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Achim’s Razor

Positioning, Messaging, and Branding for B2B tech companies. Keep it simple. Keep it real.

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Insight

Marketing Isn’t Linear: Why B2B Tech Needs to Rethink ROI

Learn why Marketing isn’t linear like Sales, how to rethink ROI, and why consistency and frequency earn trust and build credibility for B2B tech companies.
January 27, 2025
|
5 min read

Marketing in B2B tech isn’t a linear process like sales. While sales focuses on immediate outcomes, marketing builds long-term value by creating credibility, building mental availability, and earning trust. This non-linear approach requires patience and consistent effort over time to yield results. Augmenting short-term lead generation with long-term brand-building helps you to stay top of mind and reduce risk.

Takeaways

  • Marketing operates as a non-linear multiplier, focusing on trust, credibility, and long-term brand value instead of immediate ROI.
  • Time lag is inevitable, especially with long sales cycles and high-risk decisions, or when we lack credibility.
  • Consistent brand-building reduces risk and positions solutions as “safe bets.”
  • Augmenting short-term performance marketing with long-term brand-building is essential for sustained growth.
  • Metrics like recall, sentiment, and share of voice matter more for long-term marketing impact than direct attribution to sales.

Marketing and Sales Multiply Results Differently

In B2B tech, Marketing often gets treated like an extension of sales—a linear process where input equals output. Generate leads, qualify them, and close deals. Simple, right? Unfortunately, that’s not how marketing works because buyers care about different things at different times and, therefore, make different choices. 

Unlike sales, marketing is a non-linear multiplier where various factors, like market conditions and perceived risk, play a massive role in purchasing decisions. Brands that maintain consistency and frequency, even during downturns, typically stay top of mind and come out ahead of brands that constantly react, switch gears, and change their tune. 

This is common in B2B, especially tech. Organizations double down on sales activation tactics like lead and demand generation and then measure against sales results. And because time lag makes it feel like things are taking too long, many marketing programs are nixed and chalked up as failures.

And so the vicious cycle continues. We stop THIS and start THAT. Rinse and repeat.

All this just adds to more needless frustration and pressure for B2B tech founders and marketers alike. When marketing efforts don’t produce immediate ROI, they’re often seen as failures. The truth is, marketing’s power lies in its ability to multiply how brands build credibility and earn trust. It doesn’t show up instantly on a balance sheet but it’s essential for sustaining growth. 

The Linear Sales Mindset

The sales process is relatively straightforward. Almost every CRM follows a clear, measurable path from prospects to leads to opportunities to closed deals. Add more salespeople, expect more sales, right? This linear logic feels intuitive and controllable, making it the dominant framework in many organizations.

But applying the same approach to marketing doesn’t work. Marketing doesn’t push leads through a funnel or pipeline. Good marketing builds up appeal when the timing is off (95% of the time) and demand when the timing is right (5% of the time). It’s a lot like farming: planting and tending to seeds, not merely harvesting crops.

B2B Marketing is like farming: planting and tending seeds vs. merely harvesting crops

Why Marketing Is Non-Linear

Instead of following a predictable input-output model, marketing builds mental availability—the likelihood that your brand comes to mind when a buyer has a need. This process doesn’t happen overnight, nor does it follow a straight line. That’s because buyers care about a diverse range of emotions and inputs. It’s non-linear by nature, requiring consistent and frequent effort over time to achieve results.

Visualizing linear vs. non-linear outcomes in B2B Marketing

Think of marketing like investing in a savings account. Each campaign, blog post, or ad deposit builds on the last, compounding over time. But if you’re expecting an immediate payout—like using an ATM—you’ll be disappointed. Marketing’s impact is cumulative, not transactional.

“Marketing is the generous act of helping someone solve a problem. Their problem. It’s a chance to serve. The magic of ads is a trap that keeps us from building a useful story.”
 
Seth Godin

The stories Seth is talking about don’t convert instantly. They build familiarity and earn trust, leading to conversions later. This is an important point because when we’re ready to buy, we always think of the best brands—the best for us.

Adding to this, buyers define “the best” based on what aligns with their unique worldview. For some, it may be something like convenience; for others, status. Marketing’s non-linear nature gives us a chance to build mental availability to meet these diverse preferences when the time comes. And that equates to invaluable air cover for your sales team down the road.

The Time Lag Between Effort and Results

One of the biggest impacts on measuring marketing that often gets overlooked is Time Lag. For example, the marketing effort we created in Q1 won’t be realized until Q3 or Q4, or possibly later. And if we sell expensive, complex enterprise solutions, it can take years. 

This lag is especially pronounced where long sales cycles and high-stakes decisions mean buying teams need time to evaluate options and reduce perceived risk. Over 50% of B2B decisions result in no decision because that is typically the safest option. Buyers are often paralyzed by fear of making the wrong choice, especially when their reputation or job security is on the line. 

Consistent brand-building reduces this perceived risk, positioning your solution as the “safe bet” when the buyer is ready to act.

For example, a consistent brand-building campaign might not generate immediate leads, but it creates the conditions for future success.

A good example is SAP’s “Best Run” campaigns. The initial campaign, “The Best-Run Businesses Run SAP” ran for over 10 years. Variations like the one below ran for another 10 years. SAP is a B2B Marketing case study in consistency and frequency.

SAP's Best Run campaign: consistent brand-building in enterprise marketing

When buyers recognize and trust your brand when they are not ready to buy (95% of the time), they’re more likely to engage when they’re ready to make a decision (5% of the time). Without that foundation, you’re constantly climbing a steep hill, competing on features and price alone.

