For over a decade of working with venture-backed companies, one pattern surfaces repeatedly: go-to-market decisions made too early are difficult to undo, creating cost and complexity without producing scalable growth.

This usually shows up after initial traction, often between rounds, when pressure increases to demonstrate momentum and invest in growth. Marketing becomes the obvious lever. Hiring becomes the most visible signal to boards and investors that the company is moving forward.

What’s often assumed at this stage is that the company has enough clarity to scale: who the core buyer is, which segment matters most, and what go-to-market motion will reliably produce results. In reality, most teams have not learned where true growth comes from.

As a result, committing to full-time marketing headcount too early often increases risk rather than delivering scalable growth. Not because marketing isn’t needed, but because it forces teams to operationalize assumptions about targeting, positioning, and channels before those choices have been validated.

The gap between pressure to scale and incomplete GTM clarity is where fractional marketing has become a more deliberate choice. Not as a temporary fix, but as a way to move forward while preserving flexibility before market focus and go-to-market model are fully understood.

Quick sidebar: What “Fractional” Really Means

Not all fractional marketing reduces risk. Often, “fractional” simply means a single senior marketer working part-time. Fewer hours alone do not de-risk go-to-market decisions.

A more effective fractional model is team-based, grounded in proven frameworks, informed by experience across multiple companies, and built by people who have learned how to influence leadership without being in-house. It reflects the discipline that comes from doing fractional work intentionally and over time. That distinction is what determines whether fractional support actually reduces execution risk.

Below are five reasons fractional marketing tends to de-risk early go-to-market execution.

1. It converts fixed burn into variable burn

Full-time marketing hires immediately increase fixed burn and reduce runway. If direction shifts, that cost remains, along with severance, disruption, and organizational drag. Fractional support keeps spend variable and adjustable, allowing burn to scale with learning, rather than ahead of it.

2. It reduces the risk of the wrong first hire

The first marketing hire carries outsized weight. When the fit is wrong, the impact compounds quickly. That mismatch is often about alignment, not talent: the wrong skill set (e.g., digital-heavy execution when the business needs partner-led growth), limited experience operating at that stage, or the reality of asking one person to operate as an entire marketing team.

Fractional teams reduce this risk by bringing complementary senior perspectives across core areas like positioning, demand, PR, sales enablement, and performance, without putting early GTM decisions on a single individual.

Don't bet your runway on a single hire. Get an entire team of senior specialists who can execute today and pivot tomorrow.

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3. It shortens the path to real signal

Fractional teams are focused on pressure-testing assumptions and generating insight while driving real-world impact, building only the minimum viable infrastructure required rather than overengineering from the start. That accelerates learning without slowing execution.

4. It delivers the right amount of capability at the right time

Early-growth companies don’t need a full in-house marketing department. They need a small set of senior capabilities applied thoughtfully. That includes senior strategic generalists and senior functional specialists who can move from strategy to execution quickly and pragmatically. Fractional models make that possible without overinvesting or building permanent structure too early.

5. It preserves strategic optionality

Perhaps most importantly, fractional marketing preserves strategic optionality. When companies learn what works before committing to structure, the eventual full-time hire inherits a validated set of programs, channels, and go-to-market motions that can be continued, refined, and scaled, rather than starting from scratch or unwinding prior assumptions.

Engaging a fractional marketing team at the right stage is about reducing execution risk while preserving flexibility across the portfolio. Done well, it provides early-growth companies with senior, execution-ready capability across strategy and function, supported by proven frameworks and pattern recognition built across multiple companies. That allows teams to move quickly without locking in structure too early.

The result is more than cost efficiency. Companies build validated programs, clearer economics, and a repeatable go-to-market motion that endures. These delivered assets are what make fractional marketing a durable advantage.

If you are assessing how to build learning systems for GTM initiatives to stay flexible, decipher market signals, and keep costs in line, let’s connect.

Ready to scale your go-to-market motion without the bloat of a full-time department? Let’s build a validated, repeatable growth engine that actually fits your stage.

De-Risk Your Marketing Today

If you’ve ever been the victim of a typical window replacement sales pitch, you know all too well the plague of botched marketing and sales messaging. You reach out for a quote, simply looking to understand if upgraded windows would increase your home’s energy efficiency, and after an hour-long, data-stuffed slide presentation, you still find yourself asking those same basic questions.

Unfortunately, this Window Salesman Plight isn’t industry specific -- it’s a common and innocent byproduct of passionate businesspeople. We see it in many business to business (B2B) technology companies, where articulating the value in the customer’s language is often more challenging and complex. It’s easy to fall into the trap of focusing on what your product or service does, not the value it delivers. After spending countless hours refining real-time dashboards and feature-rich toolsets, of course you want to share every detail of your “baby.” While the features and functions of your solution certainly have their place, it shouldn’t be the focal point of your company’s messaging platform.

We know all too well that this is easier said than done. It’s hard to hone in on concise, compelling messaging. If your current messaging isn’t resonating with your target market or you are building something from the ground up, always begin by fully understanding your audience’s needs and pain points in conjunction with the market dynamics and your true competitive differentiators.

Start From ‘The Other Side Of The Table’

Messaging is a make-or-break point in your marketing foundation. Often confused with “copy” or “content” (the specific words used in marketing material), in reality, messaging is the guidepost and framework for companies to articulate a cohesive, compelling and strategically crafted story to the outside world.

To set a solid foundation for successful relationships with customers and prospects, companies must focus on WIIFM: the “What’s in it for me?” value proposition that elicits an emotional response from the audience. Put yourself in their shoes: Customers and prospects have everyday problems that impede their work. No one wants to feel alone in their struggle, and being able to evoke the satisfying “they get my pain and can help fix it” may sound simple, yet it is a powerful place to start.

That’s why we emphasize with clients that messaging is more than just words. If your message reaches your target audience but isn’t compelling enough to precipitate the intended response, the issues will cascade downward from there, since everything related to a company’s go-to-market (both externally and internally) relies on having the right messaging in place.

Executing The Strategy Behind The Words

Unfortunately, having “perfect” messaging in place doesn’t preclude you from experiencing future dissonance. The right messaging isn’t a one-and-done effort. A variety of factors can drive a company’s need to revisit their messaging, including:

1. Launching new lines of business (products or services)
2. Recognizing changes in the competitive landscape
3. Identifying shifts in buyer behavior
4. Planning to penetrate new market segments and/or new personas
5. Repositioning to support a company’s evolving growth strategy
6. Acquiring or merging with another entity, or other business model change

These inflection points can be applied to analyze past, current and future messaging needs. Understanding the triggers that warrant a messaging audit allows companies to proactively maintain and refresh their messaging to support a stellar marketing function -- before feeling the pain of stagnant messaging.

After identifying a need to develop or change messaging, companies should embark on an exhaustive yet worthwhile process of analyzing and synthesizing questions around six areas before concluding the appropriate messaging direction.

1. Market Landscape: Where and how does my company fit into the broader market?
2. Competitive Landscape: How are my competitors articulating their value?
3. Path To Market: How should our partnerships and alliances inform our positioning?
4. External Stakeholders: What are customers, prospects, analysts and other influencers saying?
5. Present And Future State Of Our Products And Services: What do we offer today and where are we headed?
6. Internal Environment: What are we communicating on our website vs. the annual report? Is everyone rallying around the same, correct message?

Is your team too close to the product to see the bigger picture?

Answering these six questions honestly is hard to do from inside the bottle. If you are struggling to define your true value proposition, you don’t have to build your messaging framework alone. Let Magnetude Consulting help you find the words that actually convert.

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Building Out A Messaging Framework

Once you confirm your strategic direction, it is time to build out a messaging framework document. Think of it as a clean canvas where you can articulate all of your strategic concepts. Using a framework provides consistency and clarity on the “right” message to deploy across all communications, both internally and externally.

So, where do you start? Most messaging frameworks include:

• A few paragraphs about the company, incorporating information that’s both visionary and outlines “what we do and who we help” in a tone and voice that captures the essence of how the company wants to be perceived by the customer.
• Taglines to quickly convey value.
• Unique value propositions, which are typically the three to four points that set the company and product or service apart in the market.
• Target audiences and their pain points as they relate to the solution.
• Industry proof points or internal data points that support key messages.

The Many Applications Of Messaging

Leadership teams will notice a powerful difference once they are brought through a messaging initiative and have a strong framework in place to serve as the foundation for internal and external communications.

With a coherent message that articulates the real value, heart and soul of your company, and its product or service offerings, marketing and sales teams can begin applying it to just about any form of communication, and to any audience -- sales messaging and materials, marketing campaigns, web content, annual reports, analyst presentations, articles and more. Done right, messaging should come to life in content development, marketing and sales programming.

Armed with the right understanding of your place in the market, messaging that supports your differentiation and resonates with target audiences, and a plan for disseminating it through the right materials and programs, companies of any size can reap the benefits of a solid foundation that can support your desired growth trajectory.

Originally posted on Forbes

Great messaging is only as powerful as the execution behind it.

If your B2B company is ready to stop confusing prospects and start converting them, it’s time to build a framework that actually works. Partner with Magnetude Consulting to align your vision, refine your words, and accelerate your growth.

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At some point, a company outgrows its story. If you’re going through M&A activity, launching new offerings, expanding into new markets or moving upmarket, you should proactively evaluate whether your company’s narrative—who your brand is and how you fit into your buyer’s needs—needs to adjust to fit your new circumstances.

Outside of these major transitions, it’s harder to know when your brand story needs updating. Missed targets are an obvious sign that something in the business is no longer working. But lagging indicators like conversion rates and revenue reflect conversations, messaging and market conditions from months ago. By the time your bottom line is affected, you may wish you had acted sooner. Fortunately, you can.

8 Signs Your Brand Story Is No Longer Hitting

Don’t wait for narrative problems to become financial problems. Look for these early signs that it’s time to update, refresh or rewrite your brand’s story.

1. Prospects don’t have an aha moment.​

In sales conversations, prospects nod politely and say your pitch is “interesting.” But there’s no real aha moment. You don’t hear, “That’s exactly what we need.” When a story is working, it creates clarity and momentum for buyers. When it isn’t, sales conversations go nowhere fast.

2. You sound like everyone else.

The competitive landscape suddenly feels … familiar. The differentiators you’ve leaned on for years now appear everywhere—or are no longer relevant to the market. If what makes you different has become table stakes, then your competitive advantage is diminished. It’s time to shift the conversation and start talking about what matters to your customers today.

3. Team members can’t tell the story effectively.​

As startups and founder-led companies grow, they often face a common problem: The founder can deliver their brand story with passion and conviction, but when others in the company try to tell it, it falls flat. That’s an indication you have a personal story, not a business narrative.

4. Your sales team abandons the script.​

Salespeople need the flexibility to adjust messages to the prospects in front of them—within reason. But if a team is consistently deviating from a brand’s core narrative, it’s worth getting curious about why. Sales teams are laser-focused on closing deals. When they veer away from official messaging, that indicates the current story doesn’t sell.

5. Your marketing makes you cringe.​

You look at your website, sales deck, or LinkedIn page … and hate what you see. The language is outdated and may not reflect the work you’re doing today. That “cringe factor” is more than an emotional reaction: It’s a sign worth paying attention to.

6. The story keeps getting longer.​

Over time, your story has grown, with new services and capabilities layered into the narrative. Somewhere along the way, you lost sight of the unifying message. Describing a jumble of products, services and capabilities leaves buyers confused and uncertain about who you are.

7. The story is too narrow.​

If you’ve expanded into new markets and audience segments, there’s a good chance your story hasn’t kept pace. It likely speaks clearly to some audience segments but only partially to others. You find yourself stretching or qualifying the language because it’s too narrow for the company you’ve become.

