Sir: In a year where Nigerian businesses are watching every naira on their balance sheets, one quiet truth has become impossible to ignore: marketing waste is costing companies far more than they realize. Under the current economic pressure, many brands are squeezed, and every ad spend must make financial sense. But instead of cutting entirely, the smarter move is to spend with intent.

Recent policy reform and market changes make this even more urgent. Nigeria’s 2025 Tax Reform Acts, for example, introduced new rules for e-invoicing and real-time reporting, exposing financial inefficiencies, including in marketing, more clearly than ever. Businesses simply can’t afford hidden leakages anymore.

To reduce waste and increase returns, marketers must begin with data rather than instinct. While a good hunch has its place, instinct alone has become an expensive luxury in today’s Nigeria. Consumers are shifting rapidly, and we see that in how they shop, what they trust, and where they spend their time.

Take, for instance, the prepaid card & digital wallet market in Nigeria is projected to grow at about a 17% annual rate. What this means is that marketers must lean into digital channels and transaction data rather than assume cash-behaviour remains dominant.

When audience insights guide your messaging and targeting, campaigns instantly become more efficient and more impactful.This approach naturally leads to one of the biggest lessons of the digital economy: “everyone” is not an audience.

Broad targeting feels safe, but it burns money quickly. Precision targeting, whether through interest clusters or lookalike models, ensures campaigns land where they matter most. This leads to less waste, deeper engagement, and a lower cost per result.

The same principle applies to channel selection. Many Nigerian brands try to be everywhere at once, dropping bits of content across multiple platforms and then wondering why nothing works. Influence doesn’t come from being everywhere; it comes from being effective where it counts. Choosing a few high-impact channels and maximising them creates momentum.

For some businesses, that means being effective on TikTok; for others, it’s building a strong WhatsApp commerce or micro-influencer partnerships.But even with the right channels, waste creeps in when brands reinvent content from scratch every time.

As a marketer, I strongly advise against this and always recommend that my team at Pandora Agency build content systems instead of one-offs. Why keep inventing when one strong idea can become a video, a carousel, a newsletter, a landing page, and an advert? This multiplies impact, cuts production costs, and strengthens brand consistency simultaneously.

Tools also matter, and I’m referring to automation tools here. When people hear about automation, usually what comes to mind is replacing people. But from where I stand, automation is all about removing busywork.

From automated reporting to scheduled email sequences and real-time optimisation, automation cuts out the small inefficiencies that slow teams down. This removes the firefighting approach, allowing marketers to focus on improving strategy and creative output, thereby directly reducing waste.

One more strategy that reduces waste and boosts return on investment (ROI) is to focus on creative quality. Nigeria is a design-loving country; the recent GTCO Fashion Weekend, with its vibrant façades, bold street style, and lively multi-sensory experience, can attest to that.

While aesthetics are important, a beautiful campaign is only useful if it moves people to act. Effective creative blends storytelling with clarity. This can include a strong promise, a sharp hook, and a simple next step. When creative aligns with real consumer motivations like trust, convenience, affordability, or speed, conversions rise naturally.

This must be paired with real-time measurement. Many brands wait until the end of a campaign to ask, “Did this work?”, but by then, the budget is gone. Tracking performance in real time allows teams to tweak, test, and adjust while it still matters. That agility is often the difference between wasted spend and sustained ROI.

Finally, reducing waste requires balancing short-term performance with long-term brand building. Quick wins are useful, but relying on them alone becomes another form of waste. Without brand equity, acquisition costs increase, loyalty declines, and campaigns become more expensive to run. The strongest brands pair immediate results with long-term trust building.

Cutting marketing waste is a growth strategy. As Nigeria’s economy recalibrates, the companies that rethink how they plan, target, create, and optimise will be the ones that build real resilience. Reducing waste is all about doing the right things in smarter ways, for better returns.

And for brands willing to embrace that discipline, the payoff is higher ROI, stronger customer connections, and sustainable growth even in uncertain times.

Kehinde Ruth Onasoga, Managing Director, Pandora Agency Limited, wrote from Lagos.