TL;DR:
- 20% of spend drives ~60% of results (heuristic: scale it), 60% maintains baseline (keep it), 20% is waste (cut it)
- 90-day audit process: Measure (30 days) → Test (30 days) → Reallocate (30 days)
- Next step: [Calculate your marketing efficiency ratio →]
Marketing optimization follows the 20/60/20 rule: 20% of spend drives 60% of results (scale it), 60% maintains baseline (keep it), and 20% is pure waste (cut it). The 90-day audit process identifies which is which, typically finding significant efficiency gains.
$2.3 million in marketing spend. 47 different tactics. Yet predictably, a small fraction drives the majority of results.
This pattern repeats everywhere. Most companies spread budget across too many tactics, platforms take credit for the same conversions, and nobody can tell what’s actually working.
Here’s the 90-day framework that finds your hidden efficiency and eliminates the waste.
The attribution mirage (why optimization starts with truth)
Picture this scenario: A B2B SaaS company celebrating their marketing performance. Google Ads showing 5:1 ROAS. Facebook showing 3:1 ROAS. Email showing 12:1 ROAS. LinkedIn claiming 4:1. The CEO is thrilled. Every channel is profitable!
Then someone does the math.
Total monthly revenue: $1.2M Total marketing spend: $500K Actual MER: 2.4
Wait. If every channel is profitable, why is overall efficiency so low?
Welcome to the attribution mirage: where platforms take credit for the same conversions, last-click gets all the glory, and the truth gets buried under dashboards.
What this pattern reveals
Platform metrics lie. Not maliciously. They just can’t see the whole picture. Google doesn’t know about your email nurture. Facebook doesn’t see the organic blog post that started the journey. Email takes credit for demand it didn’t create.
The typical reality:
- Multiple channels touch most conversions
- Last-click attribution overvalues bottom-funnel tactics
- Brand and content impact goes unmeasured
- True incrementality is rarely tested
The solution that actually works
Ignore platform metrics for strategic decisions. They’re useful for optimization within channels, not across them.
Instead, measure incrementality through holdout tests. Turn channels off. See what happens to total revenue. The channels that actually matter become obvious. The ones riding coattails get exposed.
This is why optimization starts with MER, not channel metrics. As we explore in our MER guide, ecosystem health beats channel vanity.
The 90-day marketing audit framework
Stop optimizing random tactics. Follow this systematic process that surfaces real opportunities.
Days 1-30: Measurement reality check
Week 1: Calculate true baselines
Start with the numbers that matter:
- Current MER for the last 6 months
- Blended CAC including everything
- Revenue contribution by channel (not platform-reported)
- Actual cash flow from marketing
Most companies discover their metrics are fiction at this stage. That’s normal. Face reality before fixing anything.
Week 2: The attribution audit
Map every conversion touchpoint:
- First touch: How do customers find you?
- Middle touches: What keeps them engaged?
- Last touch: What closes the deal?
- Post-purchase: What drives retention?
You’ll find multiple touchpoints involved in most conversions. Single-channel attribution is fantasy.
Week 3: The waste hunt
Look for these patterns:
- Campaigns with CAC > 3x average
- Channels declining in MER for 3+ months
- Spend with no measurable impact
- Zombie campaigns (forgotten but still running)
- Branded search cannibalizing organic
- Retargeting without frequency caps
- Content without distribution
Document everything. Don’t cut yet. Just observe.
Week 4: Quick win identification
Find the obvious opportunities:
- Top 10% performing campaigns (scale these)
- Underutilized owned channels (usually email)
- High-intent keywords you’re missing
- Conversion rate bottlenecks
Quick wins fund the bigger optimization.
Days 31-60: Testing and validation
Weeks 5-6: The holdout tests
This is where truth emerges.
Pause bottom 20% of spend in a non-peak period, with guardrails. Not forever—run a two-week test and monitor total revenue impact.
Typical finding: A significant portion of spend contributes minimal revenue. Sometimes it contributes nothing. That branded search campaign you’ve run for years? Might be pure waste if you rank #1 organically.