8. Your mission and vision feel distant.​

You haven’t updated—or even reflected deeply on—your mission and vision in years. And what once felt crystal-clear now seems vague or misaligned with the company’s direction. When the overall direction of the business no longer resonates, the story built on top of it won’t either.

What To Do When It’s Time To Rewrite Your Story

Once you’re honest about the problem, you can start taking action. Here’s what to do next:

1. Gather input from sales and customers.​

Remember the sales team that couldn’t stick to the script? They were telling you something important, so start by listening. Ask your team where they feel friction. Review recordings of customer conversations: Where does your story land, and where does it miss the mark? (AI can be your friend here! Upload sales call transcripts into an LLM and ask it to identify patterns for you.)

2. Revisit your mission and vision.

Examine your company’s mission, vision and strategic direction with your leadership team. Has your ICP shifted? Has your value proposition evolved? Are you trying to achieve something different entirely? If the foundation has changed, the narrative must move with it.

3. Assume the story needs to change.

Avoid the instinct to prove that your current narrative is still good enough. When companies experience meaningful growth and evolution, the story almost always changes. Look at it as a positive sign that you aren’t remaining stagnant.

4. Be willing to let the old story go.​

Founders and long-tenured leaders are often attached to their original narrative. It reflects the hard work they put into making the company what it is today. Acknowledge any resistance you might feel to letting go of an older story, and push through it to keep moving forward.

5. Bring the right people to the table​.

While narrative work is the responsibility of your marketing leadership, it requires input and alignment from other leaders across the organization. Secure buy-in from leaders across the organization: executive leadership, revenue, delivery, customer success and sales.

6. Consider external support.

If you lack senior leadership in any key area (marketing, product strategy, sales), consider engaging an external consultant to fill the gap. The strategic input you need may come from a partner who can bring industry expertise and an outside perspective that challenges internal assumptions.

Looking for that outside perspective?

See how Magnetude Consulting helps B2B tech firms realign their brand narrative and go-to-market strategy.

You: The Author Of Your Story

Outgrowing your brand story isn’t a failure; it’s a sign that your business has evolved. Updating your narrative can create alignment and clarity across the organization. It gives teams a shared language to describe what you offer and why it matters, while ensuring customers continue to understand your unique value. These are the kinds of internal and external benefits that enable businesses to thrive. And the story will keep growing right along with you.

Originally posted on Forbes

Not long ago, hiring a marketing generalist seemed like the key to driving growth. They could create content, post it on social and the website, email to your database and run events. But today, that idea feels like a fairy tale.

Digital marketing has democratized access; companies of all sizes can now launch websites, run campaigns and build social media audiences. These lower barriers to entry, however, have increased competition in an already noisy landscape—and the increasing use of AI in marketing is exacerbating the situation.

To stand out, you need marketing specialists with deep expertise in specific channels and tactics (e.g., SEO, PPC, content, social media). And you must understand how these pieces work together to hit KPIs and drive results.

The Generalist Marketer: Advantages And Limitations

Companies, particularly with limited budgets, often decide to hire a more junior or mid-level generalist who understands a little about a lot. The most talented of these professionals are often flexible and able to take on multiple roles, which can seem cost effective. If they can leverage AI on top of that, it’s easy to see generalists as a one-person solution.

But while these professionals can execute a range of tactics, they often lack the depth to truly optimize each one. They may start an SEO effort or launch Google Ads, but keeping up with constant changes would require specialization. Without it, mediocrity appears across the board and feeds the misconception that “marketing doesn’t work.”

How To Bring On The Marketing Expertise Needed

To succeed, organizations need the right marketing strategy, an intentional mix of tactics and best-in-class execution. But acquiring the talent to accomplish this is a financial commitment—whether it’s built in-house or outsourced. It’s a delicate balance to get what you need without breaking the bank.

An In-House Marketing Team Ensures Alignment

For some companies, assembling a full-time, internal team may be the ideal scenario. Because leadership, execution and key specialist roles work in sync, expertise is spread across the team and strategies can better align with business goals. With an in-house team that’s singularly focused on your business, communication can be more streamlined, and employees will have better access to SMEs. This can also be the best option if you have more than enough work to keep every team member operating at full capacity.

However, building an in-house team isn’t always feasible. Between hiring a CMO, coordinator, demand gen lead, content writer and other key positions, payroll alone can exceed a million dollars annually. If you don’t need a full-time employee in certain roles, like CMO or social media specialist, it’d be an irresponsible investment to hire them on anyway. Having underutilized talent can be a hidden cost, especially if individuals don’t have a broad-enough skill set to take on tasks outside their role.

Outsourced Marketing Provides Expertise Without The Overhead

Outsourcing marketing needs—whether to a fractional leader, specialized agency, freelancer or integrated team—gives companies access to high-level strategy, specialized skills and tactical execution without the financial burden of full-time salaries. Because this approach offers flexibility to scale up or down based on current needs, helping to ensure each area gets expert attention at the right time. Outsourcing can also be a more responsible expenditure because every dollar spent can yield meaningful outcomes.

When you outsource marketing efforts, you gain exposure to a wider array of strategies. Because external specialists work across different companies and even industries, they see real-time trends within a larger dataset. This often means they’re more current on best practices and better equipped to offer refined strategies built from a broader knowledge base. By contrast, an in-house marketer has a sample size of one: your company. Their view is inherently narrower.

However, if outsourced talent isn’t properly integrated, they can become siloed and reactive. Depending on the kind of third party you engage with, there may be time delays on turnaround to deal with. You also can’t guarantee that you’d be a priority, the way you would be with an in-house team.

The Hybrid Approach: Combining Internal And External Strengths

Many companies find that the best marketing team is a hybrid one. For example, they may have an in-house coordinator managing day-to-day operations and serving as a point of contact, while outsourced specialists deliver deep expertise. It’s important to evaluate staffing in relation to level of activity and skill set of your existing team. Do you have someone who’s great at email, social, basic writing and event logistics, but can’t write longer-form content or provide in-depth analytics and reporting? With outsourcing, you can find a specialized expert to fill in those skills gaps while avoiding the cost burden of another full-time employee.

When weighing your options for a talent model, consider the following:

• Company Goals: What are the overall quantitative (e.g., revenue) and qualitative (e.g., brand awareness) business objectives?

• Current Strategies: Where are you focusing your efforts—on digital, events, content, channels? You can build out your resources accordingly.

• Gaps And Limitations: Where are you struggling due to a lack of skills or strategic direction?

• Existing Resources: Who’s already on the team? Build around what you have.

• Budget: What can you spend? Consider campaign and tech expenses on top of talent costs. You could potentially get a senior, skilled outsourced team for the cost of one or two full-time employees.

If you aren’t already working with a strategic marketing leader during this process, consider bringing one on board (even as a fractional resource).

Whether you choose to have an in-house, outsourced or hybrid team, one thing is clear. If you want to compete and grow as a business, generalists won’t cut it. You need expert-level marketers to succeed.

Originally posted on Forbes

The article Strategy Under Uncertainty, published by the Harvard Business Review in 1997, shares: “Under uncertainty, traditional approaches to strategic planning can be downright dangerous.” While market uncertainty may look a bit different than it did in 1997, one point really stands out in the current landscape: smart, calculated shifts and pivots are ultimately the most successful and, when done correctly, can be executed with minimal risk.

Most companies have reworked their business plans to address the acute pressures of the market. But as the landscape remains unpredictable through 2021, it’s worth taking a hard look at your company to see which business and marketing innovations will benefit you long-term. Read on for ways that you can apply strategic marketing principles to reimagine, innovate and execute on key changes in your business despite ongoing uncertainty.

Re-evaluating for Relevance — Today and Tomorrow

As the market shifts, it follows that key business considerations should shift in parallel. Here are three approaches to make calculated changes that can help drive better outcomes.

1. Rethink your offer.

Online is the best option for many businesses right now, from virtual events to new online-only offerings. If you haven’t yet considered updates to your product or service, it can be a great way to grow and add value.

Here are a few questions to consider:

• Should you accelerate your product roadmap? Look at your planned products or features, then map them to new and emerging needs or user stories and prioritize accordingly. For example, if you have an update planned that will allow for improved digital access, there’s no time like the present to dig in and get it released.

• Can you tweak your offering to solve new problems? From changes in the business landscape to changes in the weather, new situations are breeding new problems for customers. Think about your relationship to these problems, then consider what creative updates could make sense. For example, if your customers are offering work-from-home permanently, consider what changes to your offering would facilitate remote management.

• Can you join forces with another company? Partnering to marry two products into a joint offer can be a great way to expand. Or consider adding a technology integration to your existing product to open yourself up to a new market.

2. Consider your audience.

Your company has probably already honed in on an ideal target audience, but with all the changes in the business landscape, ask yourself: Are the best people for our offering now likely to be the same as our original target audience? Are there new opportunities we haven’t leveraged?

A calculated shift in your target audience — in the short-term or more permanently — can help you make the most of the market. Consider these attributes for your updated target audience:

• Sectors: Each industry is different — some have experienced such dramatic shifts that they feel almost permanently changed, while others are likely to return to near normal in the mid-term. How have your target industries fared, and are there new sectors you should pursue?

• Titles: Many roles have taken on new responsibilities during the pandemic, or simply have less (or more!) time on their hands. Consider targeting different roles to stay relevant.

• Location: Have geographic constraints become a non-issue? Opening your company to digital-only customers nationally or worldwide can be a great way to grow.

• Sub-segment: Look for common characteristics in your audience and use these traits to target marketing campaigns or offerings for a hyper-personalized feel.

Like a product partnership, a marketing partnership — formal or informal — can be one of the fastest ways to penetrate a new market. Consider joint webinars, content and promotions to get in front of two audiences at once.

3. Shift your message & mechanism.

Another area to carefully consider is how you’re marketing, particularly if you have also altered your offering or audience. Think about these components of your go-to-market:

• Message: The words you choose can spur meaningful connections and position you for future success. Evaluate your value proposition to be sure it focuses on the mission-critical business case for your offering and positions you for ongoing relevancy.

• Mechanism: From new digital channels to virtual events, the way we communicate is continuously changing. What worked a year ago may no longer be the best fit for your business, so consider what makes the most sense. Don’t hesitate to try something different — you may find a great new technique that helps you achieve long-term results.

The words you use and the channels you choose are not only relatively easy to change, but they’re also easy to test, analyze and optimize. Try new segments, offers, tactics and messages to see what works — ultimately, you mitigate the risk of an ineffective strategy.

Putting Calculated Changes Into Action

There are a lot of strategic inputs that go into smart innovations, but remember that as a business leader, you don’t have to do it all yourself. These strategies are key areas where you can — and should — rely on your marketing team or partner to spearhead targeted programs, especially since they are so intimately familiar with your customers, market, competitors and internal capabilities. This is especially true given that the three areas of innovation are closely intertwined — for example, a new audience or offering almost always requires updated messaging and marketing tactics. As your company makes strategic shifts, one of the most important things to remember is to be agile with calculated precision. Take ample time to plan, but when the time comes, act swiftly to pivot, optimize and scale.

Not sure how to pivot your marketing strategy for the current landscape?

Magnetude helps B2B tech companies identify new market opportunities, adjust their messaging, and execute calculated marketing shifts to drive sustainable growth.

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As we continually adjust to the new normal, your unique situation — and the smart shifts you make — will determine the long-term impact on your business. We’ve seen so many examples of companies that have applied these ideas to innovate in a smart, forward-thinking manner, and are now seeing a high degree of sustainable success. It’s all about thinking holistically, acting strategically and making calculated innovations that will serve you now and throughout the upcoming years — no matter the continued uncertainty.

