Marketing, at its core, is the art of telling a story. It’s the translation of a company’s identity, a product’s value, or a service’s benefit into a compelling narrative using words, images, and experiences. When we think of marketing, we often think of the polished campaigns of global giants: Nike’s simple, powerful call to action; Dove’s celebration of real beauty; or the iconic, long-standing identities of brands like Coca-Cola and Apple.
These campaigns are the work of vast teams of professionals (agencies, strategists, designers, and editors) working with multi-million-dollar budgets. They are masterclasses in building brand awareness and trust over decades. It’s no wonder that small business owners, looking at these examples, feel pressure to “do it” themselves.
But here’s the lie: most small businesses are being sold a version of marketing that works for giants, not for them.
Performance Marketing Trap
For the sole proprietor or small company with, say, 10 employees, marketing isn’t about building a multi-decade legacy. It’s often about generating sales right now.
And this being the age of performance marketing, digital platforms like Google and Meta promise immediate, measurable returns; run an ad campaign, track the clicks, and see the sales roll in. It’s the promise of a powerful and effective tool for driving short-term results. The challenge is that this approach trains businesses to think of marketing as a series of disconnected, transactional events. It’s like building a house one brick at a time, but constantly in different locations, never creating a solid foundation.
Consider a small shop owner. Their day is spent managing inventory, serving customers, and handling logistics. They’re an expert in their craft, not in content creation or ad optimisation. They know they need to market, but they lack the time, skills, and resources to produce the steady stream of content these platforms demand. The shop owner may hire a small agency to run a campaign, but without a clear, long-term brand strategy, that money is often spent on isolated tactics that fail to build lasting recognition.
And that’s not even accounting for the added difficulty that, if the marketing does somehow succeed, many small businesses lack the systems and time to properly follow up. The very thing that was supposed to help — generating leads — can become another source of pressure. Without integrated planning, the performance marketing trap turns into a performance burden.
The Cost of Short-Term Thinking
The real danger is that a focus on short-term gains leads to the neglect of long-term brand building. While a big brand like Apple can launch a campaign for a new phone, it does so on the bedrock of a brand identity built over decades. Their customers already know and trust their name.
Here’s where the math gets uncomfortable. Research shows that performance campaigns typically account for less than 20% of total ROI when calculated against base sales. Yet most small businesses are pouring 80% of their marketing budget into these short-term tactics. It’s not just inefficient, it’s economically backwards.
Customer acquisition costs are rising across every digital platform. What worked two years ago now costs twice as much. The businesses that survive this trend aren’t the ones optimising their ad spend; they’re the ones building assets that compound over time. They understand that chasing the next sale with a new discount or flashy ad creates a cycle where marketing becomes increasingly expensive and less effective.
Small companies are in a constant state of proving their value, but they’re proving it to strangers every time instead of building a community of advocates.
“But I Need Sales Now”
Let’s address the elephant in the room. Small businesses often do need immediate revenue. The solution isn’t to abandon performance marketing entirely; it’s to rebalance the portfolio.
A real-life example:
We built a down-to-earth WordPress one-pager for a sole proprietor who simply wanted a landing page, a digital shop window, something that would establish his business as trustworthy. Nothing fancy, merely a straightforward introduction to his products and services. A simple form allowed visitors to reach out and send in an e-mail inquiry. Soon, this form was replaced with a HubSpot integration; it allowed an automated handling of the lead, streamlining the process of follow-up and future communication. When the question popped up to get more traffic (read: “I want more customer inquiries”), the business owner said he’d consider online ads after having read about potential reach. But there was no content; no photos, no videos, no stories, nothing that could be used as marketing material. “But everyone is on Instagram, so I need to be there as well!”
Think of it this way: performance marketing is like renting customers. Brand building is like buying property. You need both, but the ratio matters. Start with 70% brand foundation, 30% performance campaigns. As your brand recognition grows, you can adjust. The businesses that flip this ratio (investing 70% in immediate tactics and 30% in long-term building) are the ones constantly fighting for survival rather than growing toward sustainability.
