Marketing Strategy & Customer Acquisition Consulting
Most UK businesses do not have a traffic problem. They have a conversion problem, an attribution problem, and a strategic problem masquerading as a marketing problem. We provide marketing strategy and customer acquisition consulting to UK SMEs who are spending money on marketing without confidence in which channels actually generate profitable customers, what their true Customer Acquisition Cost is per channel, what percentage of leads convert, why the rest disappear, or whether doubling marketing spend would double revenue.
If those questions cannot be answered, marketing has become an expense rather than an investment. Most marketing spend is reasonable in concept and ineffective in execution because the strategic layer above the tactics has not been built. Channel selection is reactive (chasing what competitors are doing). Messaging is generic (because the Ideal Customer Profile has not been defined behaviourally). Conversion is poor (because the funnel between awareness and revenue has not been engineered). The result is feast-or-famine revenue, marketing spend that cannot be defended at the board level, and a sales team frustrated with low-quality or insufficient leads.
We have advised UK businesses since 2014, with verified named clients including Velani Hospitality Group (180% revenue growth across 12 sites), Jamaica Rum Vibes (Tesco national distribution and 220% YoY growth), and Webnix Designs (a London digital agency repositioning). Engagements use the SOAR Marketing System, the proprietary framework we have developed across these client engagements.
Book a free 60-minute Marketing Assessment. We will audit your current marketing performance across channels, calculate your true Customer Acquisition Cost, identify the top three opportunities for immediate improvement, assess your marketing against the SOAR framework, and recommend the right service tier for your situation. No obligation.
Who Delivers This Service
Your marketing strategy will be developed by Kurt Graver — Accountant, MBA, Founder of SGI Consultants — supported by a qualified team of marketing and customer acquisition specialists. Kurt personally oversees every marketing engagement, applying the SOAR Marketing System across positioning, channel strategy, and conversion optimisation. His clients typically achieve a 2–3× improvement in marketing ROI within six months.
Acquisition Performance Metrics
Revenue Generated via Our Strategies
Average CAC Reduction (Post-Optimisation)
Highest YoY Growth Achieved
Retention Rate Improvement
Most Businesses Have an Attribution Problem, Not a Traffic Problem
Before we can help any business improve its marketing, we ask five questions. In over a decade of consulting with UK SMEs, these questions reveal the real problem faster than any audit:
- Which marketing channels are actually generating profitable customers -- not just leads or traffic?
- What is your true Customer Acquisition Cost by channel, adjusted for lead quality and conversion rate?
- What percentage of leads convert to customers, and what happens to the rest?
- What is the lifetime value of customers from different acquisition sources?
- If you doubled your marketing spend tomorrow, would revenue double -- or would you double your waste?
Most business owners hesitate on at least three of these. That hesitation is the diagnosis. It indicates that marketing decisions are being made without the data required to make them well -- and that a significant proportion of current marketing spend is almost certainly being directed at activities that generate activity but not revenue.
In our experience across hundreds of UK businesses, the average SME wastes between 40 and 60% of its marketing budget on channels and campaigns it cannot attribute to customer acquisition. The problem is not the budget. It is the absence of a systematic, evidence-based approach to building and optimising the customer acquisition engine.
The Four Most Common Marketing Failures in SMEs
Before describing what an effective marketing strategy looks like, it is worth naming the patterns we see repeatedly -- because most businesses recognise themselves in at least one of them.
The Spray-and-Pray Marketer runs activity across every available channel without the data to know which ones work for their specific business and customer type. Budget is spread thin, results are mediocre across the board, and the response to underperformance is to try yet another channel rather than to concentrate on what the evidence supports.
The Awareness Addict invests heavily in brand awareness and content marketing, whilst neglecting direct-response activities that generate measurable leads. The business has good brand recognition in its market, but cannot explain why it is not translating into a predictable pipeline.
The Attribution Avoider is unable to track which marketing activities generate customers and which do not. Decisions are made on opinion and instinct. Channels that are destroying value continue to receive budget because nobody has built the measurement framework to identify them.