This time lag also explains why correlation doesn’t imply causation in marketing. Just because a specific campaign didn’t directly lead to a sale doesn’t mean it wasn’t instrumental in building the awareness and earning the trust that made the sale possible. 

Shifting Perspective

Measuring marketing’s non-linear nature requires a shift in thinking. 

  • Measure the Right Metrics: Focus on awareness, sentiment, recall, and share of voice. These metrics indicate how a brand’s reputation gains traction, even if ROI isn’t immediate. Check out Proving Marketing’s Value in 2025 and Beyond for more.
  • Set Realistic Expectations: Recognize that marketing efforts may take several months to manifest in tangible results. Patience is key. Check out Understanding Time Lag: The Hidden Driver of GTM Success for more.
  • Implement Short- and Long-Term Strategies: While immediate lead generation is important, investing in brand-building ensures sustained growth. Think of sales activation tactics like lead generation as action marketing, and brand building like earning confidence and trust as memory marketing. You need both and both are distinctly different. Check out 5 B2B Brand Questions and Answers After Demand Gen’s Letdown for more.

IBM’s legacy—No One Ever Got Fired for Buying IBM—is another great example of how a strong brand reputation can provide sales teams with invaluable aircover. 

Decades of consistent brand building made IBM the “safe bet” for decades, reducing perceived risk and earning trust. Startups and smaller companies can’t replicate this overnight, but consistent messaging and a focus on building credibility will achieve similar results over time. Where most startups and scaleups fail is a lack of commitment and patience. Without consistency and frequency, a brand’s reputation will always be behind the eight ball. 

“But we need leads now!” Yes, of course. Short-term sales tactics and long-term brand-building can coexist. SAP and IBM implemented both. You can also run performance campaigns to generate quick leads while laying the groundwork for future growth through consistent brand-building efforts.

As Jim Collins wrote in Built To Last, don’t get trapped in the “Tyranny of the OR.” The “Genius of the AND” lies in using short-term and long-term strategies together. 

Final Thoughts

Marketing’s non-linear nature is its strength, not its weakness. Performance marketing can be attributed to sales outcomes in the short term. But brand building helps us earn trust and build credibility over the long term.  

We need to rethink how we measure ROI because linear and non-linear outcomes are not the same. When both are done right, both support each other and provide priceless air cover for future deals.

Imagine being able to say “No one ever got fired for buying [your solution].” That hill is way easier to climb than always having to start every sales pitch from scratch to prove your value.

Dive Deeper: If you want to see how I helped a B2B tech company do much of what is covered in this article, check out the BELLIN Treasury case study. It’s a good example of how maintaining consistency and frequency can grow a business exponentially.

If you like this content, here are some more ways I can help:

  • Follow me on LinkedIn for bite-sized tips and freebies throughout the week.
  • Work with me. Schedule a call to see if we’re a fit. No obligation. No pressure.
  • Subscribe for ongoing insights and strategies (enter your email below).

Cheers!

This article is AC-A and published on LinkedIn. Join the conversation!

Strategy

Smallest Viable Market: A B2B Tech Guide for Focused Growth

Discover why the smallest viable market is as important as the minimum viable product. Learn how focusing on the right audience drives growth and loyalty.
January 20, 2025
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5 min read

The Smallest Viable Market (SVM) is specific. It’s as important for growth as the Minimum Viable Product (MVP). When we focus on the smallest, most specific group of people who truly care about our stuff, we can tailor our message, build loyalty, and drive word-of-mouth. But that requires bravery and accountability.

Takeaways

  • Everyone is impossible. Everyone is also convenient because it’s easy to hide in broad, vague messages.
  • SVM focuses on the smallest audience who is willing to tell others about you.
  • Serving a focused audience leads to stronger customer relationships and organic growth.
  • Marketing, Sales, CX, and Product teams all benefit from aligning around an SVM mindset.
  • Like the MVP, the SVM leads to better results and long-term success.

The Smallest Viable Market (SVM) is Similar to the Minimum Viable Product (MVP)

Anyone on the Product team knows all about the Minimum Viable Product (MVP). It’s the simplest, most useful version of a product. It’s the version that works, even if it’s not perfect. MVPs get the core idea out into the world quickly and continuously improve based on customer feedback.

But what about GTM teams? What about the Smallest Viable Market (SVM)?

Are you as focused on the right people you’re trying to serve as the product you’re trying to build? The SVM is the marketing equivalent of the MVP, and it’s just as essential for growth.

The Problem with Targeting Everyone

We’ve all heard it: “When you try to be everything to everyone, you end up being nothing to anyone.” That’s because it’s too ambitious. Too universal. Too big. It’s impossible. 

The fear of missing out (FOMO) drives this urge. We’re afraid that if we narrow our focus, we’ll lose potential customers. In reality, the opposite happens. A broad, vague message blends into everyone else. Nobody cares because nobody notices.

People don’t buy your product just because it exists. They buy it because of how it makes them feel and how it solves a specific problem they care about. And the only way to show them you can solve their problem is to get specific.

Like the Minimum Viable Product, the Smallest Viable Market is Specific

The Minimum Viable Product works because it’s focused. It’s the simplest version that solves a problem. The Smallest Viable Market works the same way. It’s the smallest group of people you can serve and still grow your business.

