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Marketing is a Battle – Weaponise It

by | Jun 28, 2025

Today we’re talking about how to weaponise your marketing. Now, I’ve been in the marketing game a long time, and I meet three types of business owner.

There’s the business owner who does marketing because someone told them they should. They do a bit of content here and there; the odd piece of longform, an occasional ad campaign.

Then there’s the reluctant business owner who thinks marketing’s a load of s**t. They hate it, they don’t get it, they don’t see the value and they think it’s basically a money pit.

And then there’s the third type of business owner, who I meet very rarely.

This one weaponises marketing as a business tool.

They deploy it strategically. Now, when I sit opposite someone in a kickoff meeting, and tell a business owner that we need to weaponise their marketing, most people would be like: “This is weird bro language.”

It might sound like that, but it’s the truth.

Weaponising your marketing means you don’t just do it. You deploy it – strategically – with purpose. You gather your data, study your target, make a plan, and keep going until they take the action you want them to take.

Basically, until you win the battle.

Too many business owners throw a grand into ads and expect immediate returns. But if your product or service is worth £5k, and you haven’t even spent £10k yet, you’ve not gathered enough data to know if it’s working.

You haven’t even built the engine.

It’s like launching a business without finance, legal or ops. Everything’s still in your head. But as your business matures, you have to professionalise. That means putting systems in place.

Posting on Facebook every third blue moon isn’t a marketing strategy.

It’s no wonder some people hate marketing – they’ve never done it properly.

We had a client recently who pivoted to high-ticket. His lead magnet was converting, but the leads were only buying the low-ticket offer. We had to explain: it can take three months for someone to download a free guide, forget about it, then see your next post and go back to it.

That’s why you need a plan.

If England wanted to invade Wales (not suggesting they should), they wouldn’t just rock up tomorrow and throw a few arrows. That would be madness. They’d need a plan.

So if your goal is to grow from £1m to £1.5m, where’s that extra £500k coming from? How many leads do you need? Which channels will you use? What’s your acquisition cost? What will hook people in? And how long is your average time to purchase?

If you throw a few spears and miss, don’t give up.

Even the best archer misses sometimes.

It costs us between £4k and £7k to acquire a customer. But the lifetime value is £36k. At one point, it took 18 months from first contact to conversion – that’s business.

You don’t call a builder and ask for a new office, then show up the next day and wonder why it’s not ready. It takes time.

One of our clients is about to turn over a million this year. When we met him, he was doing under £100k. Then £200k the year after. And then £400k. It’s taken time, commitment and persistence.

He’s had webinars that made £80k.

And he’s had some that made £3k. But when that happened, he didn’t throw in the towel. He looked at what worked and what didn’t, and he built from there.

Because marketing is a battle.

Your competitors want your prospects. They want your clients. So you’ve got to show them why you’re the better option. You’ve got to meet them where they are, show them you understand their problem, and deliver a solution.

That’s the difference between business-building and launch-churning. Some businesses rely on launches – sell, sell, sell, then disappear.

Like market traders flogging dodgy DVDs.

They don’t build anything sustainable, and they don’t get repeat business. You’ve got to build a structure that can exist without you.

We had another conversation recently with a guy running a local ad campaign. He spent a grand, got two customers, broke even, and generated 300 leads. With a frequency of four, everyone in the local area saw his ad four times.

He asked what he should do next.

I said: “That’s an excellent result.”

“You’ve advertised for free. You’ve got a full database. Even if only 1% of those leads convert, that’s more money in the bank – and that’s just from this first round. You’ve got the next two years to nurture those leads and make more sales.”

Yet people panic. “I’ve spent a lot on ads and a lot on the agency. I need results now.” And sure, some agencies promise instant wins. But unless you’ve got a warm audience, it’s more luck than strategy.

It’s not about launching once. It’s about building a predictable, cyclical system of customer acquisition. One you can track. One you can cashflow. One that keeps going.

That’s weaponising your marketing.

It’s not about hoping for the best. It’s a calculated strike – a guided system.

You know who your target is, you know what they want, and you know what you’ll do when they push back – when they say it’s too much, or they need to speak to their partner.

And if you don’t have answers to those things? Then you haven’t got your business fundamentals in place. Your marketing, sales, ops, finance and legal all need to be dialled in.

Marketing shouldn’t be in the hands of an amateur.

Yet 20 years on, we still see established companies handing it to the receptionist or apprentice. Would you let your intern run your accounts? No – so why hand them your brand?

Leaflets, directories, local magazines, awards tables – that’s not strategy. Weaponised marketing is deliberate, data-driven and repeatable.

For every 1,000 leads in our business, we know exactly how much our turnover increases. For every 100 prospect boxes we send, we know how many sales we’ll make.

You can’t run your marketing on emotion.

Because that changes too often. Use data. Use proof. Yes, there’ll be dips, and that’s OK if you know why it’s happening.

The summer holidays, for example, might see a drop if your audience is made up of parents. One of our biggest clients knows July and August are quiet, so we plan for it. Big May, big June, big September.

Then we use the quieter times to strategise, consolidate and upsell.

Weaponising your marketing isn’t just a phrase.

It’s a mindset. So, it’s time to stop throwing spears and start making calculated strikes.

And here endeth my bro marketing lesson.

 

Don’t miss the next episode of Stay Hungry – we’ll dive into straight-talking insights on business marketing, growth mindset, and the realities of running a business. And if you want to take the hassle out of your marketing, we’ve got you covered with our done-for-you service.