So, what is the healthy way forward? The answer lies not in mimicking the tactics of big brands, but in understanding their actual strategy. Small businesses can’t compete on budget, but they can win on authenticity and consistency. More importantly, they can win on focus.
A Three-Phase Implementation Framework
Foundation: 1-3 Months – Stop the scattered approach. Define your unique story, values, and purpose. This isn’t marketing fluff; this is the narrative that every future marketing effort will represent. Performance marketing typically lacks measures that account for brand-building impact, focusing only on sales, leads, and clicks. Your foundation work is the invisible asset that makes all future campaigns more effective.
Content: 4-6 Months – Rather than trying to be everywhere at once, create a few pieces of high-quality, evergreen content that showcase your expertise. A plumber could write a definitive guide to household maintenance. An accountant could create a video series explaining Dutch tax basics for entrepreneurs. This content is an investment that builds authority for years, not weeks.
Consistency: 7+ Months – Big brands may struggle to be personal on a local level. This is where small businesses have a distinct advantage. A consistent brand, built on a real story and delivered with a personal touch, fosters connections that no massive corporation can replicate. The key is showing up consistently with the same voice, same values, same promise, and not necessarily with new content every day.
Measuring What Matters
Here’s where most small businesses get lost: they measure brand building with performance marketing metrics. It’s like judging a tree by how many apples it produces in its first month.
Brand-building metrics focus on recognition, trust, and preference over time. Performance metrics focus on clicks, conversions, and immediate sales. Both matter, but they operate on different timelines and require different measurement approaches. Stop expecting your brand-building efforts to show immediate ROI in your Google Analytics dashboard.
The marketing landscape in the Netherlands, with its highly digital and tech-savvy market, makes this strategic shift even more critical. The tools for short-term campaigns are readily available to everyone, which means they’re increasingly competitive and less differentiating.
The real opportunity for Dutch small businesses lies in leveraging what global corporations can’t: local authenticity, personal relationships, and genuine community connection. In a market where consumers are increasingly sceptical of corporate messaging, being genuinely small, local, and personal isn’t a disadvantage. In fact, it’s your competitive edge.
The Real Question
This all leads back to the fundamental challenge that most small businesses never properly address: how can we tailor our marketing to generate awareness with our target audience such that leads are already pre-qualified, and we’re not spending time and money on activities that take us away from our actual job?
The answer lies in understanding that brand building isn’t just about long-term recognition; it’s about pre-qualification at scale. When someone contacts your business because they’ve consumed your thoughtful content, understand your approach, and align with your values, that inquiry is already 70% qualified before the first conversation.
Your plumber’s household maintenance guide doesn’t just build authority; it attracts homeowners who value preventive care over emergency repairs. Your accountant’s Dutch tax videos don’t just showcase knowledge; they draw entrepreneurs who want strategic guidance, not just form-filling.
Performance marketing says: “Cast a wide net, sort later.” Strategic brand building says: “Be so clear about what you stand for that the right people self-select.”
The Choice
The current economic climate makes efficient marketing spend more critical than ever. You can continue the expensive cycle of constantly introducing yourself to strangers and then sorting through unqualified leads, or you can build something that compounds: a brand that attracts people who already understand why they might need you.
The irony is that this approach often generates fewer total leads but dramatically higher conversion rates, better client relationships, and more sustainable growth. You’re not just avoiding the practical performance trap; you’re turning your marketing into a qualification filter that works 24/7.
It may not feel as immediate as a sale from a single ad, but it’s the foundation for sustainable growth. It’s the difference between constantly chasing new customers and building a system where the right customers find you.
The big marketing lie isn’t just that small businesses should follow how the big players are running their campaigns. It’s that the best marketing is about generating volume rather than attracting quality. The businesses that understand this difference aren’t just surviving; they’re building something that lasts while actually enjoying the work they set out to do.
https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/marketing-lie-why-small-businesses-cant-just-do-like-nike-biemans-vcdae
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