This isn’t about making compromises or limits. It’s about starting in the right place. When you focus on a small, specific group, you can:

  • Tailor messages to customer needs.
  • Build solutions that fit.
  • Earn confidence and trust.
  • Create raving fans who spread the word.

Growth doesn’t come from trying to serve everyone. It comes from serving the right people—the ones who will love what you’re doing and talk about it. That’s how movements start. That’s how momentum builds. That’s how confidence catches on. 

Choosing Your Smallest Viable Market

So, how do you find your SVM? Seth Godin offers a great answer with another question, “Who’s it for?”

Not “everyone” or “anyone who needs X.” Be brave enough to get specific. Who will get the most value out of what you’re offering? Who is most likely to care? Who will talk about it?

Imagine your first 1,000 true fans. These are the people who love your product so much they can’t stop telling others. Focus on them.

Ask them: What do you really want? Instead of saying, “Here’s what I made. Do you like it?” start by listening. Build something they need. Make a promise they care about.

Specificity Requires Courage

Being specific is hard and scary. It’s much easier to be vague. If you’re trying to serve everyone, you can always find an excuse when it doesn’t work. But when you focus on an SVM, there’s nowhere to hide. You’ll know if it’s working or not.

That’s why specific marketing is brave marketing. It forces accountability. It demands clarity. And it creates the kind of trust that builds strong brands.

Thinking for the Whole Business

What if your whole business embraced the SVM mindset? What if GTM teams taught the company—including the C-suite—to think about customers the same way product teams think about MVPs?

  • Marketing could focus on making promises to the right people, not everyone.
  • Sales could target the people most likely to buy, not just anyone with a pulse.
  • Product teams could build with the end user in mind, not just the loudest internal voices.

When everyone is aligned around the smallest viable market, we’re not just building products. We’re creating change for the people we seek to serve.

SVM Leads to Growth

If you‘ve ever ridden a motorcycle, you know that push-steering is counterintuitive. You push left to go left, not right. That’s inertia at work. MVP and SVM have a similar inertia. 

It feels counterintuitive, but starting small leads to big results. SVM doesn’t limit growth. It enables it.

When you focus on serving the right people, you build something that sticks. Sticky things get attention and create buzz. And when people talk, you grow.

Just like the MVP helps you build better products faster, the SVM helps you grow your brand reputation in the right way. It’s not about reaching everyone. It’s about making real connections with the right people. 

Final Thoughts

The Minimum Viable Product is a proven tool for innovation, and the Smallest Viable Market deserves the same level of attention. Both require clarity, courage, and a willingness to focus on the essentials. It’s about progress, not perfection

To put this into action, identify the smallest group of people who care a lot about your solution. Who are they? What keeps them up at night? Be brave enough to say, “It’s not for you” and specific enough to make a real difference for those you seek to serve.

Dive deeper:

  • Seth Godin’s This Is Marketing: Especially Chapter 3, which gets into the concept of the Smallest Viable Market and why it’s so powerful.
  • Steve Blank’s The Startup Owner’s Manual: A guide to building startups with a customer-first mindset, emphasizing the importance of focusing on the right audience.

If you like this content, here are some more ways I can help:

  • Follow me on LinkedIn for bite-sized tips and freebies throughout the week.
  • Work with me. Schedule a call to see if we’re a fit. No obligation. No pressure.
  • Subscribe for ongoing insights and strategies (enter your email below).

Cheers!

This article is AC-A and published on LinkedIn. Join the conversation!

Strategy

12 Questions Every B2B Tech Marketer Should Ask In 2025

Discover 12 powerful questions to transform your B2B tech marketing in 2025. Gain insights, refine strategies, and drive sustainable growth.
January 13, 2025
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5 min read

​​Struggling to stand out in B2B tech marketing? Start by asking better questions. Here are 12 essential questions to help you uncover real insight, sharpen strategy, improve execution, and measure what matters in 2025. If you’re frustrated by sporadic wins and invisible branding, these questions will help you create clarity.

Takeaways

  • Understand your audience deeply and identify the root causes of your marketing challenges.
  • Invest in both short-term tactics and long-term brand building, prioritizing awareness, confidence, and trust.
  • Document consistent processes and get external help to fill capability gaps if needed.
  • Ensure you’re measuring what matters and distinguish between forecasts and actual results.

Does This Sound Familiar? 

“We’ve poured our hearts into building a product that truly makes life easier for our customers. What used to take a week, our solution can do in a day. Yet despite all the effort, we’re struggling to get leads. The big brands always get shortlisted. It’s an uphill battle to book demos. Conversion rates are low. Marketing doesn’t seem to work.”

It’s not that your product isn’t good enough. It’s more likely that you are:

  • invisible
  • trying to be everything to everyone
  • not clear on your best-fit customer
  • all short-term tactics, no long-term strategy
  • product-led, not customer-obsessed
  • all of the above

Not to mention that 95% of the folks you’re after are not in the market to buy—and likely won’t be for a while. 

Plus half of the remaining 5% end up ghosting you and do nothing (because that's way less risky).

This is a good time to rethink, readjust, and get rid of old baggage. There’s no point in continuing to do the same things if they’re not working. That’s insane. 

Let’s go back to the beginning and find out what’s causing all the frustration. 

Insight

Got a marketing problem? Chances are you have an insight problem. 

Everything starts with insight (some folks call it diagnosis). The better the insight, the better the outcome. It creates clarity and has a ripple effect: 

Better Insight > Better Strategy > Better Execution > Better Metrics to Report. 

