I am currently on a break from triathlon.
For the first time in a few years, I don’t have another race on my calendar.
For the first time in a few years, that doesnt make me anxious about losing my fitness.
It actually feels like growth.
While I haven't stopped enjoying triathlon, I do seem to have reached a point where the marginal utility of another race has decreased.
I came across this economic concept of diminishing marginal utility while doing my Masters in Decision Sciences about two decades ago. It says that the more we consume of something, the less additional satisfaction we tend to derive from each successive unit.
Think about it - we often assume that if something makes us happy, doing more of it will make us happier.
More races. More achievements. More experiences.
But does it?
It’s like eating chocolates; after a point, you don't enjoy the extra bite.
But racing isn’t quite like consuming chocolates. Every race is different, and sometimes the tenth race can be more meaningful than the first.
But perhaps there comes a point when the next increment adds very little to what one is seeking.
But I am still training. I swim without counting laps, cycle without worrying about watts, and run without chasing a pace.
Sometimes, to change how much we enjoy something, we need to change how much of it we do.
In marketing, growth always seems to mean more, faster, or farther.
Teams constantly chase more and more—another campaign, another notification, another experiment, or product feature.
But how about stopping and thinking about the marginal benefit of doing one more?
If growth is about constantly doing more, when do we decide that we’ve done enough?
Is the next unit of growth worth the resources required to generate it?
A marketing team can answer this by measuring marginal performance, rather than relying only on average performance.
For example, if the marginal contribution of one more customer's lifetime value is $70, acquiring that customer at $100 destroys value.
If so, the team should reconsider where and how the next incremental growth comes from. For example, that might mean moving resources from paid acquisition to retention.
As you make your 2027 marketing plans, think about whether the next incremental growth costs more than it’s worth.
See you next month! 👋