Stop wasting 30% of your marketing budget: how to kill random acts of marketing

Justin Flitter (chair of the New Zealand Tech Marketers Group and director at Business Mentors NZ) unpacks why so many B2B marketing dollars go to waste and how to fix it. He explains the cost of “virtual insanity” (no strategy), the balance between brand and activation, and a practical way to align teams and budgets to outcomes. The goal: reduce misdirected work and drive revenue with a strategy everyone can execute.

Key themes include:

1. The waste problem: tactics without strategy
   Research shows a third of budgets are wasted due to bad briefs and weak strategy. When marketing is treated as a tactical function, organisations default to “random acts of marketing.”

2. Two kinds of marketing and the 50/50 rule
   Buyers are either in-market now or out-of-market for weeks or months. Evidence suggests a 50/50 split between brand and activation in B2B to maximise growth. “Sales activation doesn’t create demand; it just captures the demand that already exists.”

3. Strategy as guardrails: say no to the wrong work
   “Strategy is what you say no to.” Most leadership teams spend little time on strategy, which leads to shifting goalposts and wasted budget. Create clear decision rules (an “ideas bank,” not a parking lot) so good ideas are welcomed, prioritised, or paused, without derailing execution. 

4. Evolving buyer behaviour demands better content access and measurement
   Buyers self-serve via review sites and AI. They often decide before they even visit your site. Keep content accurate, accessible and current. Make it easy to learn if your product fits.

5. Use this seven‑point structure to cut waste and win buy‑in:

• The goal and how it delivers the business strategy.

• The upside if we nail it; the downside if we fail.

• Target audience and why they need us(insight/problem/opportunity).

• The unique, data‑driven insight.

• The strategic narrative: name the buyer’s world shift and you help them navigate.

• The #1 KPI plus leading indicators/intent signals.

• The delivery plan/roadmap.

Key  takeaways:

• Balance your plan: invest 50% in brand to create future demand and 50% in activation to capture today’s demand.

• Anchor marketing to company strategy: use the seven‑point brief to earn leadership buy‑in.

• Align as a growth team: agree 2–3 company‑level metrics, cascade KPIs, and set guardrails so you can confidently say no to off‑strategy work.

Press play below to see the complete discussion and examples.