The foundation for addressing this problem is understanding why these challenges exist.

1. How did our brand progress in the past year?

  • Brand recognition is one thing. Brand reputation is another. Focus on how your brand has evolved and whether there is increased awareness, confidence, and trust. If you’re not sure, that’s an indication you’re not measuring what matters (see Metrics for more on that).
  • Dive Deeper: Progress NOT Perfection: B2B Tech Marketing Strategies for Growth

2. How can we prepare for and leverage the potential of AI, specifically Causal AI, in our GTM strategies?

  • Understanding what happens and why is key to market success and GTM accountability. With Causal AI, you can sift through data and show how your brand drives faster deals, bigger deals, and more deals—net of time lag and external factors—in minutes. You can also optimize spend, measure performance, and create various what-if scenarios that can forecast the impact your brand is having today and will have tomorrow..
  • Dive Deeper: AI and the Accountability Era: GTM and Marketing in 2025

3. Which relationships (clients, partners, employees) matter most for our brand, and how will we invest in them?

  • We can buy awareness, but confidence and trust are earned through genuine, meaningful relationships. That’s brand and culture in a nutshell, and it’s the glue that helps unknown brands become sticky. Confidence is contagious, and once you have it, you can pave the way to raving, loyal fans. 
  • Dive Deeper: Why B2B Tech Needs Brand Marketing to Earn Trust and Grow

Strategy

Without a coherent strategy rooted in solid insight, GTM efforts become scattershot. 

Reactive, short-term tactics rarely work and only end up frustrating your audience. Remember the 95:5 Rule: Only 5% of your market is actively in the process of acquiring something from you. If you want to get on their Day-1 list, you have to ask the tough questions. 

1. What marketing strategies or tactics are we leaving behind?

  • Time for some housecleaning. Reassess the reliance on outdated and ineffective tactics. For example, if you insist on running short-term lead gen and demand gen campaigns, make sure they are backed by long-term brand campaigns. That’s the aircover you will need when future buyers are back in-market. As Peter Drucker once said, “Long-term results cannot be achieved by piling short-term results on short-term results.”
  • Dive Deeper: 10 B2B Expert Insights: Why Brand-Building Trumps Demand Generation

2. What core GTM strengths can we double down on?

  • Don’t boil the ocean. Focus on the things that actually move the needle. Everything else is a distraction. Focus on your differentiated value and amplify it with channels that work. Think of it like fishing: you want to bring the gear and bait for the fish you want to catch in the pond they are swimming in.   
  • Dive Deeper: 3 Ways to Gain Actionable Brand Insights for B2B Tech Growth

3. How do we define GTM success beyond just leads and revenue?

  • Shift your focus and investment to elevating your brand reputation: awareness, confidence, and trust. If you want to grow long-term, 50% to 60% of your marketing budget should be allotted to brand building. Why? Because in B2B, brand is often overlooked, but it’s critical for reducing buyer risk, speeding up deals, and driving growth. 
  • Dive Deeper: Proving Brand Value in B2B Tech: 5 Key Insights from Mark Stouse

Execution

Unfortunately, most B2B tech companies insist on focusing almost entirely on short-term execution without a guiding strategy. 

A recent Deloitte study showed that short-term performance marketing is up from a 60% investment in 2023 to almost 70% in 2024 over long-term brand building. All the while, short-term tactics like lead gen and demand gen have not delivered on the promise for over 15 years. 

It’s a headscratcher that needs rethinking.

1. What daily habits can we upgrade to improve our marketing focus and results?

  • Without consistency and frequency, we have little chance to make an impression, let alone build a reputation. Consistency starts with getting everyone on the same page. Daily, weekly, and monthly activity is much easier to execute when things are documented for everyone to see and follow. 
  • Dive Deeper: How to Create a Brand Playbook for B2B Tech | Free Template & Guide

2. Where do we need external support to boost B2B tech marketing?

  • One person can’t do it all, especially the foundational pieces. Understanding the cause and effect of good foundational marketing will help everyone down the line. Investing in specialists (e.g., brand strategists or demand-gen experts) can cover gaps in internal expertise, particularly in the early stages of growth.
  • Dive Deeper: The Cause & Effect of Positioning and Messaging in B2B Tech Campaigns

3. What bold marketing risks will we take to stand out?

  • One of the key aspects of taking risks is asking better questions and facing reality. Oftentimes we don’t want to give up on something for fear of missing out or fear of messing up. One “risk” every B2B tech company should take is niching down to the smallest viable market category. Once you do, you’ll soon realize it was never a risk.
  • Dive Deeper: Niche Marketing for B2B Tech: Unlock Faster Growth and Higher ROI

Metrics

Much of the frustration with sporadic wins and poor conversion in B2B tech stems from measuring the wrong metrics or measuring Marketing (a non-linear multiplier) like Sales (a linear multiplier). Even things like revenue and sales velocity are forecasted, not measured. 

We need to ask better questions: Are we measuring? Or forecasting? The difference matters. 

