MarkGo on the ThinkBusiness Podcast: Stop Spending, Start Strategising
Our co-founders Peter McPartlin and Sharon Mooney joined John Kennedy on episode 353 of the ThinkBusiness Podcast, Bank of Ireland’s business podcast, to talk about the marketing blind spot that holds so many SMEs back.
SMEs make up almost all of Ireland’s businesses and employ the majority of its workforce, yet they get the least marketing support of any part of the economy. Most are too small for an agency and can’t justify a full-time marketing hire, so strategy ends up filed as a “nice to have” while founders focus on payroll and revenue. The result is a lot of activity, from social posts to paid ads, with no clear plan behind it and little return.
Peter and Sharon talk through the traps they see founders fall into again and again: chasing channels because competitors are on them, confusing short bursts of activity with strategy, and marketing features to themselves rather than benefits to their customers. Their advice is simple. Work out who your audience is, pick one channel and do it well, and lean on testimonials and referrals before paid spend.
They also cover where AI fits in. It can produce a convincing-looking plan in seconds, but it can’t tell a strong position from a weak one. That’s why every MarkGo plan is reviewed by a senior marketer before it reaches the client, so SMEs get AI speed with real human judgement behind it.