Why Understanding The Minimum Viable Marketing Plan is Essential for Mom Entrepreneurs
Feb 23, 2026
How to Stay Consistent Without Burning Out
Marketing has been coming up a lot lately — inside the Inner Circle, with my private clients, and across conversations with women in Ambition. And honestly, it felt like it was time to pause and say: we need to talk about this properly.
If you’ve been around my world for a while, you might already know this, but before coaching, I spent my career in corporate marketing. I started in public relations and digital marketing and eventually managed digital marketing for a large automotive company. Marketing used to be the centre of my business — I built a social media marketing agency and taught small businesses how to market better online.
Lately, though, what I’ve been seeing is exhaustion. Burnout. Overwhelm. And marketing plans that assume you have endless time, energy, childcare, and emotional bandwidth.
Most moms don’t.
So this episode — and this post — is about what I call minimum viable marketing: the smallest amount of marketing you need to do on purpose to keep your business moving forward.
Why Most Marketing Advice Doesn’t Work for Moms
Most online marketing advice assumes you can be online every day. Posting constantly. Creating on multiple platforms. Chasing trends. Staying visible no matter what season you’re in.
But if your marketing plan requires you to be online daily, you don’t have a marketing plan — you have a burnout plan.
More marketing is rarely the answer.
Clear marketing almost always is.
Your business doesn’t need more content. It needs fewer things done intentionally. There’s no point in creating content across five platforms if none of it converts or fits your real life.
Minimum viable marketing is not about growth hacks or going viral. It’s about maintaining momentum, especially in seasons where capacity is low — sick kids, snow days, emotional fatigue, or just life being life.
The 4 Pieces of Minimum Viable Marketing
1. One Primary Visibility Channel
Choose one place where you show up consistently.
That could be Instagram, your email list, a podcast, LinkedIn — but not all of them. Choose the platform where:
- Your ideal client already is, and
- You actually enjoy showing up
If you’re trying to use five platforms without support, you’re effectively on none of them. One channel is enough. Two is fine. Three only if you have help.
For me, this podcast is my primary visibility channel. Everything else flows from here.
2. One Clear Message You Repeat
Most women change their message every week because they’re good at many things.
But minimum viable marketing requires one core message:
- Who you help
- What problem you solve
- What changes when they work with you
Boring to you is familiar to your audience. Repetition builds trust.
If someone can’t clearly explain what you do in one sentence, your message isn’t clear yet — and clarity is what converts.
3. One Relationship-Based Action Each Week
Most clients don’t come from content. They come from conversations.
That relationship-based action could be:
- A thoughtful DM or voice note
- Following up with past clients
- Asking for referrals
- Commenting meaningfully
- Building a partnership bridge
When I surveyed service-based business owners, about 70% said their last few clients came from relationships, not content.
Content supports relationships. It doesn’t replace them.
4. One Simple Call to Action
Stop being vague.
Tell people what to do:
- Download the thing
- Reply to the email
- Book the call
- Join the program
If people don’t know what comes next, they won’t do anything.
Marketing must create action — otherwise, it’s just noise.
What Minimum Viable Marketing Is Not
It’s not:
- Posting every day
- Chasing trending audio
- Perfect Canva graphics
- Reinventing your offers monthly
If your marketing feels heavy, it’s usually because you’re carrying too many strategies without a clear foundation. Everything needs a purpose. Everything needs intent.
Consistent does not mean constant.
How I Apply This in My Own Business
I’m not a perfect example of minimum viable marketing — I have a team — but my strategy is simple.
I create long-form content (like this podcast), then repurpose it across platforms. This same conversation becomes:
- A blog post
- Social content
- Email prompts
Everything ultimately points people back to my email list, where I can nurture relationships and share offers like the Inner Circle, Ambition Mastermind, and events.
If you’re constantly creating new content from scratch, it makes sense that you’re tired.
A Tool to Help You Put This Into Action
If you’re listening to this and thinking, “This still feels like a lot — can you just map it out for me?” I’ve got you.
I built a free 30-day marketing plan app that helps you:
- Clarify your goals
- Assess your capacity
- Identify what actually matters right now
You answer a few questions, and it builds a realistic plan for the next 30 days — one you can scale up or down depending on what life throws at you.
If you don’t have five hours a week for marketing, you shouldn’t be doing more than minimum viable marketing. This tool helps you honour that.
Check it out here: https://tmmbmarketing.lovable.app/
Final Thoughts
Marketing does not need to be more.
It doesn’t need to be complicated.
It needs to be consistent — and intentional.
If you’re showing up intensely for short bursts and then disappearing for long stretches, it’s no wonder your business feels stuck.
Minimum viable marketing is how we build businesses that survive real life — not just ideal circumstances.