Originally posted on Forbes

What really sets your business apart? Every business needs a unique value proposition (UVP)—that special combination of qualities that makes your company stand out. Business leaders may be mystified by the UVP, as though getting it right happens by accident or is as simple as a summation of solution features. It is not luck or happenstance. You can nail your company’s value proposition, and articulate it clearly, by following a simple process.

But have you?

Many companies rush through defining their UVP or skip it entirely. They’ve built their offer, and it’s great, so why stop to define the UVP when they should just be selling?

Your UVP isn’t about you; it’s about your customers. You should know with a high degree of certainty why prospects value your offer. If your UVP is unclear, you may join the ranks of many companies whose marketing continues to struggle.

Determine Your Positioning

Where does your solution sit relative to competitors and your prospect’s needs?

There are many ways to look at positioning, but the simplest way is to use a quadrant. Because you are working on UVP, build the analysis around value-based differentiation. Choose the axes for the quadrant based on what’s important to your target market. Determine how to encapsulate your position based on what prospective customers value, what competitors offer and how what you are doing will set you apart.

This process requires data gathering (think customer interviews, competitor reviews), internal brainstorming, 360-degree thinking and a critical eye for synthesizing the findings into something that can be mapped to the quadrant model.

As you plot yourself and competitors along the axes of your quadrant, ask yourself: Where do you fit in? Is there white space that represents your unique “play”? Positioning helps you identify where you are now relative to competitors, but it can also help you determine where you want to be in the future.

Remember, none of this is static. The needs of your ideal customers will change over time—so will your offer—and you will have to adapt accordingly. Your competitors will shift as they look to gain an advantage over you. Periodically revisit your positioning to stay updated on the competitive landscape and help your company meet the moment.

Hone Articulation Of Your Differentiators

Once you understand your position in the market, highlight your differentiators. Why should customers choose you over the competition? How does what you do relate to the target market’s needs and the value they will derive? Positioning work informs your differentiators, but the two are not the same.

As a guideline, your differentiators should be two to three concise but hard-hitting statements that offer value to your customers and make you stand out from the competition. A competitor may be able to claim one or two of your differentiators, but not all three. Remember that it doesn’t have to all be “feature-based.” Perhaps your methodology or process is superior, or specific aspects of your customer service make you stand out.

To hone your differentiators, dig into feedback from the market and your current customers:

• Why did current customers choose you?

• Why have they stayed with you?

• Why do prospects choose your competitors? What specifically are they saying?

You’ll then need to articulate those differentiators clearly and succinctly. A marketer who has a way with words and knows your market can be especially useful in helping you refine your differentiating statements.

Once you’ve developed your differentiators, think about how to reinforce them in the market. You’ll want to do more than say you’re different; you’ll want to prove it. Use case studies, customer testimonials and customer data to develop qualitative and quantitative proof points that can show, not just tell, how you’re different.

Finding your true differentiators takes more than just a whiteboard session—it requires brutal objectivity. If your internal team is too close to the product to see the white space, you are likely playing it too safe. Get the exact frameworks we use to help SMBs break out of the commodity trap, sent straight to your inbox.

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Craft Your Unique Value Proposition

You’re now ready to fuse your positioning and differentiators into a unique value proposition (UVP) that highlights what your product or service brings to the table.

Your UVP should follow this formula: “We are the X for Y.” (X and Y are variables that flow directly from your positioning and differentiation insights.)

Here are some examples of how UVPs for these well-known companies might read:

• Apple: “We are the premium, innovative technology company for discerning consumers who value design and user experience.”

• HubSpot: “We are the inbound marketing and sales platform for growing companies seeking to attract, engage and delight customers.”

• Amazon Web Services: “We are the cloud services provider for businesses that require robust, scalable and comprehensive cloud infrastructure.”

A great UVP seems almost obvious once it’s been created, but it’s the result of research, insights and thoughtfulness. It’s no coincidence that these companies are industry leaders. They’ve worked to understand what makes them unique—and they reinforce this value in everything they do.

Your UVP Sets You Up For Success

When developing a UVP, don’t guess what will work. Doing so will waste your marketing dollars, inhibit your ability to meet growth targets and push your customers to the competition. Great value propositions aren’t based on gut instinct; they’re developed through a research-backed methodology, which should give you confidence.

So, once you develop your UVP, how do you generate impact? Eventually, you want to weave it tightly into the fabric of your organization. Start with an internal rollout to ensure every team member can communicate your UVP. Embed it in your sales and marketing materials. Build campaigns highlighting different aspects of the UVP and test them in competitive situations like trade shows and sales pitches. The sooner you get your UVP into the market, the sooner you’ll learn how it resonates.

You might be surprised by how quickly you can see wins from updating your positioning, differentiators and UVP. Even a tiny adjustment might improve your deal win rate or shorten the length of your sales cycle. Commit to this process, and you’ll have the agility to respond to your audience and stay ahead of the competition today, tomorrow and beyond.

Originally posted on Forbes

A bulletproof UVP is useless if it’s just sitting on a slide deck. The real challenge is weaving it into a go-to-market strategy that actually drives pipeline. Stop guessing what works. Tap into the ongoing insights successful SMB leaders use to build high-performing marketing engines—and learn exactly when to keep it in-house versus when to bring in the heavy hitters.

Build a Better Marketing Engine

Does your company have what it takes to thrive in the era of the nonlinear B2B buyer journey?

Today’s buyers make informed decisions with minimal input from sales teams. They rely on their own research and peer networks, showing up in spaces where vendors are mostly absent and where content is nearly impossible to track. Like it or not, this is the new normal. ​

How should CEOs and their teams navigate this change? The following are some key actions you can take to compete in a world where the buyer is firmly in control.

Reframe Marketing Expectations

CEOs and marketing teams are sometimes misaligned on where to focus marketing efforts and what constitutes meaningful ROI. Be honest: Is your instinct to prioritize a high volume of content that ties neatly to conversions? If so, it’s worth checking that against the current realities of the buyer journey.

Ninety-five percent of the time, the vendor that wins was on the shortlist from the beginning, so visibility is a big part of what drives conversions later on. If you’re not in a buyer’s initial consideration set, you’re counting on a late-stage miracle, and those are increasingly rare. Your marketing team needs the green light to invest in top-of-funnel initiatives, such as brand awareness campaigns, that build brand recognition well before a buyer begins looking for solutions.

Look To Qualitative Indicators

Dark social is defined as “the private, often untrackable ways people share content: through messaging apps, email, DMs, and other one-to-one or one-to-few channels,” and it’s forcing teams to rethink traditional attribution models. ​

Simply put, your marketing team is no longer able to track every touchpoint or tie every outcome to a clean data trail. This is a scary proposition, even for those of us who have seen this shift coming. The alternative? When you lack quantitative data, look for qualitative indicators of success. ​

There are plenty of other meaningful signs that your efforts are working: comments on LinkedIn from the right people, prospects mentioning your content in conversation and a customer referencing an event you attended months ago. Treat those signals as evidence that your efforts are paying off.

Get Your People Out There (Starting With Yourself) ​

Buyers have made it clear that they trust individuals more than organizations, which means your company needs visible, credible voices in the market. That responsibility can’t fall solely on sales and marketing. In this environment, every employee can play a role in brand building, and CEOs set the tone from the top. ​

When you show up on platforms like LinkedIn and participate in industry conversations, you demonstrate that being present in these spaces matters, and you can make a stronger case for your team to follow suit. A company with multiple active voices can gain a competitive advantage over time. ​

Don’t overlook offline opportunities in this process. There is a renewed appetite for in-person engagement (e.g., events and panels); these are ideal chances for you to engage directly with prospects and put a credible, human face to your organization.

Invest In A Stellar Customer Experience

If buyers are leaning on peers to influence their decisions, the best-case scenario is that your company’s name comes up positively in those conversations. Your customers can be your strongest advocates, but that only happens when the experience you deliver aligns with the promises you make. ​

A standout sales and onboarding process isn’t enough. Buyers need proof that you value them long after the deal closes. Now is the time to strengthen the entire customer experience: service quality, responsiveness, renewal processes, ongoing communication and how you support customers as their needs evolve.​

Every interaction a customer has with your company becomes part of the story they tell in the conversations you can’t see or hear. Treat customer experience as a growth engine, because in today’s buyer landscape, that’s precisely what it is.

Strengthen Your Marketing Foundations

Strong marketing foundations are key to navigating any significant changes, and the buyer journey is no exception. ​Positioning, messaging, unique value propositions, ideal customer profiles—these foundations give your team the context they need to speak to the right people in the right ways.

When your foundations are solid, your teams can move faster and smarter, whether they’re launching a campaign or joining a conversation. ​

Having clear messaging is especially important as AI redefines how people search for information. AI-generated results can be hit-or-miss, but the more consistent and well-defined your messaging is, the more likely it is that your company will be represented accurately when it surfaces.

Maximize The Value Of AI ​

AI can be a real marketing multiplier that supports your efforts to connect with buyers. But maximizing its value requires time, training and a willingness to experiment. ​

Most AI tools don’t deliver meaningful results right out of the gate. It takes effort to learn how to use the platforms and fine-tune the outputs. Are you willing to make an upfront investment of resources, including the budget to explore new tools and the time to master them? ​

Support that learning curve, and the payoffs will come. At its best, AI can streamline monotonous tasks, freeing up your people to focus on the strategic and creative work that will really move the needle in this new era of the buyer journey.

Originally posted on Forbes

The landscape is littered with famously failed product launches, companies that underestimated their competition, growth stalls due to a misread of market trends or maturity and significant missed opportunities due to poor positioning. While it’s hard for companies to get everything completely right, oftentimes these types of failures are a result of lacking critical information and planning that should have been driving decisions and informing key marketing initiatives.

Many business leaders think about the downstream aspects of marketing that help fuel growth, such as lead generation and sales enablement. It’s easy to forget the critical upstream activities of a company’s growth strategy that marketing disciplines can help inform and address. If you don’t get the strategies right, the deployed programs carry a much higher risk of failure. The result is more than just wasting money on marketing programs — it can make or break the company’s health as a whole.

Strategic marketing planning is an invaluable safeguard against a waste of both dollars and time. When done well, it provides essential insights that support a proactive and deliberate approach to growth. Maximize marketing’s contribution to growth strategy, planning and decision making by ensuring that you’re asking yourself questions in the five key areas below.

1. Market Trends

What macro trends (both emerging and current) are shaping your industry? Will they help or hurt your company? Should you be exploring new product categories or target markets based on changes in market dynamics? How can you add critical dimensions to your analysis that can surface threats or opportunities not previously considered?

Tips to amplify your analysis:

• Look at the Big Four consulting firms’ and your industry’s relevant analyst reports.

• Check out conference proceedings, general business resources, including Harvard Business Review, university research and the publications of the World Economic Forum and Pew Research Center.

• Review Google Trends and Statista.

• Engage in regular dialogue with peers and thought leaders in your sector’s ecosystem.

2. Growth Goals

What short- and long-term objectives are you working toward? Are you looking to reach your next fundraising milestone and need to up valuation? Evaluating potential merger/acquisition targets? Exit planning? What are your specific revenue goals and growth targets over the next few years? Will that growth need to come from any new or different sources than where you’re currently focused?

Tips to amplify your analysis:

• Isolate the most important targets and milestones along your trajectory toward these goals, and think through the right sequencing, dependencies and safeguards before putting new plans into action.

• Run metrics and models for potential marketing expansion early on. It will become apparent whether you have the right reach to make your growth or exit goals.

