How to optimize marketing spend without slowing growth
- Manelik Sfez
- Oct 7
- 5 min read
You may feel you spend too little on marketing. And that thought tends to linger, quietly anxious and sticky. But in truth, you might just be spending in the wrong places. And that’s actually encouraging.
Executives often treat marketing as a fixed cost: when times are good, the budget expands; when pressure hits, it’s the first to shrink. Yet most of the waste sits not in how much is spent, but how it’s managed.
Studies repeatedly show that between 25% and 40% of marketing budgets generate little or no measurable return (Gartner, 2024; Deloitte CMO Survey, 2023). Not because the channels are wrong, but because the data is fragmented, the tools don’t talk, and the strategy isn’t traceable end-to-end.
The result: executives flying blind... hoping rather than knowing what works. Optimizing marketing spend isn’t about cutting campaigns; it’s about building systems that make every cent work twice.
Where marketing budgets really leak
If you look closely, inefficiency has a pattern. It’s rarely caused by one bad campaign, but by the ecosystem around it. This is how it (too) often looks:
Disconnected tools: CRMs, ad platforms, email systems, and analytics each hold their own data. The bigger the tech stack, the less integrated it becomes.
Manual processes: endless reporting, exporting, and human reconciliation.
Unclear attribution: sales says one thing, marketing says another, and nobody can prove the link.
Agency opacity: external providers track “reach” and “impressions,” not revenue contribution.
Inertia: budgets are renewed out of habit, not data.
Every one of these leaks compounds. Fixing them doesn’t mean spending less; it means spending smarter.
“You can’t optimize what you can’t measure.”
The new efficiency logic: system before spend
Traditional marketing logic starts with the campaign. Optimized logic starts with the system.
Old logic | Optimized logic |
Each campaign planned independently | All campaigns built within one integrated system |
Separate budgets by channel | Unified budget tied to business objectives |
Manual reporting | Automated dashboards pulling data from all sources |
Focus on reach and impressions | Focus on measurable contribution to sales |
Agencies manage execution | In-house control, external partners as specialists |
Marketing seen as a cost | Marketing treated as a profit engine |
This is where real efficiency begins: integration before allocation. When your CRM, automation, analytics, and payment systems operate as one ecosystem, marketing becomes predictable, and predictable marketing costs less.
Five digital levers that reduce cost and increase performance
1) Automation
Every repetitive task automated is time (and money) saved. Email follow-ups, lead scoring, quote reminders, re-engagement flows: all run without extra human input. Automation doesn’t just reduce labor cost; it keeps opportunities alive 24/7.
2) CRM integration
A CRM connected to your website, forms, and campaigns means every contact, quote, and sale is traceable. No double entries, no lost leads, no “forgot to follow up.” It’s the foundation of growth efficiency.
3) AEO & structured content
Search visibility used to be about keywords; now it’s about answers. Structuring your content for AI and search agents lowers ad dependency, making your brand discoverable organically and permanently. Read more about how AEO is changing the search game in this section of our blog here.
4) Real-time dashboards
Dashboards transform perception. Once leaders see how spend converts into revenue in real time, decisions become evidence-based. It’s the end of “gut feeling” budgeting.
5) Feedback loops
When campaigns are connected to CRM data, performance insights automatically refine the next iteration. Each test improves the next one. Marketing becomes a self-correcting system.
How to measure true marketing efficiency
Optimizing spend starts by defining efficiency correctly. It’s not “How many leads did we get?” It’s “How much revenue did we generate per dollar/euro/franc spent?”
Here are the key metrics to track:
Customer Acquisition Cost (CAC) — total marketing + sales cost / new customers.
Return on Marketing Investment (ROMI) — (Revenue from marketing – cost of marketing) / cost of marketing.
Growth Efficiency Ratio (GER) — New Revenue ÷ (Marketing + Sales Spend).
Metric | Healthy Range | What It Means |
CAC | Decreasing over time | Efficiency improving |
ROMI | > 1 | Each € invested generates profit |
GER | 0.8 – 1.5 | Strong marketing–sales synergy |
These metrics expose inefficiency faster than opinions ever could. They turn “marketing cost” into a growth equation.
From optimization to compounding growth
True optimization doesn’t end when the budget is reduced. It compounds. Once your digital infrastructure is integrated—CRM, automation, analytics, and content working together—each new campaign benefits from the previous one’s data.
Performance improves automatically; cost per lead keeps dropping; and over time, the system amplifies itself. That’s what we call growth efficiency: scalable, predictable, and increasingly profitable.
Where to start
Audit your spend — list every channel, tool, and cost.
Map the blind spots — where are the gaps between leads, deals, and revenue?
Fix one system bottleneck at a time — not everything at once.
Rebuild around integration — your website, CRM, and marketing must operate as one.
From there, efficiency becomes a natural by-product and not a struggle. In reality, the goal isn’t to spend less: it is to make every euro/dollar/franc spend itself twice.
About the author
Manelik Sfez, founder of the Swiss brand consultancy Ultrabrand, brings 25 years of international business, marketing, and brand strategy experience to the table. He has worked with some of the world’s most iconic brands throughout his career. From luxury goods to global retail, financial services and technological and industry giants, he has guided companies through brand-led transformations that have enabled significant business growth.
FAQ
What is marketing spend optimization?
It’s the process of improving marketing efficiency by measuring, integrating, and automating activities so that every cost generates measurable impact.
How can I reduce marketing costs without hurting growth?
Focus on system efficiency before campaign cuts. Integrate data, automate tasks, and reallocate budget to the channels that directly influence revenue.
What tools help track marketing ROI?
CRM with integrated analytics, real-time dashboards, and workflow automation platforms that connect website, email, and sales data.
How does automation actually reduce spend?
It replaces repetitive manual work, reduces delays, and increases conversion consistency—lowering the cost per acquisition.
How do I know if my marketing budget is too high?
If you can’t trace spend to measurable growth within a defined timeframe, your budget isn’t too high—it’s unstructured.
What’s the difference between efficiency and effectiveness in marketing?
Effectiveness is doing the right things. Efficiency is doing them with minimal waste. You need both to scale sustainably.
Why do most SMEs waste marketing budget?
Because they invest in isolated tactics instead of unified systems. Fragmentation kills ROI faster than bad strategy.
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