Why the biggest threat to your marketing budget isn’t the budget itself – it’s the delay in spending it.
That email… you know the one
It’s early Autumn/Fall. An email lands in my inbox from a client I quoted back in June. After weeks of radio silence, they’re suddenly in crisis mode.
“We’ve got a conference in three weeks. Can you write a 16-page brochure? Oh, and we’re still finalising the brief.”
Six weeks ago, this project could have been thoughtful, strategic, collaborative. Now it’s a white-knuckle sprint with everyone’s stress levels through the roof.
If you’ve been on either side of this conversation, you’ll know exactly what I mean.
I’ve been a marketing strategist and copywriter for over 30 years, and I’ve lost count of how many times I’ve watched perfectly good projects turn into panic stations – not because the work was difficult, but because someone, somewhere, was “waiting.”
Waiting for the finance director to sign off. Waiting for the CEO to approve the concept. Waiting for a “less busy” period. Waiting for the stars to align and a choir of angels to descend from the heavens confirming this is, indeed, the right moment to proceed.
But …
waiting is almost always more expensive than starting.
The Question You’re Really Asking (Even If You Don’t Realise It)
When you commission a marketing project – whether it’s a website refresh, a brochure, a content strategy, or a rebrand – you’re implicitly choosing between two priorities:
Time-sensitive: You need this delivered by a specific date. Quality matters, but the deadline is non-negotiable.
Cost-sensitive: You want the best possible result for your budget. The timeline can flex if it means a better outcome.
Most marketing leaders think they’re cost-sensitive. They want value for money, they want to protect the budget, and they’re cautious about committing until all the ducks are in a row.
But here’s what actually happens in practice: by delaying the decision, they force themselves into time-sensitive territory – and end up paying more for a worse result.
It’s a bit like deciding you’re too busy to service your car, then finding yourself broken down on the M1 at 6am, paying emergency call-out rates for a problem that would have cost £80 to fix last month.
The Real Costs of “Just Waiting”
So what actually happens when marketing decisions get kicked down the road?
1. Rush Fees and Compressed Timelines
Every supplier worth their salt builds their schedule around committed projects. When you finally say “yes” after weeks of deliberation, you’re often competing with work that was booked while you were deliberating.
The result? Either you get squeezed into gaps (with less of your supplier’s best thinking time) or you’re asked to pay a premium for prioritised delivery.
I’ll be honest with you, when a project that could have taken three relaxed weeks suddenly needs to happen in five frantic days, the price goes up. Not because I’m being opportunistic, but because I’m now working evenings, moving other clients around, and operating at 150% capacity.
2. The Brief That Doesn’t Exist
Here’s a very typical pattern I see: a client delays the project decision, but also delays preparing the brief. Then, when they finally commission the work, they’re scrambling to pull together materials, hunting for brand guidelines, and realising they haven’t actually agreed internally on what they want.
The project kicks off half-baked. Everyone’s stressed. Revisions multiply. Quality suffers.
All because the “waiting period” wasn’t used productively.
3. Missed Opportunities (The Hidden Cost)
Every week your website copy isn’t converting, every month your brochure isn’t in prospects’ hands, every quarter your content strategy isn’t generating leads – that’s money walking out the door.
I worked with a client recently who rewrote five key pages on their website to focus on outcomes rather than features. Enquiries increased by 38% in five weeks. Zero additional ad spend.
Now imagine they’d spent another two months “waiting for the right time” to make that change. How many enquiries did they nearly lose?
4. The Domino Effect on Your Suppliers
This one rarely gets mentioned, but it’s crucial.
When you delay your decision, you’re not just affecting your own timeline. You’re affecting the designer who was ready to start on Monday. The printer who’d blocked out production time. The copywriter who’s now juggling your “urgent” project against another client’s work they’d already committed to.
Good suppliers will move mountains to help you. But repeatedly asking people to “hold the slot” while you wait for internal approval? That’s a relationship strain. Eventually, the best suppliers get booked up by clients who commit faster.