3. Competitive Analysis

Are new categories of competition coming that you need to start positioning against? What goals are your current competitors pursuing? What can you learn from where and how they’re investing in their marketing efforts? What should (or shouldn’t) you do that is similar or comparable? How can you ensure you’re differentiating yourself more clearly?

Tips to amplify your analysis:

• If your competitors are publicly held, review their annual reports or quarterly earnings call transcripts. There are often key indicators of direction, issues or corporate-level mandates.

• Use social listening tools to follow conversations in which your competitors figure, and dive deep into search engine results — look well beyond the first five pages.

• Formalize a framework comparing your targets, messaging, positioning, digital presence and spending to those of peer organizations. The better you understand the competitive landscape, the more precisely you can refine your objectives.

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4. Positioning

How are you currently seen in the marketplace, and how would you like to be seen. Are the two at odds? Do you focus on a particular vertical or address a broad horizontal market? Do you serve large enterprises or small- and medium-sized businesses? What do you offer that’s different from what anyone else does, and how do you position the value that delivers?

Tips to amplify your analysis:

• Don’t rely on internal viewpoints alone to avoid bias — ensure you’re getting honest inputs from the market as well as insights or other support from more objective parties.

• Balance the positioning “hypothesis” with external validation. Ideally, you should use quantitative data, but even qualitative data helps.

• If you desire a positioning change, make sure your new positioning is valid and not just a messaging change — that is, change your messaging to reinforce your new position and make sure your company, product or service truly delivers on the new position.

5. Segmentation

How well do you understand the demographics of the potential buyers you’re trying to reach? Have you found the “best fit” targets — in terms of industry, company size, profitability, the urgency to buy and market maturity? Does your messaging need to be modified to reach them?

Tips to amplify your analysis:

• Look for patterns within your customer base, but keep an open mind and consider all market segments.

• Keep your analysis as qualitative as possible, including ranking parameters you’re considering in terms of their relative importance in your decision making.

• Quantify soft evaluation parameters by giving them a score. This adds a layer of detail and logic that can help you decide whether to pursue new segments.

These strategic inputs can guide all growth and go-to-market planning for the business. While there are many other inputs to consider from other areas of the business, these are the minimum you should expect marketing to provide.

Once your marketing teams or consultants have gathered and analyzed this information, they’ll have set a foundation upon which stakeholders across the business can base smarter decisions. When the right strategic inputs from marketing inform the company’s strategy, marketing will be able to perform tactical activities far more effectively and with a far lower risk of making poor investment choices — and, ultimately, leadership teams can have greater confidence that they’re on the right track in their broader growth strategy planning and decision making.

Originally posted on Forbes

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The B2B buyer journey has entered a new era, yet many vendors are still playing by the old rules. By the time B2B buyers start reaching out to sales representatives, 81% already have a preferred vendor, according to a survey by 6sense. Another study shows that 69% of B2B software buyers may not engage with a salesperson until they’ve made a purchasing decision. This iteration of the buyer journey is independent, nonlinear and challenging to measure. It’s also a future that companies must prepare for.

How—and why—are buyers making informed decisions with minimal input from sales teams? What does this shift reveal about the current buyer journey?

B2B Buyers Value Independent Research And Peer Networks

Buyers are increasingly turning to peer networks and private communities rather than vendor-controlled sources to get information and make purchasing decisions. They turn to trusted colleagues, online forums, Slack groups and invite-only communities to compare notes and inform their decisions. According to Reddit, technology decision makers “heavily use the site for peer reviews.”

These are spaces where vendors often don’t appear at all—either because they’re not welcome or because they haven’t figured out how to do so. Another complicating factor is that many of the channels constitute what marketers call dark social: channels where content is impossible to track, and companies have no way of knowing whether their name pops up in a conversation.

The Forces Behind This Shift

One of the forces fueling this shift is growing skepticism of vendors. A 2024 survey of more than 600 B2B buyers found that 61% prefer a “rep-free” buying experience that avoids interaction with company representatives altogether.

The rise of generative artificial intelligence certainly hasn’t helped vendors earn credibility. Thanks to AI, a one-person company can now generate content that, at least on a surface level, seems comparable to the output from an enterprise-level marketing team. That democratization of content creation might be good for small companies, but it also creates noise and confusion for buyers. When every company suddenly appears credible, how do you vet your options? It’s no wonder buyers are turning to peer networks to help them decide what vendors to trust.

Changing demographics are another factor to consider. Millennials and Gen Z represent an increasingly large percentage of B2B buyers. These digital natives are comfortable gathering and validating information on their own, and they expect a certain degree of convenience. They want seamless digital experiences where they can seek out the content they want, when and how they want it, which puts an onus on companies to create content in all the channels and formats their buyers might prefer.

Welcome To The Era Of The Nonlinear Buyer’s Journey

The traditional buyer’s journey—awareness, consideration, decision—has given way to something more chaotic. Today’s buyer’s journey is less of a straight path and more of a choose-your-own-adventure. A buyer might read a white paper, ignore your outreach for months, stumble on a peer discussion about your product or service, and reengage after they’ve already narrowed the field on their own.

Now add in the multiple stakeholders that comprise most B2B buying groups, who might stretch across different departments, locations and time zones. The once-linear buyer’s journey now includes several buyers from a single company, each with their own needs and preferences, and each on their own unique journey of independent research and peer-to-peer engagement. If that sounds overwhelming, well, it’s because it is.

The first practical shift you must make is a mental one. It’s tempting to hold out for a time when the buyer’s journey returns to “normal,” but this is the new normal. If anything, I think we can expect to see more dramatic changes in the years ahead. Now is the time for organizations to adjust to the current reality and prepare for the future.

A great way to start is by conferring with your marketing and sales teams and asking key questions:

• What changes have they seen in your company’s buyer journey?

• What tactics are proving less effective?

• What sources do your buyers turn to for guidance and advice?

• How have the buying groups in your market shifted?

• What are the top-of-mind considerations for your buyers?

• How can you reimagine and resource differently for this new era?

Shifts of this caliber typically don’t reverse course. The companies that are ready and willing to adapt their approach (one of those companies should be yours) are generally the ones that win.

Selling products and services through channel partners — whether they are distributors, those you’ve formed alliances with, original equipment manufacturers, resellers or service partners — is an established model for B2B organizations to expand their sales footprint and broaden their reach to new audiences, geographies and market segments. According to Forrester, third-party channels are responsible for more than 70% of global revenue.

These channels can be complex to manage and motivate. Partners are extensions of a vendor’s sales force (in some cases, partners are its sales force). But these relationships often exist in an environment where a vendor has limited direct influence or jurisdiction over its partner’s sales goals, pipeline or process.

Net new revenue generation is the most relevant performance metric of selling partnerships, and when expected contribution comes up short, it prompts familiar questions that reflect the fundamental challenges of every channel relationship: “Why isn’t my channel selling more?” and “How can we get partners to pay more attention to our product or service?”

The answers — along with clues to help strengthen the relationship — can often be found through a better understanding of the partner’s perspective. Drawing on my experience with channel marketing, here are some insights on that perspective, along with six tactical tips to help you shift channel performance into high gear.

Consider Your Audience

Partners are the intermediaries between vendors and customers; they often add enormous value to the customer relationship. Most represent multiple and sometimes competing brands, and sell a wide range of products and services, meaning they must understand many different solutions.

Each vendor in the partner’s roster also adds layers of paperwork and processes to the partner’s already full plate. The partner must learn to operate multiple, disparate technology types, including portals, systems and sales tools, efficiently — and keep track of competing incentive programs, sales goals and deal registrations.

In addition, a vendor often has many other channel partners selling the same products. At times, even vendors’ direct sales infringe on a partner’s deals. With an eye on the bottom line, the partner will likely naturally sell products that move quickly — those with high customer demand and good margins from vendors that don’t present a lot of conflict.

Sound like a losing battle? It’s not insurmountable.

Foster the Relationship

Armed with this insight on what your partners face, you can begin to address issues to lighten their load — and stand out:

1. Make it personal.

A formal onboarding process can help transition new partners and make them feel like they’re part of the team (and they are). Introduce them to your internal channels and direct sales (and marketing) team members. Welcome them in an announcement on your partner portal. Instruct them on how to access and use your dedicated partner resources. Share corporate swag — including digital partner “badges” so they can display their team membership proudly.

2. Show them the ropes.

One recent survey found that 45.8% of referral partner program managers and 56.5% of reseller program managers indicated that onboarding and training programs affected revenue. A continuous, customized training program can educate partner sales teams on your capabilities, market trends, competitors and product positioning — and set you apart from other vendors in their portfolio. Consider offering certifications and learning tracks that motivate partners to learn how to sell your solution.

3. Keep things simple.

Every vendor has their own set of incentives, sales goals, systems and processes. With multiple vendors to manage, it’s a lot for a partner to track. In addition, according to one survey of more than 200 North-American partners, 73% believe that “vendor channel programs are too complex.” Ensure that key stats (e.g., goals, deal registrations and market development funds) are easy for the partner to access, track and cash in on. Keep partners engaged by processing payments for sales performance incentive funds and sales goals quickly, and be proactive about helping partners use MDF so valuable dollars don’t go unused.

Create Better Engagement

Salespeople are driven by very different things. Remember who you are talking to and communicate with partners in a way that shows that you “get it” in terms of what they need to sell your product successfully.

4. Make the connection.

A top challenge for 72% of salespeople and partners is an inability to connect how your product addresses buyer challenges and needs. Battlecards, competitor briefs, value propositions, differentiators and other sales tools help partners see the connections — and make better matches between your solution and the buyer. Make it short and sweet: Content that is easy to digest will be consumed and understood more readily.

5. Look who’s talking.

Ensure that your product aligns with the needs of the customers your partner serves. Even more important, though, is product/market fit — or how customers view your product. If it’s in high demand and customers are talking about it, you can assume that you’ve achieved a level of success. Better product/market fit helps the channel perform, and it’s how today’s prospects are evaluating products.

6. Provide marketing “to go.”

Keep in mind that many smaller partners lack the specialized marketing resources and time needed to translate your assets and content into effective marketing campaigns. Enable your partners with customer-facing materials and turnkey campaign kits that they can co-brand and take directly to their customers. Do this consistently. Change it up frequently. Finally, focus on delivering value with assets that your partners can’t access anywhere else, such as industry research, thought leadership and premium content that’s not available on the web.

The Takeaways

It’s important to remember that channel sales are not a “set it and forget it” model. Your partners rely on you to help them understand how your product aligns with their buyer needs and challenges. This requires active support, communication and tools that enable and empower them.

It’s not much different, really, from enabling a direct sales team. Support your channel just like you support your own salespeople.

Minimizing conflict and optimizing the partner experience are efforts that require tenacity but can pay you back in spades — allowing you to rise above the noise, draw the partner’s attention to your offer and ultimately improve channel performance in your favor.

Originally posted on Forbes

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This audio version runs about 6 minutes
In this piece, I break down seven assumptions many organizations are making about AI and marketing budgets—and why some of them may already be outdated.

Does your marketing budget need a reality check?

In most organizations right now, the answer is yes.

The pace of change is accelerating. AI capabilities are expanding quickly. And economic conditions continue to shift. That means even well-run companies risk planning next year’s marketing budget based on assumptions that are already outdated.

As a CEO, setting the tone starts at the top. And that includes making sure your 2026 marketing budget reflects how the landscape is actually evolving. Let’s start by challenging a few common myths.

Myth one: The assumptions from 2025 are still relevant

The last few years have introduced significant disruption.

