Cut through confusing marketing rules and build a simple marketing strategy for small B2B businesses
If you’ve spent any time looking into marketing, you’ll have seen a lot of “rules”.
The 3-3-3 rule.
The 70/20/10 rule.
The 50/30/20 rule.
Different versions of the same thing, frameworks, formulas, ratios.
And if you’re being honest, it all starts to blur into noise.
If you’re searching for a simple marketing strategy for small B2B businesses, this is usually where you end up.
You try to follow one.
Then another.
Then something else you’ve seen on LinkedIn.
Before you know it, you’re busy again.
Still doing “marketing”.
Yet not really moving forward.
The problem with marketing “rules”
Let’s be clear, these frameworks aren’t wrong.
The 3-3-3 rule, for example, is often used to guide content and activity.
The 70/20/10 rule helps people think about how to split their budget.
The 50/30/20 rule does something similar in a slightly different way.
They all exist for a reason.
Here’s the issue though…
They’re not where most businesses should start.
I’ve always been drawn to simple structures, especially around the number three.
It works in life as much as it does in business. Too many options overwhelm people. Three gives you enough to move forward without overthinking it.
That’s why my approach always comes back to three things – clarity, focus and consistency.
Why this doesn’t work for small, growing B2B businesses
Most marketing advice is built for scale.
Bigger teams.
Bigger budgets.
Clearer roles.
That’s not the reality for most small B2B businesses.
Instead, you’ve got:
- limited time
- limited budget
- one or two people trying to do everything
So when you try to follow a framework like “post this much, spend this much, do this on X channels”, it doesn’t simplify things.
It adds pressure.
You end up:
- spreading yourself too thin
- second guessing decisions
- doing more, not better
What actually works instead
This is where a simple marketing strategy for small B2B businesses starts to take shape.
Before you think about rules, frameworks or formulas, you need something else in place first:
Clarity → Focus → Consistency
That’s it.
Clarity
What are you actually trying to achieve?
Not “do more marketing”.
Not “post more”.
Ask yourself these 3 questions instead:
- what are your business goals?
- who are you trying to reach?
- what are you offering and why should they care?
Until this is clear, nothing else works properly.
Focus
What actually matters right now?
This is where most businesses struggle.
They try to:
- be on every channel
- try every idea
- copy what others are doing
Instead, focus looks like:
- 1–2 channels that make sense and feel right
- a small number of key messages
- activities that link directly to your goals
It’s not about doing everything.
It’s about doing the right things and playing to your strengths.
Consistency
Are you actually doing it regularly?
This is where the results come from.
Not big bursts of activity.
Not doing everything for a week, then stopping.
Just:
- showing up
- repeating the right messages
- building momentum over time
Turning marketing rules into something useful
If you look at those frameworks again, they start to make more sense, once you’ve got clarity and focus in place.
For example:
- Instead of “3 pieces of content a day” → one clear message each week, done properly
- Instead of a fixed 70/20/10 budget split → spend where you are actually seeing results
- Instead of trying to be on every platform → focus on the channels that reach your audience
The rules aren’t the starting point.
They’re something you might layer in later on top of those key foundations.
The reality most people don’t say
Most small business owners don’t need more marketing advice.
They don’t need another framework.
They don’t need another content idea.
They need:
- time to think
- space to step back
- a simple way to move forward
If your marketing feels busy and isn’t working
It’s probably not a tactics problem.
It’s not:
- the algorithm
- the platform
- the latest trend
It’s usually a lack of clarity
A simpler way forward
Start here:
- Get clear on what you’re doing and why
- Focus on what actually matters
- Be consistent with it over time
That’s what drives results.
Everything else is secondary.
If you want a simple way to work through this properly, you can start with the free 5-step strategy or take a look at Live Strategy Week if you want to build it step by step in a small group.
Or, if you just need a sounding board, feel free to get in touch.
