In 2006, marketing looked very different.
No smartphones as we know them.
No Facebook Ads platform.
No Instagram.
No TikTok.
But after 20 years working with owner-managed businesses, here’s what hasn’t changed.
1. Marketing only matters if it generates enquiries.
Impressions don’t pay wages.
2. Most businesses don’t need more tactics.
They need structure.
3. A good website that doesn’t convert is just an expensive brochure.
4. SEO takes longer than most people are willing to wait.
5. Paid advertising works — when it’s managed commercially.
6. Owner-managed businesses value clarity more than creativity.
7. Simplicity beats complexity almost every time.
8. Referral-only growth eventually plateaus.
9. Consistency beats intensity.
10. Tracking changes behaviour.
11. Most marketing fails because expectations are unrealistic.
12. Agencies overpromise. Reality underdelivers.
13. A modest budget, well managed, outperforms a large budget unmanaged.
14. Marketing must align with margin.
15. If you don’t know your cost per enquiry, you’re guessing.
16. Long-term relationships produce better results than short campaigns.
17. Most SMEs neglect follow-up.
18. Marketing is rarely the only problem — but it often exposes operational ones.
19. Stability builds trust.
20. The fundamentals still work.
Twenty years in, I still believe marketing should be:
Structured.
Measured.
Commercial.
Long-term.
And focused on generating enquiries.
That hasn’t changed.