02/02/2026
Well, January went past in a flash! The first week back was steady, a bit quieter. A lovely lead-in to the year, which gives you breathing room to finish planning, tidy up loose ends and put some structure around the months ahead. I always value that short window, because it is often one of the times you get to think clearly before things ramp up again.
Then did it ramp up!....
Over the past couple of weeks, I have seen clients keen to get sales moving, refresh their visibility after the holiday lull and make sure Q1 does not drift by. It has also reminded me why scalable marketing matters so much during growth stages. When things get busy, marketing is often the first thing to feel the strain. Good ideas pile up. Activity becomes reactive. Everything relies on one or two people having time.
I see this a lot, particularly with small teams or individuals that are already doing plenty of marketing but can often lack much structure around it. The work is happening, but it is hard to keep up consistently.
One example that really stuck with me this month was a venue-based charity I work with. January is usually quieter for them as people recover from their Christmas spending, so instead of pushing flat out for visitors, they’ve used the time strategically. Being based in the south west, the weather has not been over kind to them either, so instead of fighting it or giving up, we have focused on promoting discounted memberships, running a small number of well-priced one-off events with lighter content and have used the breathing space to plan social posts, update their website and overall messaging, and revamp some of their existing content. When things picked up later, they were ready rather than scrambling.
Not doing more. Just making what they already do work harder and more sustainably.
I have pulled these reflections together into a blog - if it sounds like a useful read, the link is here >> https://bit.ly/4tecLZx
Simple scalable marketing strategies - a practical way to make marketing feel manageable and sustainable as your organisation grows.