1. How much did our marketing investment multiply Sales effectiveness and efficiency?

  • Marketing investments multiply sales effectiveness by generating higher-quality leads, optimizing pipeline velocity, and reducing wasted effort through precise targeting and measurement of ROI. AI tools can further enhance this by predicting outcomes and identifying high-value opportunities. When done right, Marketing can increase Sales effectiveness by 8x and Sales efficiency by 5x on average.
  • Dive Deeper: Proving Marketing’s Value in 2025 and Beyond

2. How long does it take for our marketing investments to improve Sales performance?

  • Long-term brand-building investments typically take 6–12 months to show measurable impacts on sales performance. Quick wins are possible through demand-gen efforts, but sustainable growth requires consistent investment in building trust and recall. 
  • Dive Deeper: B2B Brand Marketing: The Long-Term Play for Sustainable Growth

3. What metrics matter most to measure the success of our marketing?

  • Success metrics should focus on lead quality (not just quantity), brand reputation, customer engagement, and long-term indicators like brand recall. These metrics align marketing efforts with sustainable growth and deeper customer relationships. Causal AI tools like Proof Analytics can help measure and monitor these metrics. 
  • Dive Deeper: How To Generate Quality Leads By Boosting Your Brand Reputation

Final Thoughts

Addressing the challenges of B2B tech marketing requires diagnosing the real causes, not just treating the symptoms. 

If we’re invisible, it’s likely because we haven’t invested enough in customer research and long-term brand building. 

If we’re stuck with sporadic results, it’s often due to a lack of alignment between insight, strategy, execution, and metrics.

Questioning all these areas helps us move from frustration to clarity, build a stronger brand, and a more effective GTM engine.

If you like this content, here are some more ways I can help:

  • Follow me on LinkedIn for bite-sized tips and freebies throughout the week.
  • Work with me. Schedule a call to see if we’re a fit. No obligation. No pressure.
  • Subscribe for ongoing insights and strategies (enter your email below).

Cheers!

This article is AC-A and published on LinkedIn. Join the conversation!

Strategy

13 Ways to Get “Better At” Marketing in 2025

Discover 13 actionable ways to improve your B2B marketing skills and leadership in 2025. Learn to adapt, collaborate, and lead with the Better At mindset.
January 6, 2025
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5 min read

Being “Better At” focuses on selfless improvement—helping yourself and others grow while you grow. Here’s a quick recap of my appearance on Lori Jones’ StrategyCast podcast, where we covered 13 ways marketing teams can develop a “Better At” strategy in 2025, from active listening and data literacy to curiosity and leadership.

Takeaways

  • Adopt a “Better At” mindset to focus on selfless improvement by helping yourself and your team grow together.
  • Build trust and uncover insights by actively listening to deeply understanding your customers and colleagues.
  • Align goals across teams and stay flexible when navigating AI, market shifts, and other changes.
  • Be curious and use tools like Generative AI and Causal AI to enhance decision-making and innovation.
  • Earn trust with cohesive positioning, clear communication, and a strong brand reputation.

Better At: A Public Narrative 

There are a couple of reasons for Better At. 

First, back in 2021, I was inspired by a great quote by the Greek Philosopher, Epictetus. 

“These reasonings do not cohere: I am richer than you, therefore I am better than you; I am more eloquent than you, therefore I am better than you. On the contrary these rather cohere, I am richer than you, therefore my possessions are greater than yours: I am more eloquent than you, therefore my speech is superior to yours. But you are neither possession nor speech.”
 
Epictetus

Second, in This Is Marketing, Seth Godin opens Chapter 20 with a summary of The Public Narrative, a three-step action framework created by Harvard Professor, Marshall Ganz

  1. A Story of Self communicates the values that have called you to leadership. It gives you a platform to be heard. 
  2. A Story of Us communicates the values shared by those in action. This is about together, not apart.
  3. A Story of Now communicates an urgent challenge to those values that demand action now. It creates tension for all of us to move forward together. 

In other words, Public Narrative says, “Here’s who I am, this is what we have in common, and here’s what we’re going to do about it.”

It’s about being “Better At” versus “Better Than.” The difference matters. 

Being better at something together with others is selfless. Being better than someone, especially when it takes advantage of people or thrives on an uneven playing field, is selfish. 

Following is a recap of 13 “Better At” ideas I discussed with Lori Jones, on her StrategyCast podcast.