The Conversion Ignorer is driving traffic and generating leads, but losing most of them before purchase. Significant spend is going into the top of the funnel, whilst the bottom -- where prospects become customers -- has never been optimised.
None of these patterns is caused by a lack of marketing effort or investment. All of them stem from the absence of a systematic marketing framework that links spend to revenue.
The SOAR Marketing System
We've developed a systematic framework—SOAR—that transforms marketing from guesswork into a predictable revenue engine. This isn't a theory from marketing textbooks. It's battle-tested across hundreds of UK businesses, generating millions in measurable revenue.
S - Standout Branding
Differentiate in crowded markets.
Most businesses blend into competitive noise because they haven't articulated what makes them genuinely different. They compete on price by default because they haven't defined their unique value.
What We Deliver:
- Unique value proposition development articulated in customer language
- Competitive positioning analysis identifying differentiation opportunities
- Brand personality definition: creating an emotional connection
- Messaging framework consistent across all customer touchpoints
- Market positioning strategy is making you the obvious choice for ideal customers
O - Orchestrate Connections
Deeply understand and connect with your ideal customers.
Generic messaging appeals to no one. Effective marketing speaks directly to the specific pain points, aspirations, and decision drivers of your ideal customer profile.
What We Deliver:
- Ideal Customer Profile (ICP) definition with precise targeting criteria
- Customer journey mapping, identifying all touchpoints and decision moments
- Pain point and aspiration research informing messaging strategy
- Multi-touchpoint messaging strategy orchestrating consistent communication
- Customer segmentation enabling personalised marketing approaches
A - Attract & Amplify
Create compelling offers and amplify through strategic channels.
Content without distribution is invisible. Distribution without compelling offers generates no response. You need both—irresistible offers amplified through channels where your ideal customers actually pay attention.
What We Deliver:
- Content strategy aligned with customer journey stages
- Lead magnet development, creating high-value entry points
- Multi-channel distribution strategy balancing organic and paid
- Social media framework (not random posting, strategic audience building)
- Email marketing systems nurture leads to purchase readiness
- Paid advertising strategy optimised for Customer Acquisition Cost
R - Revenue Maximisation
Convert prospects into customers and maximise lifetime value.
Traffic and leads mean nothing if they don't convert. Revenue Maximisation focuses on the critical conversion points—turning website visitors into leads, leads into customers, and customers into repeat buyers.
What We Deliver:
- Conversion rate optimisation across your entire funnel
- Sales process design and enablement connecting marketing to revenue
- Lead qualification framework prioritising high-value prospects
- Customer onboarding systems are reducing early churn
- Upsell and cross-sell strategies increase customer lifetime value
- Retention marketing prevents customer defection
Marketing Strategy Consulting Services
Our marketing strategy consulting is structured in three tiers, designed to meet businesses at their current level of marketing sophistication and resources. Some need a rigorous audit that tells them where their current spending is working and where it is not. Some need a full SOAR system built from the ground up. Some need ongoing strategic marketing leadership. We offer all three.
Tier 1: Marketing and Customer Acquisition Audit
Best For: Businesses with active marketing spend who need to understand what is working, what is not, and where to concentrate investment for the highest return.
Investment: From £500 | Timeline: Two to Three Weeks
The Marketing Audit is the fastest route to evidence-based marketing decisions. In two to three weeks, we will conduct a comprehensive analysis of your current marketing performance -- channel by channel, campaign by campaign -- and produce a prioritised roadmap for improving return on your existing spend.
