In this episode of Sessions, Aaron shares the three biggest marketing mistakes he sees time and again when working with home, garden, and lifestyle brands.
If your brand is relying too heavily on ads, forgetting about offline marketing, or not making the most of your email list, this one’s for you.
Mistake 1: over-reliance on ads
Ads are great. Whether it’s Google, Meta, or affiliate channels, they can be incredibly effective at getting your brand in front of the right audience. But too often, businesses become dependent on them. We’ve seen brands doing £2M–£5M in turnover with 80% of that revenue coming from a single platform like Google Ads. That’s a problem.
Relying on just one channel for leads and revenue is risky. If that channel stops performing, or gets more expensive, your growth stalls. At Evergreen, we always advise that no more than a third of your business should come from any one source. That’s where our BEAR framework comes in: Brand, Email, Ads, and Referrer/Repeat. The goal is balance. Ads are powerful, but they shouldn’t be your only engine.
Mistake 2: ignoring offline marketing
In the rush to optimise digital, brands often forget about the power of offline. Physical marketing still works, sometimes even better than digital because so few people do it well. Whether it’s sending leaflets, hosting events, or creating “lumpy mail” to catch attention, offline tactics can be a powerful driver of online activity.
We work with clients on seasonal showroom events, direct mail campaigns, and even physical brochures with QR codes that link to personalised videos. For bricks-and-mortar businesses especially, using online to drive offline footfall (and vice versa) creates a true omni-channel experience. It’s about meeting customers wherever they are, not just in their inbox or feed.
Mistake 3: under utilising email
Email is one of the most powerful, underused marketing tools for home and garden brands. It’s a channel you own. It’s a direct line into your customer’s inbox. And yet, many brands treat it as an afterthought, only sending emails during seasonal promotions or relying on automated flows that haven’t been touched in years.
Used properly, email nurtures relationships, builds loyalty, and drives repeat purchases. It’s not just about selling. It’s about educating, inspiring, and showing up consistently. We often help brands unlock huge value simply by using the customer data they already have to send smarter, more relevant content.
The fix: think like a BEAR
To grow sustainably, brands need to spread their marketing activity across multiple pillars. That’s where the BEAR framework helps. It gives you a clear lens through which to assess how reliant you are on any single channel.
Brand: Are people searching for your name? Do you have awareness in your market?
Email: Are you nurturing your audience consistently? Are you owning the relationship?
Ads: Are you using them effectively, without over-relying on them?
Referrer/repeat: Are you making the most of past customers and word of mouth?
Overlay this onto your business, and it becomes clear where the gaps and risks are.
Final thoughts
Sustainable growth doesn’t come from a single silver bullet. It comes from balance. Over-relying on ads, ignoring offline tactics, or underutilising email might work in the short term, but they won’t build a brand that lasts. By thinking holistically and spreading your efforts across brand, email, ads, and referrals, you’ll set your business up for smarter, more profitable growth.
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