Not Sure If You Should Spend Money on Ads? Start Here Instead

You care about your business and want more people to discover what you offer, but figuring out how to do that effectively isn’t always clear. When growth stalls or sales slow down, one of the first instincts many small business owners have is to throw money at ads. Many small business owners are investing time and money in marketing without a clear strategy or return on investment.

A Real Life Example

Recently, I came across a Reddit post from an app developer that perfectly captured this struggle. He had built something impressive: over 13,000 workouts for men and women, covering both home and gym routines. He’d posted 15 videos on TikTok, gained over 7,000 views, and had gotten 64 downloads. But zero free trials. Zero sales.

His question: Should I start spending money on marketing?

The responses were blunt but insightful – If no one’s biting organically, ads won’t help you sell it. They’ll just help you waste money faster.

Why Ads Aren’t Always the Next Step

This story highlights a common mistake many small businesses make: jumping to paid advertising before the offer is clear.

It’s easy to describe your features. “We offer 13,000 workouts,” or “we’ve been in business for 20 years.” But people don’t buy features. They buy outcomes. They buy clarity. They buy solutions.

In the case of the fitness app, it wasn’t that the product was bad. It’s that users didn’t understand what made it valuable to them. When you’re deeply involved in your business, it’s easy to lose sight of what others are actually seeing (or not seeing).

One commenter pointed out: “My guess is 13,000 fitness routines is the problem.” When users are overwhelmed with options, they shut down. Instead of focusing on a clear benefit, like “no-repeat workouts for busy professionals,” the developer led with features. And when the message isn’t clear, no amount of marketing spend will fix it.

Why This Matters for Small Business Owners

It’s easy to assume that if something isn’t working, you need to spend more: more time, more content, more money.

But in most cases, especially early on, the answer is simple:

You don’t need more marketing. You need the right foundation.

Before you invest in ads or hire someone to post on your behalf, you need to know:

• Who are you trying to reach?
• What problem are you solving?
• Why should they trust you?
• And how is that message showing up in your content, website, or local presence?

If You’re Stuck, Try This First

Before you boost a post or launch an ad campaign, take a few minutes to step back and ask yourself:

• Is my offer clear? Not just what I do, but why it matters to the people I’m trying to reach.
• Am I highlighting benefits, not just features? How does what I offer improve someone’s life, solve a problem, or save them time?
• Have I tested my message organically? Are people clicking, engaging, or asking questions, or just scrolling past?

Sometimes, the fix isn’t more exposure. It’s better clarity.

What a Good Marketing Partner Really Does

This is the part where it’s easy to assume you need someone to run ads or post more often. But a good marketing partner helps you pause, zoom out, and build a strong foundation:

• Clarify your message so that your ideal customer immediately understands how you help.
• Simplify your offer so people don’t have to work to figure out what to do next.
• Align your marketing so that your website, social posts, and Google presence all tell the same story.

That might mean rewriting your home page so it speaks to your ideal client. It might look like refining your service descriptions, cleaning up your Google Business Profile, or helping you batch two months of strategic content in a single afternoon.

You don’t have to be everywhere. You just have to be clear and consistent in the places that matter most. And that starts long before you spend a dollar on ads.