Where Should Small Businesses Spend Their Marketing Dollars? A Real-Life Story to Guide Your Strategy

By Jim Butz, Sales and Marketing expert with over 20 years of real world experience strategizing and executing sales and marketing plans for startups, small business and nonprofit

We recently had a conversation with a client who runs an acupuncture clinic in a popular resort town. She faced a common small business dilemma: with a limited marketing budget, should she invest in Google Ads or pay for a plane to fly a banner up and down the beach?

We asked her the same question we ask every client at the start of a marketing strategy discussion:

Who is your ideal customer? She answered, “Primarily women, dealing with chronic or acute pain.” Great — now we had a clear target audience. Next, we asked: If someone like that was looking for acupuncture services, where would they most likely go for information? She replied, “They’d look on their phone or ask a friend.”     Exactly what we thought!

Then we asked: What if they’re not fully sold on acupuncture yet, but they’re in pain and exploring options — where would they go then? She answered, “They’d probably research online, talk to a doctor, or ask friends.” Again — spot on. Lastly, we said: What if a potential customer is in a little discomfort, but they’re not even sure if it’s worth doing anything about? What would they do? After a pause, she said, “They might talk to family or friends… but honestly, they could get information from anywhere.”

That’s when we offered this perspective: “If your budget is limited, wouldn’t it make sense to show up exactly where people are actively looking for acupuncture services — especially when they’re ready to make a decision?”

She nodded. And we said: “Let’s start there.”

The Marketing Dilemma for Small Businesses and Nonprofits

This story reflects a common challenge many small businesses and nonprofits face when deciding how to allocate their marketing budget. It’s not just about choosing the most exciting tactic — it’s about choosing what works. 

Before choosing tactics like SEO, paid ads, social media, or even aerial banners, it’s critical to understand the both who are your buyers (target audience and target market) and their buyer journeys — the process people go through before becoming your customer.

A buyer journey can be complex and isn’t always linear. For simplicity, we break it into three stages:

1. Awareness – When someone first realizes they have a need.

2. Consideration – When they research and explore options.

3. Decision – When they’re choosing between you and your competitors.

The Marketing Funnel

Here’s another example outside of acupuncture to highlight a buyer journey. Let’s say you’re a nonprofit running an art center for kids. A parent might start their journey by thinking, “I need something to do with the kids today” (awareness). They then explore options like the pool, movies, or art centers (consideration). They then have chosen to take the kids to an art center now they need to decide which art center to visit (decision).

In marketing, we visualize this as a marketing funnel — a framework that guides strategy based on where your potential customers are in their journey.

Where Should You Focus First?

Understanding a buyer journey doesn’t fully answer where to focus your efforts as organizations will ask: "Do I need to market to all stages of the funnel?" Not right away.

At Anuncier, we recommend focusing first on where your target audience is making decisions. This is the lowest part of the funnel, and it's where you can often get the fastest return on your investment.

You want to clearly communicate, your value proposition:

• What makes you different

• Why someone should choose you over a competitor

• How your offering uniquely solves their problem

Focusing Marketing Efforts

Once you’ve seen success at the decision stage, you can expand your reach outward — targeting people in the consideration stage or even building awareness in new markets.

This phased approach helps you spend smarter, not just more.

So… What Happened to the Acupuncture Client?

In the end, our acupuncture client chose to run both Google Ads and the beach plane — largely because she wanted photos of the plane for her website and social media.

The results?

• Google Ads: 8 new customers

• The plane: Very little impact on website traffic

The lesson? Visibility without relevance doesn’t always lead to results. Being in front of the right people at the right moment makes all the difference.

Finishing Up - Some Takeaways

When faced with limited marketing resources, focus on where your target audience is actively searching for solutions. Understand their journey and meet them there first. Then build outward, one layer at a time.

If you’re unsure where to begin or how to apply this to your business or nonprofit, that’s where we come in. At Anuncier, we specialize in helping organizations like yours build smart, sustainable marketing strategies that get results.

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Yes, some of this was written with the help of AI, but our content starts and ends with humans. Please visit our AI policy.