Your Marketing “Strategy” Is Probably a list of line items
The CEO says “we need to grow.”
The CFO says “show me efficiency.”
Marketing hears: “Got it — more content, more ads, more campaigns.”
The team stays busy. The spend goes up. The outcomes stay fuzzy.
Strategy is simpler than it gets treated. It’s choosing who you’re for, what you’ll be known for, and what you’ll stop doing.
The problem in plain English
In a lot of companies, “marketing strategy” ends up being last year’s budget with new labels.
It looks like:
“We’ll do LinkedIn”
“We’ll run webinars”
“We’ll invest in SEO”
“We need some brand work”
“We should do ABM”
That’s a list of channels. Useful to have, but it doesn’t tell you what you’re trying to win, or why any of it matters.
When the plan is basically a channel list, three predictable things happen:
You spread the team thin (and call it “full-funnel”)
You struggle to say no (because nothing has a clear purpose)
Results feel random (because the choices were random)
You end up in the worst place a marketing leader can be: busy, expensive, and vaguely judged.
The insight: strategy is a constraint, not a document
A real strategy doesn’t need a 30-slide deck.
It needs constraints that make day-to-day decisions obvious.
If you can’t answer these quickly, the plan isn’t doing its job:
Who are we trying to win this year? (not “everyone who could buy”)
Why would they choose us? (one sentence, not a positioning essay)
What will we not do? (a stop-doing list, not just priorities)
What must be true for us to hit target? (2–3 measurable bets)
Think of it like a filter. If an idea doesn’t pass the filter, it shouldn’t make the backlog.
Practical steps (a 60-minute strategy reset for lean teams)
You can do this with a small group: marketing lead + sales lead + founder/GM. Whiteboard, no laptops.
Step 1: Pick one ICP you’re actually willing to specialise in
Not your TAM. Your target.
Write a single line:
“We are going to win in the next 12 months with: [who], in [context], who care about [pain].”
If you can’t pick one, pick the segment that:
closes fastest
has the highest willingness to pay
has the clearest “why now”
makes sales conversations easiest
Specialisation is scary. So is being forgettable.
Step 2: Write your “because” sentence (one sentence only)
This is the heart of positioning. Keep it clean. Avoid adjective soup.
Template:
“They choose us because we help them [achieve outcome] by [unique mechanism], unlike [old way/alternative].”
If you need three sentences, you’re still negotiating.
Step 3: Choose two bets (not seven initiatives)
A bet has:
a clear input (what you’ll do)
a clear output (what it should change)
a clear time window (when you’ll know)
Examples of bets that work for B2B teams:
Bottom-funnel rebuild: refresh pricing/demo pages + tighten the conversion path to increase meeting rate.
Owned audience engine: one weekly “point of view” email + a repurposing system to reduce CAC over time.
Partner channel: 10 strategic integrations/partners with co-marketing motions to create qualified pipeline.
Two bets forces tradeoffs. That’s the point.
Step 4: Write your stop-doing list (and make it public)
This is where the strategy becomes real.
Common stop-doing items:
generic blog content with no distribution plan
one-off webinars with no follow-up sequence
“brand campaigns” with no defined behaviour change
creating assets sales never uses
Put it in writing. Share it internally. Expect pushback. That’s a sign you’re finally making choices.
Step 5: Define the scoreboard that proves the bets are working
Pick one North Star tied to revenue, plus two leading indicators.
Simple version:
North Star: Sales Accepted Opportunities (or qualified pipeline created)
Leading: demo page conversion rate, high-intent visits from ICP accounts
Without a scoreboard, “strategy” becomes a story you tell yourself.
A small, memorable closer
A plan that can’t say “no” isn’t a plan. It’s a wish list.
If you want marketing to feel calmer and perform better, stop adding channels by default. Make clearer choices, then repeat them until they compound.
The best strategy isn’t the one that sounds smartest.
It’s the one that makes Monday morning decisions easy.