“We’re Just Waiting For…”
I’ve heard every version of this. Let me address the most common ones.
“We’re waiting for budget approval.”
I understand. Finance departments have processes. But here’s my question: what would you need to see to get that approval today?
Often, the real blocker isn’t the budget – it’s a missing piece of information, a poorly articulated business case, or a conversation nobody wants to have with the FD. Waiting doesn’t solve these problems. A clear, outcome-focused proposal does.
“We’re waiting until after the busy period.”
I completely understand that events season or product launches take priority. But consider this – the best time to work on strategic marketing is when you’re not under immediate pressure.
It’s a bit like saying you’ll get fit once you stop being so tired. If you wait until things calm down to work on your messaging, you’ll rush it when things get busy again. And things always get busy again.
“We’re waiting for the new person to start/old person to finish.”
Personnel transitions are real constraints. But marketing assets often outlast individual team members. A strong brand voice document, a clear content strategy, a well-written website – these serve the business regardless of who’s managing them.
If the new marketing director arrives to find a solid foundation already in place, you’ve given them a gift. If they arrive to find a blank slate and urgent deadlines, you’ve handed them a crisis.
The Maths of Starting Now
Here’s how this plays out in real numbers.
Scenario A: The “Waiting” Approach
- August: You receive a proposal for a 16-page brochure at £1,800
- August-September: Proposal sits in your inbox while you wait for approval
- Late September: Approval finally comes through. Conference is in three weeks.
- Scramble ensues. Rush fee added. Designer stressed. Printer on overtime.
- Total cost: £2,400 + premium printing + compromised quality
Scenario B: The “Starting” Approach
- August: You receive a proposal for a 12-page brochure at £1,800
- August: You provide a quick brief and approve the project
- August-September: Copywriter develops strategic messaging with input from your team
- Late September: Polished brochure delivered. Time for design refinements.
- Total cost: £1,800 + standard printing + better result
Same project. Same deadline. Wildly different experience.
What Decision-Makers Actually Need to Know
If you’re a marketing director, CMO, or business owner reading this, I’d offer four things to think about:
1. Identify Your Real Constraint
Is this genuinely about budget, or is it about internal confidence? Sometimes the “cost-sensitive” label is masking a deeper uncertainty about whether the project is right, whether the brief is clear, or whether stakeholders will approve the output.
Name the real blocker. Then address it directly.
2. Use “Waiting Time” Productively
If you must delay approval, spend that time preparing. Gather assets. Align stakeholders. Write the brief. When you finally say “go,” you should be able to hit the ground running – not scrambling for basics.
3. Build Decision Points Into Your Process
Rather than waiting for some nebulous “perfect moment,” create clear milestones. “We’ll review proposals by Friday and make a decision by the following Wednesday.” Defined deadlines create accountability.
4. Factor in the Cost of Inaction
Every marketing budget includes an invisible line item: the cost of not doing things. That outdated website losing you leads. That confusing brochure collecting dust. That content gap your competitors are filling.
Waiting has a price. Make sure you’re counting it.
So What’s the Answer?
Projects are rarely as “time-sensitive” or “cost-sensitive” as we label them. More often, they become time-sensitive because we treated them as cost-sensitive for too long.
The antidote isn’t to throw money at every proposal that lands on your desk. It’s to make faster, more deliberate decisions – even if that decision is “no.”
Because a clear “no” lets everyone move on. A fast “yes” lets everyone do their best work.
It’s the endless “maybe… let’s wait… I’ll get back to you after…” that bleeds time, budget, and goodwill.
Starting is almost always better than waiting.
And if you’ve got a project that’s been sitting in your inbox, gathering dust while you wait for the perfect moment?
Consider this your gentle nudge. The perfect moment was probably last month. The second-best moment is now.
Joanna Aitkens is a senior marketing strategist and copywriter with over 30 years’ experience in healthcare, technology, and B2B sectors. She helps marketing leaders turn vague ideas into clear messaging that actually converts. Contact her at hello@aitkensmedia.com or book a discovery call to talk through your marketing project at www.aitkensmedia.com.
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