Comprehensive Marketing Performance Analysis:
- Current channel audit covering performance, spend, and attributable ROI by channel
- Customer Acquisition Cost analysis revealing the true cost per customer from each source
- Lead-to-customer conversion analysis, identifying where prospects are dropping out of the funnel
- Attribution analysis connecting marketing activities to revenue outcomes
- Competitor marketing analysis, identifying gaps and positioning opportunities
SOAR Framework Assessment:
- Standout positioning evaluation -- how genuinely differentiated your current messaging is
- Customer connection assessment -- ICP clarity and messaging effectiveness against target segments
- Attract and amplify analysis -- content quality, channel selection, and distribution effectiveness
- Revenue maximisation review -- conversion optimisation opportunities at each funnel stage
Strategic Marketing Roadmap:
- Prioritised recommendations ranked by estimated ROI potential
- Channel optimisation strategy -- stop, start, and continue framework for current spend
- Quick-win identification for improvements achievable within 30 days
- 90-day implementation plan with clear milestones and accountability
- Budget reallocation recommendations to maximise return from existing investment
Deliverables: 35 to 45 page Marketing Performance Report / Customer Acquisition Cost Dashboard (Excel or Google Sheets) / Marketing Attribution Model Template / Channel Performance Scorecard / 60-minute findings presentation
A Leeds B2B services business was spending £8,000 per month across four marketing channels, with no attribution tracking and no clarity on which channels were generating revenue. The audit identified that one channel -- an email nurture programme they were about to cancel -- was generating 67% of qualified leads at a fraction of the cost of their paid social activity. The budget was reallocated accordingly. Within 60 days, Customer Acquisition Cost was reduced by 44% while lead volume remained stable.
Tier 2: Marketing Strategy Development and Implementation
Best For: Businesses ready to implement a comprehensive, systematic customer acquisition programme built on the SOAR framework, replacing sporadic tactics with a complete, integrated marketing system.
Investment: From £2,500 | Timeline: Eight to Ten Weeks
Marketing Strategy Development builds the complete SOAR marketing system for your business -- from positioning and customer intelligence through to channel strategy, content architecture, and conversion optimisation -- and provides the implementation support to get it operational.
Complete SOAR System Implementation:
Standout Branding: unique value proposition workshop / competitive positioning strategy/brand messaging framework/market positioning implementation
Orchestrate Connections: detailed Ideal Customer Profile development/customer journey mapping/pain point and aspiration research/segmentation strategy/messaging matrix for all customer segments
Attract and Amplify: multi-channel marketing plan covering organic and paid / three-month rolling content calendar / minimum two high-value lead magnets / paid advertising strategy and campaign structure/email marketing automation sequence design / social media strategy with platform prioritisation
Revenue Maximisation: sales funnel optimisation with conversion benchmarks/sales process design, connecting marketing to revenue/lead qualification and scoring framework/customer onboarding sequence/retention marketing programme / upsell and cross-sell strategy
Technology and Systems: marketing technology stack recommendations / CRM configuration for lead management/analytics and attribution implementation/automation platform setup/performance monitoring dashboard
Team Training and Handover: two to three training sessions for marketing and sales teams/process documentation for all systems / 60 days of post-implementation support
A Manchester professional services firm was entirely dependent on founder referrals for new business -- a pipeline that was both unpredictable and non-scalable. We built a complete SOAR system over nine weeks: repositioned the firm around a specific sector niche where it had demonstrable expertise, built an ICP-led LinkedIn content and outreach programme, and redesigned the lead qualification and proposal process. Within 90 days of implementation, the firm was generating 12 qualified inbound enquiries per month independently of the founder's direct network.
Tier 3: Fractional CMO and Customer Acquisition Partnership
Best For: Growth-stage businesses that need ongoing strategic marketing leadership -- the equivalent of a Chief Marketing Officer -- without the cost or commitment of a full-time senior hire.
Investment: From £2,500 per month | Timeline: Six-Plus Months (Ongoing)
The Fractional CMO service provides full CMO-level marketing leadership on a part-time basis. Depending on the engagement level selected, you receive two to four days per month of senior marketing expertise -- covering everything from board-level marketing strategy and budget allocation through to campaign oversight, agency management, and continuous SOAR optimisation.