Geopolitical changes. New tariff policies. Shifts in government spending. And rapid adoption of AI across industries. Each of these forces changes how organizations operate and compete. If you simply carry your 2025 marketing budget forward as the baseline for 2026, you may miss both new risks and new opportunities. A better approach is zero-based budgeting. START FRESH! Reevaluate every investment; allocate budget for AI experimentation, research and development, and marketing technology. Not every experiment will succeed. That’s expected. But failing to invest now often means spending the next several years trying to catch up. Just as important, keep flexibility in the plan. Because the next disruptive change may arrive faster than expected.

Myth two: A ChatGPT subscription covers your AI needs.

Most marketing teams today have access to large language models and those subscriptions are relatively inexpensive, but meaningful AI adoption goes well beyond a single tool. The real question is not which AI platform you have, but what outcomes you want to achieve, greater efficiency, better targeting, or maybe more accurate analytics?

Once those goals are clear, you can determine which tools actually support them. In some cases, that may involve specialized software with significant cost, but before purchasing anything new, review the platforms you already use. Many existing systems have added AI capabilities that organizations simply haven’t activated yet.

Myth three: AI can build your marketing strategy from scratch.

AI outputs are only as strong as the inputs they receive. If you ask an AI model to generate an entire marketing strategy with minimal context, the result will be generic, because the model is drawing from generalized data. AI works best when it builds on strong strategic foundations, which means investing time in positioning, messaging, target market definition, and go-to-market strategy. If the fundamentals are clear, AI becomes a powerful multiplier. Without them, it simply produces average answers—faster.

Myth four: Junior marketers plus AI can replace leadership

AI can absolutely make junior marketers more productive, but productivity is not the same as strategic judgment. Experienced marketing leadership still plays a critical role in connecting tactics to business goals, managing investment decisions, and responding to shifts in the market; however, not every organization needs a full-time chief marketing officer, but they do need senior-level marketing leadership. That leadership might be fractional, outsourced, or advisory. Without it, companies often spend heavily on tactics that never translate into real business impact.

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Myth five: AI experts can guarantee results

The excitement around AI has created an environment where bold promises are easy to make, but no credible partner can guarantee exact AI search rankings or a fixed number of leads. The technology is evolving too quickly. And the ecosystem around it continues to change. If someone offers guarantees, that should be treated as a warning sign. Budget decisions should prioritize partners with proven experience, clear methodologies, and investments that align directly with business outcomes.

Myth six: Incorporating AI in marketing is a quick fix

AI can make marketing more targeted, more personalized, and more efficient. But those improvements only create value if the rest of the organization can respond. Better leads do not matter if the sales team cannot follow up quickly. Higher demand does not help if operations cannot scale delivery. Organizations planning their budgets should include investment in training, process updates, and cross-functional alignment, because adopting AI is not just a technology shift. It is an operational change.

Myth seven: Building AI expertise internally is always the best path

Marketing specialization continues to deepen. Experts in SEO, content, paid media, and analytics are investing heavily in how AI applies to their specific disciplines.

Building that depth of expertise internally takes significant time and resources. The right external partners often bring a different advantage. They test tools across multiple clients and industries. They see which applications produce measurable results. And they quickly identify which technologies are mostly hype. In many cases, the most efficient model combines internal leadership with specialized external expertise.

Letting go of old assumptions

Planning a marketing budget requires more than incremental adjustments; it requires letting go of outdated assumptions. AI will undoubtedly reshape how marketing work gets done, but technology alone does not replace strategic clarity.

When organizations treat AI as a multiplier, built on strong strategy and experienced leadership, the results can be transformative, and that is the mindset CEOs should bring to the budgeting decisions ahead.

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Originally posted on Forbes

GenAI has made waves across every company, and marketing is one of the core disciplines navigating the choppy waters. Over the past two years, companies (including ours) have been experimenting with GenAI—finding out what it does well, where it falls short and how it can enhance marketing functions (all while the technology continues to improve and advance).

This article is your GenAI for marketing shortcut. Early adopters have done the groundwork. Now, take our hard-won lessons and run with them.

Lesson 1: GenAI Is An Equalizer, Not A Replacement

GenAI will transform the way we work. It automates repetitive tasks, supports creative work and allows more time for teams to focus on strategy, creative thinking and relationship-building. GenAI will help small companies better compete with larger competitors.

But AI isn’t a replacement for human talent. You may have heard, “AI won’t replace marketers, but marketers who use AI will replace those who don’t.” That’s spot-on. GenAI tools allow marketers to use time more efficiently and focus on higher-value work.

Lesson 2: Educate And Empower Your Team

AI success starts with education. Your team should have a baseline understanding of AI and comfort using tools relevant to their roles. When everyone is on the same page, you’re less likely to fall into common traps, like relying too much on AI, assuming it can handle complex tasks alone or putting your company at risk.

Encourage team members eager to embrace AI technology to step up as internal champions. They can keep pace with AI advancements and become your company’s subject matter experts over time. With these leaders, employees can feel more confident experimenting with AI, exploring new applications and pushing its capabilities. Many companies are creating internal AI Councils to understand, vet and deploy AI across the organization.

Lesson 3: Establish Governance And Policies Early

Every business needs AI governance. Specify who can use AI, under what circumstances, and how to protect sensitive internal and customer data. Your AI guidelines reassure customers and partners that you’re committed to data security and compliance for their information.

Evaluate the privacy and data-sharing policies of any AI tools you’re considering, and understand how they handle and protect data. Selecting tools that align with your security requirements is essential for safeguarding sensitive information.

Lesson 4: Document Processes For Effective Integration

To take GenAI beyond individual use and transform your organization, create a well-defined approach. Ensure your current workflows are articulated and documented into processes. Skip this step and AI integration will be scattered and ineffective, creating problems as you scale. Processes may need to evolve or adjust to make the best possible use of AI technology. If your team isn’t used to formal documentation of processes, consider bringing in an outside expert to accelerate the initiative.

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Lesson 5: Use Agility As An Advantage

Smaller companies have a major advantage when adopting AI: They can quickly test new tools, implement changes and adapt to feedback without the bureaucratic barriers larger organizations face. But it’s important to balance speed with structure. Implementing AI without adequate oversight can lead to inconsistent results, poor quality and compliance issues.

Lesson 6: Embrace A New Mindset

AI integration is a shift in company culture and individual mindset. As AI handles routine tasks, marketing roles are shifting from “doers” to “orchestrators.” Encourage your team to see AI as a collaborative tool. Although change may be necessary, it isn’t always comfortable, especially at first. Your team may need encouragement to push through the discomfort and get to the benefits on the other side of AI integration.

Lesson 7: Prioritize Critical Thinking To Maintain Quality

It’s never been easier for marketers to become complacent and end up with mediocre work. But AI outputs, whether used in external marketing or for internal purposes, need a human touch to ensure they align with your brand’s identity, values, quality standards and true thought leadership.

In a world rife with AI-generated content, “good enough” doesn’t cut it: Quality control is nonnegotiable for teams that want to set their brands apart with authenticity and originality. Marketers should customize their AI tools so the result is unique rather than generic. Train an AI tool with information such as customer personas, brand voice, solutions portfolio, points of differentiation, value proposition and more. Always layer on human review and modifications to the outputs to ensure the final product isn’t “me too.”

Lesson 8: Connect With Other AI Practitioners

AI is evolving fast, and keeping up means staying connected. Engage with industry networks, attend conferences and learn from other AI users to stay ahead. (I’ve found The Marketing AI Institute to be a great resource, as well as The Artificial Intelligence Show and AI-Driven Marketer podcasts.)

Assign team members to keep tabs on the latest AI trends and host internal sessions where they can share their insights. This collaborative learning approach keeps everyone informed and agile.

Lesson 9: Take An Iterative, Adaptable Approach

AI technology evolves so quickly that building a long-term plan for AI integration may not be practical. Focus on achievable, short-term wins that improve productivity today, and revisit your approach as the tools evolve.

Today, many AI marketing tools are specialized—they excel at individual tasks but don’t necessarily integrate seamlessly. Start by mastering the ones that will provide the most immediate benefits. In a few months, reevaluate—new solutions may offer more connected capabilities that better serve your overall strategy.

Set New Standards For Marketing Excellence With AI

AI in marketing is a paradigm shift akin to the Industrial Revolution—the potential impact is astounding. The key lessons from the past two years underscore the importance of human-centric approaches: educating teams, fostering adaptability and maintaining high standards of quality and ethics.

By viewing AI as a collaborative tool for team members, organizations can enhance their capabilities without losing the invaluable human elements that will always be required. Those who embrace AI thoughtfully and strategically will stay competitive and set new standards for marketing excellence.

Originally posted on Forbes

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It’s never been easier to maximize marketing—to spin up ad creative in minutes, produce blog posts at the push of a button and create personalized outreach at scale—and we have AI to thank. But when anyone can launch a campaign instantly, two things happen: The output tends toward mediocrity, and it becomes difficult for any of it to rise above the noise.

In the age of AI marketing, quality, not quantity, is what earns attention. Companies that produce thoughtful, original, human-centered marketing will win. AI can assist you, but you must approach it with the right mindset.

That mindset starts at the top.

AI alone won’t earn trust, win deals or grow market share. Your team needs more than the latest tools. They need strategic direction, clarity of purpose and the freedom to create lasting value.

Here’s how CEOs can lead in a way that makes AI in marketing a true multiplier, starting with what not to do.

What Not To Do

Avoid these traps when incorporating AI at your company:

Don’t Pressure Marketing To ‘Do More With Less’

It’s easy to look at generative AI and think, “Great, now marketing can work 10 times faster,” or even, “Do we need a marketing department at all?” That mindset is misleading. Higher volume and quicker pace don’t necessarily produce better results. Mindlessly pushing for speed and scale will backfire.

Using AI to “do more with less” is missing the point. Marketing isn’t assembly-line work. It’s creative, strategic and iterative. Treating AI as a shortcut to infinite productivity puts your team under unfair pressure, stifles the creative process and won’t drive the desired outcomes.

Don’t Suddenly Change Performance Expectations

AI doesn’t give leaders license to unexpectedly increase lead goals or shift revenue targets. (Often, achieving the same results as in prior years is increasingly more challenging, not less.) Just because new tools are available doesn’t mean you should rewrite your marketing strategy overnight. AI allows you to do more, but you must do the right things to achieve your goals.

If you’re considering updating key performance indicators tied to AI productivity, get input from marketing leadership first. They understand what’s working, what’s worth testing and what’s needed to deliver results.

Don’t Confuse Tools With Strategy

Use AI to support your marketing team, not bypass them altogether. Don’t be the CEO who takes their team’s well-researched strategic messaging straight to ChatGPT for “a few tweaks.” Large language models (LLMs) are trained to sound confident, justifying weak ideas with strong language. If you’re not careful, you’ll end up following generic advice instead of strategic insight.

Use AI to explore and challenge assumptions; don’t rely on it to make decisions. Your marketing strategy should be built by people who understand your business, market, customers and goals, not a model trained to essentially guess what you want to hear.

What To Do Instead

Now that you know what not to do, here’s what you should do instead to leverage AI’s potential in marketing:

Trust Your Marketing Team’s Guidance

Design, messaging, channels, tone, targeting—your marketing team’s expertise allows them to make smart decisions in these areas. Your role is to challenge your team with bold goals and clear priorities, not second-guess their every move. AI should enable your marketing team; it doesn’t replace their years of experience or strategic thinking abilities.

Invest In Training, Systems And Support

Your marketing team was likely built in a pre-AI world. They’re learning AI on the job—testing tools, rewriting processes and figuring out what works (and what doesn’t). Support them with training and systems that help them transition from exploring AI to operationalizing it. Encourage them to rethink how work is done, find new efficiencies or incorporate tools that enable meaningful progress.

