63. Why your marketing strategy isn’t working

Speaker A: Hi, and welcome Back to the B2B Marketing App podcast with me, Jade Tambini, aka B2B. Jade, I'm going to talk to you about the three most common issues I see when I'm reviewing marketing strategies that B2B marketers have put together. What often happens is I ask marketers when I first start working with them. Okay, do you have a marketing strategy? And the answer is usually like 60% of you will say, yep, we've got a strategy. And then the rest will say, we don't. We're completely trapped on the marketing task wheel. And then when I dig deeper into the people who said they do have a marketing strategy, there's usually a few different camps that I put them in as to why the marketing strategy they have isn't working. We're going to dissect all of that today and I'd love for you to get in contact with me to let you know which of the three buckets you fall into. And just to quickly note before we get started, the doors to B2B Breakthrough Academy are, ah, reopening soon. They've been closed since February while I enhance things, change things, move platform, train and launch. AI Jade, who's going to be your 247 mentor alongside live calls with me and all of the materials, video trainings, templates, everything you need to build your marketing strategy in just eight weeks. So I'm really excited to tell you more about that. I have linked the wait list in the show notes if you do want to join and I'll make sure that you're the first to know when we open the doors, which will be very soon. I'm so excited to gather a group of you together. In the past it's been a kind of join whenever you want, but now we're having a true start date. Everyone together, everyone sharing the same energy. And I'm really excited to do that with you. Okay, so let's have a little chat about, like, what goes wrong with marketing strategies and I'll also share, like, why I think this happens. So, so the first bucket that we can talk about today is where a marketing strategy is just what I call the campaign list. So it's where you have a spreadsheet of all the campaigns and tactics that have been thrown your way and you've added a few generic goals in there, like get 50 leads within three months. So this is not gonna be a strategy, this is more of a wish list. And, um, the way this comes about is that we're under pressure or on the marketing Task. We've got loads to do and we sort of like have a few tabs. Just saying like marketing overview. We like maybe put in there some of the results we've been seeing, like engagement rates on our social posts, email, open rates, any leads that we've generated. And then we have a tab called objectives, if at all. I mean a lot of people, I review their strategies, they don't have objectives in there at all. Um, but where they have got objectives, there'll be more sort of tactical objectives, um, which is something I talk about a lot. A lot. If you're on my webinar last week, you'll have heard me sharing examples of this. Tactical objectives are a bit of a problem for B2B marketers because our business wants us to be so outcome focused, they kind of make get opportunities into the pipeline the objective. But that on its own doesn't answer like why we don't have them already. So it means you're focusing on the wrong thing. And Rory Sutherland talks about this loads. He talks about how becoming obsessed with the outcome is never going to get you there. And so we need to measure the outcome. We need to be like having that as a background goal, but the focus should always be on like what actually stands in our way. So I don't know, maybe you're in a price sensitive market and so the reason you're not getting as many opportunities as you would like, or maybe the reason that you're not converting the opportunities is because people don't realize and recognize and are educated that working with you, even though you're not as cheap as an alternative, is definitely the safest route for them and they're definitely going to get better outcome than with other people. Um, and so your role then your marketing objective would need to be centered around that education piece and then that easily forms into a strategy. So again, if you want to watch the replay of the webinar that happened last week, 900 of you registered. It was awesome. It was so much fun. And I gave you all a workbook to go away with. So if you do want to watch that on replay, I've also linked that in the show notes or you can find it at b2bj.com forward/links and just get hold of that replay plus a really cool workbook. So yeah, back to the campaign list. You've then got like basically a marketing activity plan in Excel or project management tool like Notion, and it just literally lists everything you've got to do. Like everything's been thrown at you all the landing pages. You've got to build all the products, you've got to launch all the posts, you have to put out, all the events you have to support and build assets for. And you feel like you're achieving a lot. But actually, this is just like a bunch of tactical stuff that's being given to you. And so what I say to people in this situation is there's two. There's two things you can do here. Um, you can either have it that you educate your company and go, well, this is not the best way to get results from marketing. If we want to get results, we'll need to have a. Build a simple marketing strategy that focuses on two or three core things, starting with, like, how does. Like, what is it that the business needs to achieve? And then what is marketing going to do to directly address that? And that is like a whole