Check out the full episode for all the details and examples

13 Ways Marketers Can Be Better At Marketing in 2025

  1. Better At Listening: The great Austrian composer, Alfred Brendel once said, “The word listen has the same letters as the word silent.” It’s more than just hearing words; it’s understanding what people really want. Active listening builds trust and uncovers hidden insights.
  2. Better at Inspiration: A clear vision motivates people and creates alignment. Organizations that align their mission, vision, and values with what customers aspire to achieve create a cohesive culture and strong brand reputation.
  3. Better at Collaboration: Big ideas require teamwork. One person can’t do it alone. Shared and aligned goals between marketing, sales, CX, and product teams create successful GTM teams.
  4. Better at Adaptability: Change is constant—no one could have foreseen COVID. And look how fast AI is changing everything. Flexibility helps us turn challenges into opportunities. Fear is the enemy. How will you adapt to AI? Market headwinds? Tailwinds?
  5. Better at Empathy: At the bookends of all marketing is people. Understanding their fears, motivations, and worldviews makes marketing more human. It also makes corporate culture more human. Remember: we’re in this together. How will you bring more empathy to your work?
  6. Better at Communication: Clarity is essential. It removes barriers, drives action, and creates stronger execution. For instance, a messaging manifesto can help distill complex features and benefits into a one-liner everyone can rally around. B2B tech tends to overdo the jargon, buzzwords, and lengthy descriptions. Keep it simple.
  7. Better at Prioritization: Not everything deserves equal attention or can be a top priority. If you have a list of 10 things to do, you can only do one at a time. What is truly important? Urgent? Build a 13-week rolling calendar to keep things on track and reprioritize at the end. Why 13 weeks? That’s how many there are in a quarter.
  8. Better at Leadership: Like a good coach, good leaders inspire and encourage their teams. Be willing to let your team fail and learn by winning and losing. Clear direction makes space for creativity. Firm delegation makes space for growth. But remember delegation doesn’t mean abdication.
  9. Better at Confidence: Confidence is contagious. A GTM team that is backed by cohesive marketing and a solid brand reputation exudes confidence. And once customers catch it, they begin to trust you. It separates good companies from great ones. It starts with positioning, messaging, brand, and culture.
  10. Better at Relationships: Better relationships are built with better communication. We can strengthen our networks by being genuinely interested, open to sharing, and available for assistance. Regular check-ins keep everyone on the same page and can uncover opportunities. This is as true for teammates as it is for customers.
  11. Better at Data Literacy: Data literacy isn’t optional anymore. AI is making it easier to call out the BS. Causal AI can help create various What-If scenarios to help hedge bets on what to do and where to spend. The more marketers become data literate, the more accountable and irreplaceable they will become.
  12. Better at Curiosity: Curiosity drives innovation. The more curious we are about tools like Generative AI and Causal AI, the more we can use them to our advantage. The better we give ChatGPT prompts, for example, the better the response—we can take ideation and research to a whole new level.
  13. Better at Questioning: Questions shape everything, challenge assumptions, and create clarity. Who is it for? What is it for? Why is it important? Better questions can completely reframe a strategy. How can better questions help you grow? And where can they take you next? A great book that can help you answer these questions is A More Beautiful Question, by Warren Berger.

Final Thoughts

These ideas are not about doing more—they’re here to help us think about how to be a better teammate, leader, vendor, etc. When we’re better together, we make things better for others.

“When we make things better, we make better things.”
 
Seth Godin

Start with the one you feel you can have the most impact with. Try to get better at it together with others. If you can do all 13, great! If you want to come up with your own, even better!

A year from now, you’ll not only be better at your craft—you’ll have helped others get better too. That’s the real goal.

To hear the full conversation, check out the episode on Lori’s podcast.

To learn more about “Better At” reach out. I’d be happy to share more.

If you like this content, here are some more ways I can help:

  • Follow me on LinkedIn for bite-sized tips and freebies throughout the week.
  • Work with me. Schedule a call to see if we’re a fit. No obligation. No pressure.
  • Subscribe for ongoing insights and strategies (enter your email below).

Cheers!

This article is AC-A and published on LinkedIn. Join the conversation!

Strategy

4 Ways AI Impacted B2B Marketing in 2024: Lessons and Tips for 2025

Discover how AI reshaped B2B marketing in 2024. Learn 4 key lessons and actionable tips to stay ahead in 2025 with smarter, AI-driven GTM strategies.
December 20, 2024
|
5 min read

AI was a much bigger deal in 2024. It’s pushing B2B marketing towards accountability, better decisions, and bringing back the importance of brand reputation—a good thing! Tools like Causal AI are making it easier to measure what really matters, helping marketers align with sales, prove ROI, and earn trust. Heading into 2025, success will belong to those who embrace AI to stay accountable, focus on long-term brand value, and deliver clear, effective results.

Takeaways

  • Tools like Causal AI are helping GTM teams prove their value and get better aligned with the C-suite.
  • Buyers will be able to quickly spot inconsistencies in messaging, making trust the most critical currency in 2025 and beyond.
  • Short-term sales tactics can’t replace the long-term value of a strong, memorable brand that is backed by analytical proof.
  • Use AI to focus on the KPIs that directly impact sales effectiveness, growth, and brand strength.
  • AI raises the empathy stakes—authentic brands that genuinely care will stand out.

Radical Change Is Upon Us 

2024 was a year of massive change in B2B marketing. AI is everywhere, on everyone’s mind, reshaping how we approach Go-To-Market (GTM). 

A few things stand out since officially “turning the lights on” my consulting business in April. If I had to choose one, it would be this: 

Causal AI will make it easier for the C-suite to hold everyone, especially GTM teams, more accountable for the promises they make and the incentives they are paid. 

If this year taught us anything, it’s that the rules of engagement have radically changed. And those of us who see opportunity will adapt and thrive; those who resist will be left behind. 

Here are four things I learned and how they can guide you in the coming months.

Lesson 1: GTM Will Be Held More Accountable Than Ever

We know Generative AI’s impact on marketing with tools like ChatGPT and Midjourney. But Analytical and Causal AI will force more transparency and accountability in ways we’ve never seen. 

In 2024, it became clear that AI tools are making GTM efforts more measurable—and as a result, more scrutinized. This is a wake-up call for anyone who’s been skating by on BS knowingly or not.

The days of making up shit, “cooking the books” and ass-covering are quickly coming to an end. And it won’t just be the C-suite calling it out—AI will also enable buyers to expose this stuff in minutes. This isn’t just a GTM thing—it’s a company-wide thing. 

One of the byproducts of accountability is empathy. That’s a win-win for everyone. 

Takeaway for 2025: Get up to speed on Causal AI but don’t forget the power of fundamentals and evidence-based strategies. The runway for most B2B GTM programs is longer than the tenure of the CMO and CRO. Marketers who adapt and use causal analysis to prove GTM investments will be in high demand and keep their jobs longer. 