Contact The Magnetude Team

Treat AI Integration As R&D

ChatGPT can create a first draft in seconds, but achieving high-quality output takes time. A copywriter might spend two hours refining a prompt, feeding in background context and revising a draft. That learning curve isn’t wasted effort—it’s research and development.

Provide space for your marketing team to evaluate options, document workflows and build new skills—for example, creating a custom GPT that knows your brand inside and out. The payoffs will come, but not without upfront work.

Standing out requires taking risks, and some of them won’t pan out. Give your team permission to experiment without fear of failure.

Establish A Clear Point Of View

AI can summarize what’s already out there, but it can’t define your mission and vision. That’s your job as CEO. A strong point of view, grounded in your company’s purpose and aligned to your customer’s needs, is your biggest brand asset. It should guide your messaging, your content and your channel strategy. One of the biggest contributions a CEO can make to marketing is committing to and communicating the company’s unique point of view.

If you lead an AI-enabled business, keep in mind that AI is not a stand-alone differentiator. The outcomes delivered, not the technology itself, should still be front and center in your messaging.

Contribute To Thought Leadership

Want to be involved in marketing? Do it where it counts: Invest in your own thought leadership. Generative AI can’t replace lived experience or replicate conviction—although it can assist you as a thought partner for brainstorming topics, clarifying ideas and supporting content creation. The strongest thought leadership starts with people who are willing to share their perspective, challenge assumptions and take a stand.

Show up as a voice in your industry. Share insights your target market wants to hear. That’s how you can create the most value.

Your Influence Is Powerful—Use It Wisely

AI has indelibly changed the marketing landscape. But it hasn’t eliminated the need for quality, originality and customer-focused strategy. If anything, it’s raised the bar higher.

As a CEO, your influence is powerful. Use it to create conditions that enable your team to do their best work. Resist the urge to chase volume for its own sake. Instead, double down on quality, alignment and differentiation.

AI alone can’t transform your company’s marketing. But your leadership can.

Originally posted on Forbes

Getting leads should be easy for B2B companies, right? Turn on the money faucet, let the leads pour in, and watch sales turn them into closed deals. The reality? A lead doesn’t always equal a sale, and truly top-quality leads can be elusive.

There is an art and science behind getting quality leads that convert to clients or customers. In this article, I’ll pull back the curtain and help you understand some of the basic elements that come together to create an effective lead generation campaign.

B2B Marketing Considerations

B2B marketing is generally more complex than B2C. While B2C is usually transactional, with B2B, your message often needs to reach multiple decision makers, address different customer pain points and may have a longer sales cycle.

Before a prospect even enters the sales cycle, they follow a buyer’s journey, where demand generation and lead generation programs lead them down the funnel to sales.

Demand Generation vs. Lead Generation: What’s the Difference?

Demand generation is a combination of efforts to build awareness throughout the buying journey. Delivering targeted marketing messages that drive interest in your product or service is just one part of demand generation. At this stage, potential customers are discovering their problems and are open to solutions. This is the prime time for you to engage with targets using different touchpoints and content that raises awareness about their problem and positions your company as a trusted advisor.

Lead generation, by contrast, focuses directly on converting your prospective audience into leads. This often involves gated content: high-value pieces like e-books or webinars hosted behind a form to collect contact details, for example. This content gains your audience’s attention and leads them further into the buyer’s journey.

Inbound lead generation pulls your audience in by offering this relevant content through organic web searches, social media, referrals and remarketing ads. There are many outbound lead generation methods as well, typically leveraging cold calls, emails and even knocking on doors (yes, it still happens!).

Connecting to Your Audience

In a 2020 Gartner report, B2B buyers report spending little time with sales reps. Only 17% of the total purchase journey is spent in such interactions, and 27% of the journey was researching independently online. Because of this, building your online presence is a key component of success.

Creating a buyer persona is the first step in understanding your audience. It allows you to effectively build content suited for your ideal customer profile (ICP). You may need to create multiple profiles considering factors like:

• Job level: Many companies have different levels of decision makers. The person that is the influencer may test and demo your offerings and then send it up the ladder for approval.

• Job function: Different business areas have different priorities. The messaging that works for an IT admin will likely be quite different from a finance officer.

• Industry or vertical: Different industries will have different needs and messaging requirements, and sharing news or using terms that relate to that industry adds credibility.

Personalizing your content to fit these segments is crucial to ensure your message resonates.

Lead Quality Over Lead Quantity

Improving the quality of leads is one of the most significant objectives of a lead generation strategy. A highly qualified and targeted lead will result in a higher ROI. Use BANT (Budget, Authority, Need, Timing) to help qualify a lead and turn a lead into a viable prospect.

• Budget: Does the lead have the budget for your product or service? Don’t let your valuable marketing dollars be spent on audiences that don’t have the budget for your offerings.

• Authority: Does the lead have the authority to purchase? Depending on your prospect, it could be one decision maker or a buying committee.

• Need: Does your product or service meet the needs of that lead? If your offerings are only suitable to SMBs, then enterprise leads may never prove to be fruitful.

• Timing: When does the lead need to have their pain point solved? Is there a current product or solution that may need to be displaced? Is there budgetary timing that needs to be targeted?

Often, marketing will create qualifying content to uncover BANT ahead of time. Converting leads into prospects builds a healthy sales pipeline and helps you measure ROI and effectiveness of different marketing programs and tactics.

How do you get started with lead generation?

It’s always best to start with goals. SMART (Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant, and Timely) goals will help you set a clear and defined road map.

Look at any past programs and evaluate what worked and what didn’t. Get feedback from customers — what brought them in and why did they choose you? Additionally, don’t put all your eggs in one basket: piloting programs and A/B testing will help you determine where you should allocate your dollars. Finally, be sure to maintain lead generation activities to fill the funnel as customers come and go.

From there, consider these key questions internally to get the right fit. Any good strategy starts with a plan.

• What is your ICP? Who are the decision makers and influencers in the buyer’s journey?

• What are your target audience’s pain points?

• How can your content address those pain points while including your unique selling proposition?

• How will you qualify and process leads? What is your timing?

• How will you nurture leads with content for each phase of the buyer’s journey?

• What is a lead worth to you?

• How can you retain your current customers?

The Bottom Line

Any size business can engage in successful marketing and lead generation. As you can see, lead generation is not as simplistic as it seems, and done without forethought and planning, it can result in wasted time and money. Take the time to understand your audience and craft your approach thoughtfully, and you’ll be ready to test and scale.

Originally posted on Forbes

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When someone says, “MSP,” most think “IT.” This instinctive association is not unfounded. Managed service providers (MSPs) for IT are an accepted and familiar approach. Especially for small and midsized businesses (SMBs) without the resources to ensure IT’s effectiveness in fueling company growth, MSPs can make good business sense.

Outsourcing to MSPs is so ideal for this core operational function that the IT segment is expected to lead the global managed services market in its projected record growth—an expected CAGR of 13.1% through 2030. But IT isn’t the only department that the managed services model can be applied to.

The Managed Services Model—For Marketing

Marketing is a core business function that does more than just “keep the lights on.” This function shares IT’s critical role as a growth enabler. In smaller organizations, marketing also struggles behind bigger players who have the seasoned expertise, technology and specialization needed to drive success, except with fewer options to fill the void.

Could the managed services model be applied to marketing?

This novel way of addressing gaps in the marketing function already exists as fractional marketing, though it’s a less understood term. Semantics aside, managed marketing services (“MMS” to coin an acronym) is now an option for organizations to consider.

Let’s examine some ways this model works:

1. Mind the gap(s) with access to expertise and more.

Like IT, marketing has undergone a significant evolution over the past few decades. Technology advancements and the shift to digital have had a direct influence on diversifying marketing’s roles. In smaller companies, modern marketing’s uber-specialization only widens skill and technology gaps, limiting the effectiveness of marketing efforts.

The managed services model can help fill those gaps by drawing on its full bench of expertise across all marketing specialties. This on-demand flexibility can help mitigate the risk of not having the right skill sets at the right time—or being stuck with the wrong ones.

2. Scalability and flexibility are at its core.

Building the resources for an in-house marketing team can get costly fast. While that team may address the company’s current skill and technology needs, will it serve evolving requirements?

Leveraging MMS can help an SMB gain the flexibility and scalability needed to respond to changes in the business and market. As a managed service, the burden is on the provider to deliver best-in-class services today and continuously maintain, innovate, invest in and grow their services (including skills training and technology upgrades) to keep pace with a business landscape.

3. Growth outcomes, clear deliverables and metrics are key.

Managed services providers typically provide service-level agreements (SLAs) that set clear expectations for the services being purchased, including definitions of deliverables and turnaround times, and performance metrics.

For marketing, growth outcomes are critical key performance indicators (KPIs) of the managed services relationship. Leads that generate pipeline activity, revenue tied to lead sources and ROI on programming are examples of specific performance objectives against which efforts can be measured. Whether for IT or marketing, the goal of setting these expectations is to protect both parties—the provider and the client—and ensure a collaborative partnership.

4. Customization is required to reach goals.

Marketing and IT are aligned in their reasons for leveraging managed services, but there is one notable difference. Managed services for IT are productized. For example, help desk services for Office 365 are the same regardless of industry. Marketing, though, requires customization in the mix of tactics applied to reach its goals.

To accommodate these needs, delivery for marketing services must be more flexible than pricing structures based on seats/users. And, because success requires a deep understanding and familiarity with the client’s unique market, business and vernacular, a provider’s industry specialization can minimize learning curves and optimize outcomes.

Is MMS Right For Your Business?

Not all companies need or have the budget for a fully staffed in-house marketing department. The managed services model delivers flexible options that range from augmenting in-house resources to acting as a company’s marketing team. In the process, this model can help remove barriers to driving business growth.

But is it right for your company and your marketing goals? Consider these factors:

If you are a startup, high-growth company, or investing in marketing for the first time, MMS can help you gain traction fast, delivering the strategic expertise you need to prioritize your target markets, build go-to-market models and determine an optimal mix of tactics.

If you have predictable and stable lead generation, hiring a midlevel marketer that’s dedicated to managing the existing effort is likely a more cost-effective strategy. MMS may be leveraged to fill more specialized needs such as search marketing, web development or public relations.

If you are evolving your offering, changing your market focus or exploring new strategic directions, your marketing needs are shifting rapidly. A hybrid model is often a good solution. Consider hiring an internal junior or midlevel marketer to work day-to-day with an MMS partner that can provide critical strategic guidance and tactical support needed to get the job done.

Unsure if managed marketing services fit your current growth goals?

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How To Find An MMS Provider

There are plenty of ways to approach outsourcing your marketing depending on your needs and current structure.

Rigorous evaluation and vetting are essential to finding the right MMS provider—one that has marketing expertise in your specific industry, that will integrate and work collaboratively with your team, and is the right cultural fit. After all, this is a partner you’ll be relying on to drive your business growth.

Regardless of whether it’s referred to as fractional marketing, MMS or another name, it’s time for companies to recognize the potential of the managed services model for marketing. This model allows SMBs and growth-stage companies to level up their capabilities and market like the big companies.

Ready to level up your marketing with a dedicated managed services partner?

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Originally posted on Forbes

Expanding into a new region, industry or customer segment. Repositioning in an evolving market. Navigating a merger or acquisition. Revamping your product/service mix. These initiatives have one thing in common: It takes a marketing strategy to optimize the outcome.