Strategic Marketing Leadership:
- Board-level marketing strategy and annual planning
- Customer acquisition strategy aligned with business revenue targets
- Marketing budget allocation and ongoing ROI optimisation
- Channel strategy determines where to invest and where to exit
- Competitive positioning and market development
Operational Marketing Management:
- Monthly performance review with strategic recommendations and forward guidance
- Campaign planning, execution oversight, and optimisation
- Marketing team coaching and capability development
- Agency and vendor management with performance accountability
- Marketing technology selection, implementation, and management
SOAR Framework Continuous Optimisation:
- Ongoing positioning refinement as market conditions evolve
- Customer insight research and segmentation updates
- Content and channel strategy adaptation based on performance data
- Conversion optimisation across the entire customer journey
- Retention and lifetime value improvement initiatives
Growth-Focused Marketing Planning:
- New market entry marketing strategy
- Product and service launch planning and execution
- Pricing strategy from a market and positioning perspective
- Customer Acquisition Cost optimisation over time
- Scalable growth system development
Performance Measurement and Reporting:
- Marketing dashboard development and ongoing monitoring
- Attribution modelling showing marketing's contribution to revenue
- Channel performance analysis and budget reallocation recommendations
- ROI reporting for board and investor stakeholders
- Testing and optimisation framework for continuous performance improvement
Service Comparison
Feature | Marketing Audit | Strategy Development | Fractional CMO |
|---|---|---|---|
Investment | From £500 | From £2,500 | From £2,500 per month |
Duration | Two to Three Weeks | Eight to Ten Weeks | Six-Plus Months |
Performance Analysis | Comprehensive | Deep dive | Continuous |
CAC Analysis | Current state audit | Optimisation plan | Active management |
SOAR Assessment | All four components | Full implementation | Ongoing optimisation |
ICP Development | Guidance provided | Comprehensive build | Continuous refinement |
Channel Strategy | Recommendations | Multi-channel plan | Active management |
Content Strategy | Framework provided | Three-month plan | Ongoing development |
Conversion Optimisation | Analysis | Funnel redesign | Continuous testing |
Marketing Technology | Recommendations | Setup and implementation | Full management |
Team Training | Not included | Two to three sessions | Ongoing development |
Board Reporting | Not included | Not included | Monthly or quarterly |
Campaign Management | Not included | Implementation support | Full leadership |
Ongoing Support | Not included | 60 days post | Continuous partnership |
See our full pricing structure and competitive comparison --
Which Marketing Consulting Package Is Best For You?
You need a marketing audit if you:
- Spend £3K+ monthly on marketing without a clear ROI
- Don't know the true Customer Acquisition Cost by channel
- Rely primarily on referrals with no predictable lead generation
- Struggle to track which marketing actually generates customers
- Have tried multiple tactics without systematic testing
- Experience feast-or-famine revenue cycles
You Need Strategy Development If You:
- Want to build systematic customer acquisition, replacing sporadic efforts
- Need to scale beyond founder-led sales or pure referrals
- Have a budget for marketing but lack a strategic direction
- Recognise marketing waste but don't know how to fix it
- Want to implement proven frameworks rather than guessing
- Need comprehensive systems, not just isolated tactics
You need a fractional CMO If You:
- Require senior marketing leadership for the growth stage
- Have a marketing team but lack strategic direction
- Need to scale customer acquisition rapidly
- Want board-level marketing expertise without full-time costs
- Manage agencies/vendors, but lack internal marketing expertise
- Face complex marketing challenges requiring experienced leadership
Explore Further
Related reading:
- Startup Marketing: Ultimate Promotion Guide — The complete SOAR-based marketing framework for UK businesses
- Unlocking the Power of Market Segmentation — Customer segmentation as the foundation of an effective marketing strategy
- Ethical Selling: Building Customer Trust — Building sustainable customer acquisition systems
Free resource:
- The Marketing & Sales Toolkit → — The SOAR Marketing System frameworks, channel templates and campaign tools
Content hub:
- Marketing & Sales Hub → — Complete marketing strategy and customer acquisition resources
Related services:
- Business Growth Consulting — Revenue growth across all levers alongside marketing strategy
- Business Strategy Consulting — Competitive positioning that makes marketing more effective
- Startup Strategy Consulting — Go-to-market strategy for early-stage businesses
Book A Free Business Assessment
Real Acquisition Outcomes
Jamaica Rum Vibes -- FMCG National Distribution (UK)
Jamaica Rum Vibes, a premium British rum brand, needed to transition from niche regional sales to national retail distribution. The barrier was not product quality -- it was understanding and demonstrating the commercial viability metrics that major buyers require before committing shelf space. We rebuilt the trade marketing strategy around the specific criteria Tesco and comparable retailers apply, repositioned the brand's commercial narrative, and supported the buyer engagement process. The result was nationwide Tesco distribution and 220% year-on-year revenue growth, transforming Jamaica Rum Vibes from a niche player to a mass-market brand in 12 months.