Weeks 7-8: The scale tests
Take your top performers and increase budget by up to 50%. Monitor CAC and conversion rates daily.
If metrics hold, you’ve found scalable efficiency. If they decay immediately, you’ve found your ceiling. Both insights are valuable.
Typical finding: Some tactics can scale substantially while maintaining efficiency.
Days 61-90: Reallocation and systemization
Weeks 9-10: The great reallocation
Now you act on the data:
- Cut confirmed waste
- Scale proven winners
- Test new channels with saved budget
- Document new baseline metrics
This isn’t a gentle trim. It’s a decisive reallocation based on evidence.
Weeks 11-12: Build the system
Optimization without systemization is temporary:
- Create monthly audit checklist
- Set trigger points for changes
- Establish testing calendar
- Train team on the framework
- Document what you learned
The goal: Make optimization systematic, not heroic.
The channel reallocation matrix
Not all channels deserve the same treatment. Here’s how to decide what to cut, keep, fix, or scale.
The 2×2 decision framework
| Rising CAC | Falling CAC | |
| High MER | SCALE IT (Invest more) |
KEEP IT (Maintain) |
| Low MER | FIX IT (Optimize) |
CUT IT (Eliminate) |
Scale it (High MER, Rising CAC): Working but getting expensive. Test: Increase budget by up to 50%. Monitor: Weekly MER changes. Decision: Scale until MER drops below target.
Keep it (High MER, Falling CAC): Your steady performers. Maintain current spend. Optimize creative and targeting. Don’t break what works.
Fix it (Low MER, Falling CAC): Improving but not there yet. Give 30 more days. Test messaging and offer changes. Set clear deadline for improvement.
Cut it (Low MER, Rising CAC): Death spiral channels. Cut immediately. Reallocate budget same day. Don’t wait for “one more month.”
Bottom line: Most companies have channels in the “cut it” quadrant they’ve been funding for years.
The optimization opportunities checklist
The 15 places we always find waste
- Broad targeting on paid social – Significant waste typical
- Brand terms in paid search – Consider throttling only when you dominate the SERP, competitors aren’t bidding aggressively, and incrementality tests show minimal lift
- Display networks on by default – Often wasteful
- Retargeting without frequency caps – Annoying and wasteful
- Email to unengaged segments – Hurts deliverability too
- Content without distribution budget – Trees falling in forests
- Agencies marking up media excessively – Unnecessary with transparency
- Tools you don’t actively use – $500-2000/month typical
- Campaigns running >90 days unchanged – Decay guaranteed
- Video without sound-off optimization – Most watch muted
- Landing pages with >3 second load – High bounce rate
- Attribution window mismatches – Double counting conversions
- Seasonality ignorance – December tactics in July
- Single-channel focus – Ignores assist effect
- Vanity metrics optimization – CTR vs actual conversions
Quick win: Audit items 1-5 this week. Most companies find significant monthly waste here alone.
When NOT to cut (the cuts that backfire)
Sometimes the “wasteful” spend is actually working. Know when to keep funding despite the metrics.
Don’t cut brand building
Brand spend looks wasteful in short-term metrics. It drives no immediate conversions. Platforms can’t track its impact.
Test: Pause brand spending for 90 days. Watch your MER slowly decline as performance channels lose their amplifier.
Brand spending is the rising tide that lifts all channels. Cut it at your peril.
Don’t cut testing budget
10-20% of the budget should always be used to test new channels, messages, or audiences. Yes, most will fail. That’s the point.
Without testing, you slowly decay. Channels fatigue. Competitors copy. Costs rise. Testing finds tomorrow’s winners before decay kills today’s. The allocation framework we detail shows exactly how much to invest in experiments. [Review your allocation strategy →]
Don’t cut based on last-click
Email assists everything but gets little last-click credit. Social drives awareness that search captures. Content nurtures demand that retargeting closes.
Judge ecosystems, not touchpoints. Use MER for strategic decisions, not channel metrics.