Maybe you’re tired of being your industry’s best-kept secret, striving to hit aggressive growth targets or facing increased competitive pressure. No matter the type of business transformation, one thing is clear: The changes you’re about to make will affect your go-to-market strategy and likely catalyze organizational shifts.

When the stakes are this high, you need to consider every aspect of your transformation. That means having the right people at the table: Did you save a seat for a strategic marketer?

Don’t Wait To Involve Marketing

Many executives believe that mapping out a business transformation is the work of a few C-suite members: the CEO, COO, CRO and CFO. Then, they hand off the program to marketing to execute their perceived line items in the plan: Create the campaign, promote the product/service, and bring in the leads.

What’s wrong with this approach? If you wait to include marketing in this process, you miss out on a host of benefits that marketing should provide and risk making costly mistakes, such as:

• Solving a problem that’s already been solved by competitors without identifying the unique value of your offer.

• Developing a value proposition that’s based on what you do, not the value you deliver.

• Confusing customers about the products/services your company offers.

• Leaving sales shorthanded and ill-equipped to sell post-transition.

• Underfunding the initiative because your goals weren’t realistic.

• Overlooking new opportunities in the market because of insufficient research.

• Botching the communication about rollouts to customers, partners and internal teams.

• Failing to complete critical projects on time and within budget.

How Can Marketing Support Business Transformation?

Marketing isn’t only channels and tactics, paid advertising and PR, a beautiful website, or a great piece of swag. A marketer who brings strategic insights and business experience to the table can do more than execute your vision for transformation; they can shape the transformation itself and help ensure it becomes a reality.

Research And Insights

Before you land on a go-forward plan, ask yourself: Have we done the exploratory research necessary to maximize our growth opportunities? If the answer isn’t a resounding “yes,” enlist help. Marketers can conduct research to help you make better decisions. To confidently choose a path, you should have information on:

• Competitive landscape: How will your competitors change based on a new solutions mix, a market expansion or an updated value proposition? How can you adjust to account for these changes?

• Customer insights: Does your planned transformation tie back into your current customer base? Does it establish a new segment with a clear need that you can meet?

• Market opportunities: How does the work you’re doing today set your business up for future opportunities? Are there other possibilities you haven’t considered?

Marketers can provide the data and analysis to answer those questions and others, like: Where should we go in the market? What solutions should we offer, and whom should we serve? What’s our best bet for success?

Marketers’ capabilities don’t end there. Depending on their skill set, they should play other roles in your business transformation.

Positioning And Messaging

Marketers can facilitate the creation of company positioning by identifying the “white space” based on the competitive landscape and the company’s value proposition. They can help develop messaging tailored to different stakeholders: customer personas, partners, investors, internal teams, etc. And they can achieve all of that while building consensus and creating alignment on the leadership team.

Change Management

Transformation requires internal shifts as well as changes in go-to-market strategy. Marketers can spearhead change management: They can effectively communicate changes, explain updates and implications, and get buy-in from your internal team to make sure the transformation sticks.

Road Map Execution

Marketers can help you get complex projects across the finish line. Their insight into resourcing, milestones, budget and external considerations (seasonality, industry trends) helps set realistic expectations for the timing of your transformation.

Marketers can also balance short-term wins and long-term investments, taking time to do things right while driving quick results whenever possible.

Finding The Right Marketer

A strategic marketer has the power to drive the way you conceive, communicate and execute a business transformation. This may or may not be a job for your current marketing team. That’s not a knock on your employees—marketing is a massive umbrella that spans everything from top-level business strategy to SEO. Evaluate staff capabilities by taking a critical look at skills. Do they have the background and experience in creating strategies for branding, messaging or market evaluation? Are they intimately familiar with the market dynamics and key target personas? Are they skilled at qualitative and quantitative analysis? If yes, do they have the bandwidth to take on a major initiative?

Sometimes, the right choice is to engage a strategic marketing consultant to help build and execute a transformation plan. The same criteria for background and skill sets should apply. In addition, you should vet outside resources by looking at previous work and results, understanding their level of expertise in your markets, and evaluating the time frames, budget and engagement process. This will help you get exactly what you need to be successful.

Give Marketing A Seat

Business transformation affects the entire organization. Marketing’s contributions can help you choose the right opportunities, unearth new ones and deploy your plan effectively. Don’t lose out on that value—as soon as transformation is on the table, invite a strategic marketer to pull up a chair.

Originally posted on Forbes

Once a bold claim, “now with AI” or “at the speed of AI” has become the new “cloud-based.” Tech companies shout it from their hero banners. Service firms wedge it into their sales decks. Everyone wants to prove they’re keeping up. (This image from the Gobbledy newsletter speaks volumes, don’t you think?)

However, as messaging about AI capabilities becomes increasingly prevalent, its impact diminishes. According to one study, a product or service using AI had no significant effect on buyers’ willingness to pay for it.

Yes, you need to be using AI. Yes, you should probably talk about it. But if you think AI alone is differentiating you, or should even be your primary message, that ship has sailed.

So, how should AI usage fit into your messaging?

Focus On The Customer Value

Too often, companies position AI as a primary benefit, labeling their products or services as “AI-enabled,” “powered by advanced AI models” or “built on LLMs.” But customers don’t care how futuristic your offering sounds. They care about what you say it can do for them—and whether your brand is trustworthy enough to deliver on those claims.

Compare these two messages:

1. “Our solution is powered by advanced AI models.” It’s generic and tells the customer nothing.

2. “Our AI-driven risk engine flags financial anomalies five times faster than manual review, saving clients an average of $20,000 per month.” It’s specific and connected to customer value.

If AI allows you to deliver a faster outcome, a more accurate result or a new capability that wasn’t possible before, lead with that. But be sure to connect the dots. Focus on the outcome AI helps your product or service achieve, and use messaging around AI to explain how you do it.

Not Every Efficiency Is Customer-Relevant

Another trap is assuming that all AI benefits are messaging-worthy. Sometimes, AI’s best use cases are in internal operations, such as streamlining workflows, reducing overhead and boosting profitability. That’s valuable for your business. Your chief financial officer or board will probably want to know about it. But that doesn’t make it meaningful to your customer.

Buyers want to know how you (and your investments and innovations) help them. Unless your internal gains directly translate into improved speed, service, quality or price, they don’t belong in your marketing messages.

Internal AI use may be best shared in investor materials, contract language or even an AI policy. But if there’s no clear customer value, keep it out of your customer-facing messaging.

Lean Into Your Marketing Foundations

Determining which information belongs (and doesn’t belong) in your customer-facing messaging requires more than instinct. It takes a clear strategy to guide your AI messaging.

When in doubt, return to your strategic marketing foundations. These fundamentals are more important than ever in a world that’s moving faster. Your AI messaging should align with your go-to-market strategy. It should reflect your mission, positioning, ideal customer profile and unique value proposition.

Pay attention to your market. What’s everyone else saying? If your messaging sounds the same as your competitors, it is the same. In crowded markets, you need bold, differentiated statements, and you need to back them up. If your use of AI is part of what differentiates you, great. But don’t build your brand around AI just because everyone else seems to be—especially if you don’t have the capabilities or impact to back up your claims.

Avoid AI Messaging Misfires

In certain instances, overrelying on AI in your messaging can do more harm than good. Companies can lose credibility because prospects assume AI means automation, which means lower quality. Procurement teams can pause deals because an AI mention triggered a new layer of risk review. You thought AI would signal innovation, but it ends up slowing you down.

All messaging (not just AI-related) should be created by putting yourself in the shoes of all potential audience segments. A board might laud AI-driven efficiencies, but a customer might wonder if those same efficiencies mean your team is now cutting corners.

Your messaging needs to address these potential perceptions—explicitly or implicitly. If AI is part of your product or service, be prepared to explain how it enhances (not replaces) the value you deliver, and make sure your team is well-equipped to address any concerns or objections confidently.

Find The Right Place For AI Messaging

Even when AI does provide customer value, you don’t necessarily need to talk about it anywhere and everywhere. AI messaging doesn’t always belong on your homepage. Maybe your AI capabilities are best detailed on a services page. Maybe they’re included in a white paper. Maybe they’re referenced in your customer-facing AI policy or embedded in contract language.

Not every message belongs in every channel. Resist the impulse to put AI front and center if it’s not a core differentiator.

A Smarter Way Forward

The pressure to say something about AI is real. In many industries, not mentioning it at all could raise eyebrows. But saying the wrong thing could be worse.

Don’t slap “AI-powered” on your messaging just to check a box. Instead, define your value. Clarify your articulation of customer/client outcomes. Then, determine the role AI plays in how you tell that story. (By the way, if you’re one of the many tech-focused companies that have had AI in their solutions for years but never talked about it, now is probably the time, provided you follow the guidelines covered in this article.)

The strongest messaging doesn’t center on the technology itself. It conveys how you use it to solve problems, deliver results and create value your competitors can’t match.

Originally posted on Forbes

For years, B2B companies relied heavily on search engines like Google as a primary gateway to discovery. The strategy was clear: write quality content, optimize keywords, climb the rankings and let organic search do the rest.

But discovery has evolved. It’s now decentralized—spanning multiple online and offline spaces. Adapting has become more urgent with the expected decline in search engine volume and the rise of zero-click searches. The emergence of generative AI platforms such as ChatGPT and Gemini has had an enormous impact on the future of marketing.

Today’s buyer journey is fractured. Decision makers might start with an AI query, refine their short list in online communities, check review sites for credibility and only then conduct a targeted search for vendors. Offline touchpoints like trade shows and conferences remain vital, adding to the complexity.

The takeaway?

Being found isn’t about dominating one channel; it’s about showing up in all the key places as decisions are shaped. Companies need a multitouch, multiplatform approach to thrive in this new era of decentralized discoverability—it’s the next evolution of a 10-plus-year trend where buyers increasingly control the journey. Here’s how to remain visible and competitive in today’s buyer landscape.

Diversify Your Channels

Platforms change, algorithms shift and entire social networks can disappear seemingly overnight. Companies that put most of their effort into one or two areas risk losing access to their audience when those channels evolve.

For social, LinkedIn remains a top B2B priority, but X has seen a significant user drop-off. Discord and Bluesky are emerging, and Reddit continues to be active. Diversifying your presence helps you mitigate risk and ensure your brand remains visible through platform disruptions and changing user behaviors.

To stay in front of your audience, you must understand where buyers engage, how they consume information and where it’s best to have a presence. Whether they’re searching on Google, engaging in industry-specific Slack channels or reading thought leadership on Substack, your company needs to be discoverable.

A strategic, multichannel approach is no longer optional; it’s required to stay competitive in a fragmented buyer landscape.

Take action: Make a plan to diversify channels and your approach holistically. Research where your buyers go for information, online and offline.

Optimize For Maximum Impact

Every channel requires a specific tone and expectation tied to the audience. A one-size-fits-all strategy is insufficient.

Repurposing content is smart, but copying and pasting the same content everywhere is not. Instead, adapt messaging to fit the platform. For instance, you can distill a detailed white paper into several LinkedIn posts, repurpose it into an email newsletter or tease it on a Reddit thread.

Engagement is the other critical piece of this puzzle. Many of today’s channels thrive on conversation, and participating in those conversations is just as important as the content itself. Make sure you allocate bandwidth and budget to engagement: replying to comments, scanning feeds for opportunities to contribute and responding to questions in community forums. This extends to the C-suite, subject matter experts (SMEs) and sales as well.

It’s a persistent myth that engagement is best left to junior marketers, and in the B2B space, it couldn’t be more wrong. Effective platform management requires a strategic, intentional approach. It takes someone who can navigate nuanced discussions and maintain a consistent and professional voice—and who knows when to elevate the conversation by bringing in authoritative sources like SMEs.