SaaS Analytics Platform -- B2B Lead Generation (London)
A London-based B2B SaaS business was entirely dependent on the founder for sales—a model that consumed the founder's time, limited growth, and created a single point of failure for the business. We implemented the SOAR framework with particular focus on the Attract and Amplify component, building a LinkedIn-led automated top-of-funnel programme targeting the specific decision-maker profile the platform served. Within 90 days, the business was generating 45 qualified product demos per month, the founder had stepped back from day-to-day sales, and Customer Acquisition Cost had reduced by 35%.
Velani Hospitality Group -- Multi-Location Retention Marketing (London and South East)
Velani Hospitality was operating 12 sites but marketing each one in isolation, with no centralised strategy and no systematic approach to retaining and reactivating existing customers. We centralised the marketing function, implemented a local SEO programme across all sites, and built a CRM-led retention and reactivation system that targeted lapsed customers with personalised campaigns. Repeat customer frequency increased by 40% across the group, contributing to a 180% increase in overall revenue without a proportional increase in acquisition spend.
Explore detailed examples of how our business consulting has enabled clients to secure funding and achieve growth:
Stop Wasting Marketing Budget. Start Building Predictable Customer Acquisition.
Most UK businesses are spending on marketing without the strategic architecture to compound that spend. They are generating activity—impressions, clicks, posts, campaigns—but not the predictable, scalable customer acquisition that grows a business with confidence.
SGI Consultants has helped over 2,000 UK businesses move from marketing guesswork to evidence-based customer acquisition. Our SOAR Marketing System has been applied across every sector, and every stage of growth, and the pattern is consistent: businesses that implement it systematically generate more customers, at lower cost, with greater predictability than anything they achieved before.
Your free Marketing and Customer Acquisition Assessment is the starting point. We audit your current marketing performance, calculate your true Customer Acquisition Cost, assess your approach against the SOAR framework, and give you a clear, prioritised picture of where the most accessible improvements lie. There is no obligation and no sales pressure.
No obligation. No sales pressure. Just clear, expert guidance.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
Marketing agencies are implementers -- they run ads, create content, manage social media, and execute the campaigns you give them. Marketing strategy consulting operates at the layer above that: determining which customers to target, what your differentiated positioning should be, which channels are right for your customer profile, and how to measure whether any of it is working. The two functions are complementary, and the best results come from combining them. For clients on our Fractional CMO service, we provide the strategic direction and hold agencies accountable for performance against defined outcomes. The agency executes; we ensure the execution is directed by evidence and strategy rather than habit or guesswork.
SOAR is SGI's proprietary marketing framework developed and refined across 12+ years of working with UK businesses. It addresses the four elements that must be working together for marketing to generate predictable, compounding revenue: Standout (clear differentiation that prevents default price competition), Orchestrate (deep customer understanding that makes messaging relevant rather than generic), Attract and Amplify (strategic channel and content distribution that reaches the right people at the right moment), and Revenue (conversion optimisation that turns the prospects you attract into customers and customers into repeat buyers). SOAR works because it is systematic and comprehensive. Most businesses optimise individual tactics in isolation. SOAR optimises the entire customer acquisition system, ensuring that each component reinforces the others.