Dive Deeper: AI and the Accountability Era: GTM and Marketing in 2025

Lesson 2: Managing GTM Risk Separates the Good from the Great

Mark Stouse and I spent a lot of time in Q4 discussing how AI is amplifying GTM accountability and risk. 

Buyers will be able to spot inconsistencies in messaging or promises at the click of a button. Brand reputation will be on the line at every touch point and trust will become currency. 

Marketers who succeed will not just build pipelines but actively mitigate reputational and legal risks for their companies. 

Takeaway for 2025: Double down on aligning sales and marketing—your messaging has to be tight. Don’t make promises you can’t deliver. It takes years to earn confidence and trust but only minutes to destroy it. And once misinformation is out there, it’s hard to reverse it. Just don’t go there.

Dive Deeper: Proving Marketing’s Value in 2025 and Beyond

Lesson 3: Brand Building Is Like An Investment Account

It’s easy to forget the fundamentals when AI is all the rage. But the fundamentals coupled with evidence-based strategies always deliver lasting results. 

Many B2B tech companies continue to overinvest in short-term sales tactics at the expense of their brand reputation. 

That’s largely due to GTM teams not providing any analytical basis for investing in the brand. And because the C-suite views Brand as “a blank slate on which no one has written any sort of convincing rationale,” as Mark Stouse recently said, it has been in a free fall since 2009. 

That’s about to change in 2025—brand is making a comeback because short-term performance marketing like lead and demand generation have done everything but perform.

Takeaway for 2025: The best time to build your brand was yesterday. The second-best time is today. Confidence and trust are earned. The more B2B tech GTM teams prove the value of investing in brand reputation, the stronger the brand will become and the more it will be remembered. 

Dive Deeper: Why B2B Tech Needs Brand Marketing to Earn Trust and Grow

Lesson 4: Better Data, Smarter Decisions

Over the past decade, GTM teams have been overwhelmed and paralyzed by too much data mostly because of the crazy pressure to drive immediate results. It’s easier and faster to pick a number that looks and sounds good.

And although AI is making it easier to measure, not every metric matters. 

Causal AI helps GTM teams model various scenarios, incorporating often ignored factors that impact the business, like headwinds and tailwinds, and time lag. These models can show how different investments in brand reputation and other long-term strategies affect growth over time.

Marketers can prove their value in tangible ways, earning confidence and trust—and keeping their jobs. Rather than obsessing over productivity and efficiency, they help Sales be more effective. And with strong marketing support, Sales is 8x more effective and 5x more efficient.

Takeaway for 2025: Audit your metrics. Eliminate the noise and zero in on KPIs that directly impact sales efficiency, growth, and brand strength. Use AI for predictive analytics and accountability, but don’t forget the human element: clear goals and evidence-based strategies are still essential.

Dive Deeper: Watch the Data Literacy Video Series with Liam Moroney and Dale W. Harrison. They discuss what to do, what NOT to do, and why every B2B marketer needs to level up their data skills in 2025. 

Final Thoughts

Like every industrial revolution since 1784, the pace of change isn’t slowing down—BTW, we’re still in Industry 5.0 but soon heading into the next one.

AI is changing how we measure success, earn trust, and approach strategy. But the fundamentals—clear positioning, relevant messaging, and a strong brand reputation—matter more than ever. 

AI is raising the stakes, making accountability and transparency non-negotiable. We’ll need to focus on empathy in everything we do going forward because people will only care about the brands that genuinely care about them. 

The year ahead will challenge us all, but it’s also full of opportunity for those who are willing to adapt.

Make it a great year!

LAST BUT NOT LEAST: A FREE GIFT FOR YOU

If you’re ready to take your brand to the next level, I’m sharing my Brand Playbook Template to help you clarify your positioning and strengthen your brand in 2025. Reach out if you have any questions.

Free Brand Playbook Template

If you like this content, here are some more ways I can help:

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  • Work with me. Schedule a call to see if we’re a fit. No obligation. No pressure.
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Cheers!

This article is AC-A and published on LinkedIn. Join the conversation!

Photo credit: iStock: natrot

Insight

Proving Marketing’s Value in 2025 and Beyond

Learn how AI and causal analytics help B2B marketers become more accountable, prove their value, and balance short-term wins with long-term success.
December 13, 2024
|
5 min read

AI and causal analytics will quickly change B2B marketing as we know it in 2025 and beyond, turning guesswork into measurable outcomes. Marketers who adapt and adopt AI-driven analytics tools will be able to clearly show their impact, improve results, and amplify growth. Accountability and transparency are the new normal.

Takeaways

  • We are entering an era of radical transparency, where AI-driven analytics can determine what’s effective and what’s not in minutes.
  • Marketing is a non-linear multiplier that amplifies sales results and business growth without requiring linear investment.
  • We need to strike a balance between short-term wins AND long-term gains. It’s not one OR the other.
  • Our gray “comfort zone” is disappearing quickly—the days of liquor and guessing will soon be over (shoutout to Dilbert).
  • AI-driven accountability is an opportunity to be better and work together. We can either embrace the change or risk being left behind.

Proving Marketing’s Value

Last week, I sat down again with Proof Analytics CEO, Mark Stouse, to talk more about the coming GTM changes in B2B marketing. This time, we dove into the multiplier effect

As we got deeper into the topic, one thing is certain: go-to-market teams are under the microscope like never before. Budgets are tight, expectations are high, and the C-suite wants proof that every dollar spent delivers a return. 

And as AI gets better, transparency and accountability will be easier to evaluate and scrutinize. Guesswork won’t cut it anymore. That’s a tough reality, but it’s also an opportunity. 