Take action: Ensure experienced marketers and SMEs are leading your social efforts.

Prioritize Expertise And Engagement

Today’s buyers seek expertise and engagement. You need to prioritize both to stand out in a decentralized landscape.

B2B buyers want expert insights to help them make purchasing decisions. Marketing teams play a critical role in this type of thought leadership content, but their function is evolving. They may become strategists and facilitators, helping define content strategy, articulating on-brand themes for thought leaders and helping experts refine their messaging and show up authentically in the right places.

Take action: Build an environment and process where SMEs have the time and support to authentically engage in the communities and conversations that matter.

Dig Into The Metrics

In a decentralized landscape, not all metrics are created equal. For example, web traffic is often put under the microscope to evaluate the effectiveness of an SEO-based strategy. But traffic can be a misleading metric. With the increasing use of AI, some B2B companies we work with have seen site traffic drop—but their lead volume and quality remain steady. Others have experienced a surge in traffic without a meaningful increase in conversions. Traffic and leads don’t necessarily rise and fall together, nor do they always follow the same patterns they did in years past.

Dig deep into your organic traffic. If most of it comes from branded keywords, like your business name, it’s a sign that broader brand marketing efforts (which may be harder to measure) are working. Similarly, if you notice a rise in direct or “dark traffic”—visits with no clear referral source—it could reflect mentions in private communities or other untrackable channels. These hidden signals matter.

Metrics are important, but not everything that matters is measurable. If you rely only on activities that can be easily tracked, you risk overlooking long-term gains from initiatives that are less quantifiable. If you’ve built strong marketing foundations, you can trust that investments in credibility and visibility will pay off over time. Look beyond the numbers and focus on what truly impacts your bottom line.

Take action: Challenge your team to dig deeper, focusing on the data that drives leads and growth.

Nurture The Relationships You Already Have

Discoverability is all about making connections—but don’t overlook the ones you’ve already made. Maintaining strong relationships with partners and clients/customers is essential in a decentralized landscape. Their referrals and recommendations—whether easily trackable or not—are some of the most powerful marketing tools your company already has.

Decentralized discoverability demands more than visibility—it requires a strategic presence, trust building and engagement across every channel where buyers seek answers, shape decisions and drive action.

Originally posted on Forbes

For the past two years, in-house marketing teams have been feeling the pressure to do more with less. As the economy remains uncertain, the job openings are there, but instead of a long line of qualified candidates, companies are vying over a limited few who may or may not have the skill level or breadth required. Others are trying to retain the talent they have—48% of marketers in existing positions are considering leaving their jobs in the near future

The one-two punch of the pandemic and the “great resignation” delivered marketing a forceful hit. But it’s not a knockout, and amid the fallout, there is a bright side: The people shortage in marketing is forcing companies to make better decisions about full-time hires and rethink what is truly needed and when.

Time To Pivot

Remember when marketers were generalists? Before the shift to digital, these individuals were like unicorns who were good at anything “marketing,” and easily juggled responsibilities from advertising and direct mail to public relations and events.

Today, however, micro-specialization is the norm. With the maturing of digital marketing, new tools and technologies have come into play, including marketing automation, cutting-edge SEO and advertising techniques, data-driven analytics and more. These tools are standard fare but require specialized knowledge to leverage and optimize.

As a result of the shift to digital marketing, many agencies, consultancies and contractors have aligned their businesses to support specific aspects of this broad category. They too are often micro-specialized. Access to this focused expertise gives organizations the ability to supplement the areas they are missing in-house rather than hiring full-time specialists amid a talent shortage.

Whether organizations hire in-house, work with contractors or partner with an agency, there still are challenges. The organization still needs to direct and manage these resources. And often, agencies and even in-house hires have limited knowledge beyond their particular industry focus or marketing specialty, which can become a problem for high-growth organizations.

What a company may need skills-wise at one point in its evolution may not be what it needs at another, so skills limitations and gaps can become real barriers to growth. A startup, for instance, needs to establish a solid marketing foundation that includes differentiated messaging and a web presence. Once established, a company may be ready to add marketing automation or expand sales through a channel program. As a company matures, it may hone its marketing for specific verticals.

To navigate and support these growth stages effectively, the marketing department requires strong strategic direction and leadership. Companies need to evaluate gaps and fill them intelligently and cost-effectively. These efforts aren’t for the faint of heart—or for a CEO or sales leader. They require a deep understanding of marketing and access to the right skills at the right time. This is where the emergence of fractional marketing shines.

The Missing Piece Of The Puzzle

Just as it sounds, fractional marketing allows a company to outsource a portion—or all—of its marketing department. This virtual model excels at providing game-changing access to a large pool of seasoned marketers across multiple marketing disciplines. Through this model, benefits that would simply be out of reach for most companies become both affordable and accessible.

• Extensive Experience: Relationship-based and committed to success, fractional teams step in where they are needed with expert strategic chops, execution and results based on years of experience in specific disciplines and industries. The team structure is dependent on each customer’s specific needs, but typically includes leadership direction for overall strategy, a project manager to drive hands-on programming, and specialized skills for implementation (such as senior content writers and graphic designers). Because these teams work on multiple accounts, they also monitor current trends, which can help their clients stay ahead of the competition.

• Growth On-Demand: Different from hiring a single resource with specialized skills, a fractional firm gives organizations the ability to access every needed discipline in marketing. If channel advice is needed, for instance, the fractional team can call in its channel marketing expert to help define the company’s best options and strategy for developing its channel program. As the company grows and its marketing needs evolve, the fractional team grows with it, layering leadership or tactical members where needed and filling gaps.

• Tangible Results: Too many times, an organization’s few in-house marketers are expected to take on more responsibilities—often outside their skill set or comfort zone. Sometimes managed by a different business unit (like sales) or nonmarketing leadership, these resources miss the big-picture strategy for their marketing efforts. Fractional leadership can help build the internal team’s trust and take the marketing reins with sound strategies and clear goals that lead to tangible results. This virtual leader also can evaluate and readily fill skills gaps from the fractional firm’s pool of resources. This removes the burden from the in-house team and puts the right skills to work at the right time to drive more effective results.

The Secret To Success

A glance at marketing job descriptions indicates that companies desperately are trying to wrap as many skills as they can into one candidate. They are, in fact, in search of that “unicorn” that can work across marketing disciplines with ease—and one they won’t outgrow. The reality is, though, that a single individual cannot fulfill all of the requirements that the company will need over time. With its scalable model and available expertise across multiple disciplines and job levels, fractional marketing is the secret to success behind a growing number of modern companies. It’s a fully integrated approach that just makes sense.

If the past two years have taught us anything, it’s that there is no such thing as “normal.” It’s time for companies to think differently about what their modern marketing team should look like. The only surprise will be how quickly and effectively a fractional team can make an impact.

Originally posted on Forbes

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Whether you’re launching a startup, spin-off, or new product or service, a sound go-to-market (GTM) strategy can be the difference between boom and bust. But developing and executing a successful GTM plan within a given time frame and budget is not easy.

Why is GTM strategy so tricky to get right? Frequently, GTM plans backfire because companies approach them as single events rather than ongoing processes—a mistake that leaves them vulnerable to achieving insufficient impact, being at a competitive disadvantage, wasting resources and more.

An effective strategy is built to address the periods before, during and after launch. A comprehensive approach to rollout is the “secret sauce” of go-to-market success.

The Four M’s Of Go-To-Market Strategy

GTM hinges on getting the right strategic inputs to build an effective plan. These four M’s should form the core pillars of your plan:

• Market: Who is your target market, and what is your competitive position? Who are your audience personas? Who are you competing against? How will you position your brand to stand out? Who are the right partners and partner types?

• Message: What is your brand’s story? What is its voice? What is your unique value proposition for each persona? Your compelling messaging to support your positioning? Your content strategy?

• Mechanism: What are your launch timelines and tactics? What is the ongoing marketing plan? Does your website reflect your messaging? How will you target your marketing campaigns? Do sales and partners have access to the right assets and training?

• Measurement: Which key performance indicators or business goals will you use to measure the success of your GTM rollout? Are they realistic? What systems do you need to collect the data you want to track?

Great GTM strategies are based on the four M’s, but many plans still fall short of achieving their goals. Why?

The gold, the saying goes, is in the follow-through.

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Rollout Is Critical To GTM Success

All stakeholders must be aligned and in touch throughout the entire process of going to market. That alignment doesn’t happen automatically—it requires a specific set of activities and efforts. That’s why “rollout” is the fifth pillar (and unsung hero) of a strong GTM strategy.

Here are five things you need for a strong rollout:

1. Internal Communication

The entire company must understand the GTM strategy, including customer segments and ideal customer profiles, the company’s value proposition, and key messaging points. Each person needs to tell the same story; otherwise, you’ll be dealing with organizational silos, inconsistent brand messaging and a confusing customer experience.

Leaders need to communicate why they’ve opted for a particular go-to-market plan and how that strategy will impact everyone in the organization. Work with your marketing leads on a companywide presentation that:

• Offers context for the GTM strategy and reinforces the criticality of consistency.

• Shares unified talking points that are easy to remember and repeat.

• Employs an artifact, catchphrase or other means of integrating messaging into company culture.

• Lays out specific plans for launch and enablement materials.

2. Cross-Functional Alignment

Behind every successful GTM execution is an organization that has seamlessly integrated its departments and functions, from sales to marketing to product development. Similarly, a closer look at any failed rollout will reveal misalignment, wasted resources and a disjointed customer experience.

Cross-functional alignment starts when leadership clearly communicates how its four M’s will help the business achieve its overall objectives. From there, it’s on teams to work together to coordinate their efforts.

To facilitate collaboration, create a cross-departmental GTM task force. This group should know which projects to delegate to which expert teams, all while highlighting the most pressing initiatives and encouraging buy-in from the entire organization.

3. External Communication

Once you’ve aligned your team, you can shift your attention to partners, customers, analysts and other influencers in your company’s ecosystem.

It’s awkward for external stakeholders who already have a relationship with your business to find out about upcoming changes when they’re made public. Plan early-stage rollouts for current customers and other channels and partners who should be in the loop.

Don’t forget to equip your partners with the right messaging and updated collateral so that they can easily align with your new strategy.

4. Customer Success Integration

When it comes to rolling out a GTM strategy to customers, give customer acquisition and customer support and retention equal focus to avoid dissatisfied customers and churn issues.

To limit churn, think about how you can expand your GTM plan to acquire those critical new logos and simultaneously drive retention and loyalty in your existing customer base. Specific tactics like upgrade paths or early adoption discounts can be useful measures.

5. Feedback Loops

Before your go-to-market strategy takes off, set up robust feedback loops to collect indicators from internal stakeholders, customers, prospects and the market in general about your product or messaging.

But remember that no single piece of feedback can determine your strategy; instead, adjust based on clear trends and patterns that emerge.

Establishing feedback loops can be hard work and often requires buy-in from a range of departments. Changes based on feedback should be made in the same cross-functional spirit. The goal is to be responsive without becoming reactive.

Feedback is important to any GTM strategy, and there will always be opportunities to iterate and improve. However, conducting thorough research as you develop your GTM plan makes it more likely that your strategy will deliver clear value to the market.

Going To Market Is A Process, Not An Event

Counterintuitive as it sounds, a GTM strategy doesn’t end with going to market. After the big push of a launch, the work continues: You may need to update, tweak and recalibrate messaging points, feedback loops, campaign strategies and more. To maintain momentum after your GTM plan launches, think of communication, alignment and feedback not as one-time tasks but as ongoing activities that drive success.

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Originally posted on Forbes