piece. Like, that's everything I teach inside B2B Breakthrough Academy, but that's what it needs to include. And then from there it's about, oh, I do this. My brain goes blank. It's literally just because I'm doing so much at the moment. Um, I'm always thinking and going off on tangents. Let's think. Hang on, where was I? Wish this was a conversation I was having with you. Um, so that you could just say, jade, this is where you were. Um, but, yeah, basically the point I'm making is a list of activities. Oh, yeah. It was about the two kind of things that you can do. Um, and the first one being you can educate your business. By the way, I hope you like this new format where I don't edit. Like, I feel like I'm getting sick of watching content where it's, like, highly edited with, like, no gaps. I just wanted you to hear what I actually record. And humans sometimes lose their trailer focus, so let me know if you like it. Um, and it's happening again. Come on, Jade, you got this. You can educate them so that they recognize that the way they're doing things won't work. And then you can help them change it. If they don't want to be educated, if they don't want to change and learn. The second thing you can do is literally just make it clear to them that we absolutely can do things your way. We can operate marketing as a bit of an engine with ticket systems and machinery where we just kind of put the ticket in, marketing does the activity, out comes the outcome, but that won't lead to growth results. So it's almost like you can task me with that. But don't be asking me for results in terms of, like, strategic growth markers because, like, the reason that so many marketers are so down in the dumps is because they are being treated as a sales support admin person. But they're expected to get the results of a strategic marketer who has a plan and has resources. So it's. I hope that's going to make you feel better if you relate to this. First of three issues that I see in marketing strategies is like, you can carry on doing that, but just manage expectations internally. And I think, like, that would have given me confidence and it would have made me feel a bit more relieved when I was going through that, because I just think it just really gets you down when you're like, well, why am I not getting results? And I'm telling you, you're not getting results because your efforts are scattered and nothing's connected. Um, like, the only reason my marketing works so well, um, for example, I got 900 people on my webinar last week, all organic, no ads whatsoever, is because my funnel is just very simple. I put out LinkedIn posts, TikTok posts that direct people to my webinar or at the moment, my webinar replay. And every single one is saying, hey, if you want to find out more, like, you go here. Nothing else. I don't ever promote anything else other than what I'm currently driving people to. And then on the podcast episodes, I'm always talking about it too. Like, hey, this is what's coming up. You know, get the replay. I'm doing it right now. Soft selling, like the replays in the show notes. You can get the replay.comforward/links. I'm literally, there's no manipulation here. Going like, I'm. My mission is to help you. I want to help you. And I also want you to buy from me because I can't operate if no one buys from me. But I also really, really believe in what I've built to help marketers. So I don't feel, like, bad. I really want you guys to take my program. And so then once you have signed up to my webinar, you're in my email list. And then I use. I run my email list very ethically. I send helpful content, helpful kits. So like, last week I sent my strategic marketer kit. Um, so everyone on my email list got hold of that. It's like, here's a workbook, um, to go through with your leaders. Here's what to ask them. And so it's all very, very Very simple. And then there's a warm up and uh, nurture toward the program, sharing what's inside, promoting an open house. So I, I appreciate that. What I sell today is quite different than what I would sell when I was a B2B marketing manager. You know, in manufacturing business, in packaging business, in recycling businesses, in professional services businesses. It's very different. But while I can make a sale via pure marketing, there's absolutely no reason why with a simple marketing plan you can't build incredible pipeline for your business. Um, by picking the simple strategy flow where everything is connected and everything makes sense and everything's joined up and you're not doing like a million things. And if you are to do things like ads, you're just underpinning and boosting the simplicity of what you've built. So the campaign list really goes against that because it's the epitome of scattergun. Well, thanks for coming to my show. That was uh, dramatic. Um, and then number two is um, the one that I don't like at all, the impressive strategy. So you've used all those fancy frameworks that you learned and all the models that you've learned in sort of some of the marketing courses out there that are maybe more geared to like big blue chips and they've got these cool sizzle words and everything's like this is going to blow your socks off with cool graphics. And you feel excited as a marketer learning it. But when you actually come to building something, it's just so unpractical. And these courses have got their space, I mean and many of them are highly successful but they typically more suitable for people who are in a big corporate structure where there is like a huge amount of time and resource to kind of go down the route of these models. I personally would