Don’t cut during peak season
Optimize in quiet periods. Scale during high-intent times. Cutting spend during Black Friday because “CAC is high” is like closing your store during Christmas because it’s crowded.
Seasonality trumps efficiency. Know your cycles.
The smart alternative to cutting
Before cutting budget, try cutting complexity. Most companies run 40+ campaigns when 5-10 would perform better.
Consolidation often beats reduction. Fewer campaigns with bigger budgets typically outperform many campaigns with small budgets.
If your total budget is wrong, optimization won’t save you. Check your budget framework first. [Use our budget calculator →]
Your 30-day quick start
Don’t have 90 days? Here’s what to do in the next month.
Week 1: Measure reality
- Calculate MER for last 6 months
- Find blended CAC
- List all marketing spend (every dollar)
Week 2: Find obvious waste
- Pause bottom 10% of campaigns
- Cut unused tools
- Throttle brand bidding only if you dominate the SERP, competitors aren’t bidding hard, and an incrementality test shows minimal lift
- Typical savings: 10-15%
Week 3: Test scale opportunities
- Increase best performer by 30%
- Monitor daily for changes
- If stable after 7 days, increase another 30%
Week 4: Set the system
- Create monthly audit calendar
- Set optimization triggers (MER below X, CAC above Y)
- Document what you learned
- Plan next 90-day cycle
This compressed version finds substantial improvement. The full 90-day audit finds even more.
Frequently asked questions
How much efficiency gain is realistic?
First audit: Significant improvement typical. Second audit: Moderate gains. Then incremental annually. Dramatic gains mean previous waste. Marginal gains mean you’re optimized.
Should we hire an audit firm?
External eyes help, but you know your business. Use this framework first, then get specialist help for specific channels. Most companies can find the majority of opportunities themselves.
How often should we optimize?
Major audit: Quarterly. Quick check: Monthly. Channel tweaks: Weekly. Daily optimization is usually fidgeting, not improving.
What if cutting spend cuts revenue?
Then you cut too much or the wrong things. Start with 10% cuts, wait 2 weeks, measure impact, adjust. Never cut more than 20% without testing.
Can we optimize our way to growth?
No. Optimization improves efficiency. Growth requires investment. Optimization funds growth by eliminating waste, but you still need to spend to grow.
What about brand-new companies?
You need data to optimize. Spend 3-6 months testing channels first. Optimization requires a baseline. Build it, then optimize it.
Should we pause everything and restart?
Rarely. Evolution beats revolution. Systematic improvement beats dramatic overhauls. Unless you’re literally burning money, optimize incrementally.
What if our agency says everything is optimized?
Get a second opinion. Agencies have incentive to maintain spend. Use this framework yourself. You’ll find opportunities they “missed.”
How do we optimize with limited budget?
Focus ruthlessly. Better to dominate one channel than dabble in five. Cut everything except your best performer, dominate it, then expand.
What’s the biggest optimization mistake? Optimizing tactics while ignoring strategy. Perfect ad optimization won’t fix bad positioning. Efficient spending on the wrong audience still wastes money.
The optimization reality
You’ve identified the optimization opportunities. But executing a comprehensive audit while running daily marketing is like changing tires while driving.
Here’s what successful optimization requires:
- Systematic approach (not random cutting)
- Evidence-based decisions (not opinions)
- Patience for testing (not panic)
- Courage to cut (not attachment)
- Discipline to document (not hero mode)
Most companies find significant waste in their first audit. That’s not failure. That’s opportunity. Every dollar saved can be redeployed to growth.
The companies that win at optimization don’t do it once. They make it systematic. Monthly reviews. Quarterly audits. Annual overhauls. Optimization is a discipline, not an event.
Want expert eyes on your marketing spend? We’ll run the complete 90-day audit, identify your quick wins and hidden waste, and create your custom reallocation plan. Most clients find significant efficiency gains that fund their next stage of growth.
Schedule your optimization audit to turn waste into growth.
Note: Efficiency percentages represent typical patterns based on market observations. Your specific results will vary based on current optimization level and market conditions.
