access easy (so you’re not relying on memory)
One of the biggest drains on energy is having to remember what works. Instead, give your future self shortcuts. Simple ways to do this:
Create a single folder called “What Works” and Save:
High-performing posts.
Email templates you reuse.
Ad copy that converted.
Customer replies you send often.
Use basic tools you already have:
Google Drive.
Notes app.
Notion.
Trello.
Even a simple document or spreadsheet.
You don’t need a new system. You need one place you trust, and if it’s easy to find, you’ll use it. If it’s hard to find, you’ll start from scratch again.
Identify what isn’t easy (where organisation really helps)
Here’s a gentle but powerful reframe - anything that feels hard is trying to tell you something.
Pay attention to:
Tasks you avoid.
Things you procrastinate over.
Processes that rely entirely on you remembering.
Customer touchpoints where confusion keeps popping up.
Common examples:
Posting content without a plan.
Following up enquiries manually.
Explaining the same thing to customers repeatedly.
Running ads without a clear process.
These aren’t personal failures, they’re system gaps and system gaps are fixable - often with very small changes.
Focus on ease for the first half of 2026
Instead of setting big goals, try setting ease-based intentions:
“Marketing should feel repeatable, not reactive”.
“Customers should feel informed before they ask”.
“Advertising should build on what already works”.
“My systems should support my capacity, not stretch it”.
For the first half of 2026, ask:
What can I simplify?
What can I reuse?
What can I stop doing?
What would make this feel lighter?
Ease isn’t lazy. Ease is sustainable.
Organisation as a Customer Experience Strategy
Here’s something many businesses overlook - how organised you seem directly shapes how customers feel.
Clear systems lead to:
Faster responses.
More confident and consistent communication.
Fewer mistakes.
Less friction.
More trust.
When your business feels calm on the inside, it feels calm on the outside too and that’s something customers notice - even if they can’t quite explain why.
A gentle next step: Do the Ease Audit
If you’re not sure where to start, or you want clarity without overwhelm, I’ve created something to help.
👉 The Ease Audit is a free, practical tool that helps you:
Identify small but significant points of effort or confusion.
Understand where customers may be hesitating or dropping off.
Check how clear and consistent your communication really is.
See where expectations and experience aren’t aligning.
Pinpoint the exact areas to improve for more flow, trust and connection.
It’s not about doing more, it’s about doing what already works - better.
Download your free Ease Audit - you don’t have to join my email list and I won’t bug you afterwards, I just hope you take a few minutes to identify where you can make improvements in your business to improve your marketing and customer experience.
Good business should feel easy for you and your customers and getting organised is a great place to start.
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.