We do not offer guarantees of specific lead volumes or revenue outcomes -- the variables involved include your market, your competitive position, your product-market fit, and your team's implementation quality, all of which are outside our direct control. What we do commit to is the quality of the strategic framework, the rigour of our implementation, and a clear picture of what realistic improvement looks like for your specific situation before you engage us. Our track record across 2,000+ businesses gives us a solid empirical basis for what is achievable. For a concrete reference, businesses that implement the full SOAR system through Strategy Development consistently see measurable improvement in Customer Acquisition Cost and lead quality within 90 days of implementation.
The timeline depends on the starting point and the tier engaged. Quick wins from the Marketing Audit -- fixing obvious attribution gaps, reallocating budget from demonstrably non-performing channels -- typically show within 30 to 60 days. Channel optimisation following the audit produces measurable improvement within 60 to 90 days as data accumulates. Full SOAR system implementation through Strategy Development produces its primary impact in the 90 to 180-day window as the new positioning, customer acquisition channels, and conversion systems become operational. The compounding benefit -- as an optimised system matures and learns -- builds over 6 to 12 months. Marketing transformation is not instant, but a clear directional improvement in the right metrics should be visible within 60 days of any engagement.
Depends on service tier:
Marketing Audit: Strategy and recommendations only—you implement.
Strategy Development: We create a comprehensive plan and support initial implementation (8-10 weeks), then you manage ongoing execution with the systems we've built.
Fractional CMO: We provide strategic leadership AND operational management—overseeing campaigns, managing teams/agencies, and continuously optimising performance.
How quickly will we see results?
- Quick wins (fixing obvious waste): 30-60 days
- Channel optimisation: 60-90 days as data accumulates
- Full system implementation: 90-180 days for comprehensive transformation
- Compounding results: 6-12 months as optimised systems mature
Marketing transformation isn't instant, but directional improvement should be visible within 60 days.
Marketing strategy consulting helps you use your existing budget more effectively—it does not require you to increase it. Many clients reduce total marketing spend whilst improving results because we eliminate the waste in their current approach. As a practical guide, the Marketing Audit at £500 is accessible regardless of budget. To benefit meaningfully from the SOAR system implementation in Strategy Development, a minimum monthly marketing deployment budget of £2,000 to £3,000 is recommended—enough to run systematic tests across channels and generate meaningful data. Below that threshold, we focus exclusively on organic acquisition tactics (content, SEO, email, LinkedIn) until the budget can support paid channel testing.
Yes, and this is the most common working arrangement for our Fractional CMO engagements. We provide the strategic direction -- ICP, positioning, channel priorities, performance standards -- and your internal team or existing agencies execute against that direction. We set the strategy, review campaign performance, provide optimisation guidance, and hold execution partners accountable to defined outcomes. This combination consistently outperforms either strategic consulting alone or execution alone, because it aligns the quality of strategic thinking with that of tactical implementation.
We're industry-agnostic because marketing fundamentals apply universally. However, we have deep experience in:
- Professional services (consultancy, law, accounting)
- Technology and SaaS businesses
- E-commerce and retail
- B2B services and manufacturing
- Healthcare and wellness
Sector expertise matters less than understanding customer psychology, channel dynamics, and conversion optimisation—which we've proven across every sector.
The return depends on the starting quality of the marketing it replaces and the quality of implementation of what we build. The most direct ROI mechanism is the Marketing Audit: businesses routinely discover that 30 to 60% of their current marketing spend generates little or no attributable return. Reallocating that spend to evidence-supported channels produces an immediate improvement in marketing efficiency. For a concrete example: a client spending £6,000 per month on marketing with no attribution framework discovered through our audit, that one channel was generating 70% of revenue-generating leads at 15% of total spend. Reallocating budget to that channel reduced their overall marketing spend by 35% whilst increasing qualified lead volume by 28%. The £500 audit was paid back within the first month. For larger Fractional CMO engagements, we target a minimum 5x return on fees within the first 12 months.