With AI-driven marketing accountability and causal analytics, marketers have the tools to show their value more clearly than ever—and win a seat at the table.

Here are four key takeaways from our LinkedIn Live event.

1. Transparency and Accountability Is Here to Stay

The age of radical accountability and transparency is here, and it’s changing how businesses operate. AI can now analyze data in seconds, pinpointing inefficiencies and inconsistencies that were once hidden in plain sight. 

For marketers, this means every strategy, campaign, and dollar spent will be scrutinized. Proving marketing ROI to the C-suite won’t be such a long shot. 

This level of transparency forces teams across the entire company to work closer together for the greater good. Budgets aren’t just numbers anymore; they’re reflections of trust and accountability. When every business unit can see how resources are allocated, collaboration becomes the only way forward.

“Radical transparency means it will be impossible not to know how effective you are and how cost-effective your programs are.”  
 
Mark Stouse

For marketing teams, this is a chance to prove their worth with data, not gut feel. It’s a shift from defending the budget to earning it.

Mark’s Pro Tip:
Start by aligning with your CFO or CEO to agree on what success looks like. Ask: “What questions are burning a hole in your pocket?” Then tailor your data and reports to answer them directly.

2. The Multiplier Effect

Unlike linear functions like Sales, where you might need to double your headcount to double results, marketing, like product, is a non-linear multiplier that amplifies results without the same proportional investment. It’s a force multiplier that makes sales teams more effective and efficient.

“Marketing makes Sales about 800% more effective and 500% more efficient than it would be by itself. That’s the multiplier effect and you can take that to the bank.”  
 
Mark Stouse

But there’s a catch. Marketing’s impact isn’t instant. It has a time lag, and this is where many businesses get caught with their pants down. 

Cutting marketing might seem harmless at first, but it’s like running on the fumes of past investments. Within 12 to 18 months, businesses often feel the fallout in lost revenue and higher churn. 

A good example is Airbnb ditching its marketing in 2020. What seemed like a good idea at the time wasn’t so great 18 months later when revenue fell like a rock. 

Marketing momentum erodes like a half-life. Eventually, you lose the trust and confidence of customers. And because it takes them longer to make up their minds now, the average deal velocity goes way down. 

Understanding this dynamic can mean the difference between market success and failure. And with the right measurement tools like Causal AI, organizations can model how marketing drives long-term growth while protecting their investments and delivering immediate value to the business.

Contrary to popular belief, marketing is not a cost center

Mark’s Pro Tip:
Map out your current marketing spend and overlay your sales performance data. Use causal analytics to identify where marketing amplifies sales results and optimize those channels first.

3. The Short and Long Game 

Balancing short-term wins with long-term marketing success is one of the toughest challenges for any business leader. The pressure to show immediate results often clashes with the need for sustained growth. Marketing sits right in the middle of this tension.

“Anyone can manage for the short term or the long term. The trick is doing both at the same time.”  
 
David M. Cote, former CEO, Honeywell

Causal analytics is a game-changer here. It helps companies model the ripple effects of their decisions—good or bad—on revenue, customer retention, and brand reputation. 

This is about seeing the big picture—no more guessing. What is driving results today? What is setting us up for tomorrow? Why? The right data helps us see things more cleary. That insight helps us make better decisions to balance immediate wins with future potential. 

Mark’s Pro Tip:
When presenting your marketing strategy, show both immediate wins and long-term impact side by side. Think of it like GPS navigation—adjust the route as needed but always keep the destination in mind.

4. The Gray Zone Is Fading Fast

For years, marketers have operated in a gray zone—where results were difficult to measure, and decisions were often based on intuition and bias. That’s changing fast. AI, data analytics, and transparency are eliminating the gray zone. 

“The gray zone is shrinking. Probabilistic insights are starting to feel like certainty, and marketers must step up to prove their value.”  
 
Mark Stouse

This is a good thing. It’s more of an opportunity than a challenge. It raises the bar for GTM teams to show clear, measurable impact. It also gives us the tools we need to prove how much value we add to the business.

Causal analytics enable GTM teams to measure their impact, optimize their efforts, and earn the trust of the C-suite. For marketing leaders, this is the moment to step up and show how marketing drives tanglible outcomes.

Mark’s Pro Tip:
Stop the guesswork by embracing causal modeling. Start small: test one campaign or channel, measure its ripple effect on revenue, and build from there. If you’re a start-up and not currently collecting CRM or MA data, use mock AI data to build your models.

Final Thoughts

GTM teams have a choice: embrace AI-driven accountability or resist it. Those who embrace it will lead the way, using causal AI to demonstrate the real value of their efforts. They’ll be able to show the C-suite how marketing multiplies growth, makes sales more effective, and earns trust.

Those who resist risk being left behind. The tools and insights are already here. The businesses that succeed will be the ones that measure what matters, adapt to what they learn, and prove their worth every step of the way.

“You’ll either be running the AI that shows your value, or it will be running on you. The choice is yours.”  
 
Mark Stouse

Watch The Multiplier Effect—Proving Marketing’s Value on LinkedIn.

If you like this content, here are some more ways I can help:

  • Follow me on LinkedIn for bite-sized tips and freebies throughout the week.
  • Work with me. Schedule a call to see if we’re a fit. No obligation. No pressure.
  • Subscribe for ongoing insights and strategies (enter your email below).

Cheers!

This article is AC-A and published on LinkedIn. Join the conversation!