argue you don't need to go that fancy anyway. Um, but there is a place for it. So yeah, maybe even in your marketing degree, obviously it's super important. And other well known established framework course, um, providers, education based ones. Like there is a place for learning that stuff. The fundamentals. Like I love learning the fundamentals. For example, I've done my chart and institute of Marketing myself. Um, and the gap however is you've learned all these models and frameworks. You kind of try and stuff them into like how do I make this work? Like, oh, let's do like a cash cow model. Oh my gosh, like what is Porter's five forces? Like, I mean obviously we need to understand competitive forces but like in the way that we're taught them they're just very bitty. Um, and I remember after everything I'd learned, still thinking, how the heck do I put together a marketing plan? And I was just like, I'm not going to use any of this. So I'd learned it theoretically, but I didn't know how to build a strategy I could actually deliver. And so you present this fancy, complex strategy that's technically correct. And they're nodding along, saying, sounds amazing, but no one really understands it, including you. So it ends up sitting in a folder somewhere, never to be seen again. Or worst case, maybe they don't say, oh, that's amazing. That sounds amazing. Maybe they're like, what on earth are you on about? Um, depending on how forthcoming your leaders are. And also sometimes what happens is, like, they ask you questions about, like, okay, so how will that work with this? Or the worst one I used to find was like, I don't think that applies here. And I wouldn't feel the confidence to push back on that. And so what happens with this one is you end up, uh, back on the marketing task wheel and back to the first one I shared around, like, just working off a list. Because your marketing strategy isn't fit for purpose and you're not following it. And so then you may as well not have it. And that's why when people, outreach, people contact me saying like, jade, I need some help. You know, I'm not getting, um, results from the marketing. My first question is, do you have a marketing strategy? And they're like, oh, yeah, yeah, we've got a strategy. But, um, the problem is. And I'm like, whoa, whoa, whoa. Like, if you had a marketing strategy that was fit for purpose, you, you definitely wouldn't be stuck in this way. And so the question, do you have a marketing strategy? And someone saying yes is only half of the question in my mind. I always have to go a bit further. And then the last one is called. And marketers are, ah, very good at this one. Um, this is called the people pleasing strategy. This is the one that's hardest to admit because, um, it comes from a really good place. You have, like, okay, I just want to, like, take away any judgment because I have done this before. So we're going to be honest with ourselves in this situation. As friends, as people who are connected and have gone through the same stuff at work. You built your strategy to impress your leaders. The people that you were thinking about when you developed your strategy was your leaders and your sales colleagues wondering what they'd think of it how they would react. And so what that means is you're showing them you've got great ideas and that marketing deserves a seat at the table. And they love it. And they're like, wow, that's going to be awesome. Your ideas, your ideas are amazing. So I hate marketing ideas. What marketing ideas have we got? Like, it just screams tactics first. So they're really impressed, they love it, they're excited. And you leave the meeting feeling validated, feeling heard, feeling excited. And then quietly, you just panic because you have just gone in there and you have promised things you cannot possibly deliver with the resources you have. So in a way, you have literally just created your own suffering later down the line because they're going to be like, like, you promised us this would work. Like, why, why are you not. And, um, as part of that presentation, you haven't necessarily been upfront about, you know, what's going wrong in the marketing. You maybe have presented a bit of a review of, like, here's all the amazing things we've been doing. Not, here's why it's not working, here's why it's failed in the past, here's what we have to change. This isn't going to continue because obviously it's quite scary to be vulnerable and, um, to like, to put yourself out there is like, I haven't done my job properly because that's what it feels like. But my question to marketers when they're, when they're in this position is like, are you going to carry on down this path because you're scared to just eat the frog and like, face reality and maybe have a bump in the road if they come back to you and go, well, you're useless. Why did we hire you? Or are you just going to stop this madness and go, guys, it's not working. I tried my best. I've gone along with it. Yeah, I'm part of the problem too. And here's what I'm going to do to fix it. And that is one of the reasons I would direct you to getting my, um, strategic marketer kit. So if you go to b2bj.com forward/links where it says get the replay, the bonus that you also get with the replay is a strategic marketer workbook. And it's basically like, because it's 1st of April today, it is like kind of an April challenge for you guys. I've built. So with B2B Breakthrough Academy beginning on May 11, so we're, uh, actually going to start building our marketing strategies together. On 11th of May over an 8 week period. What I've given everyone who came to that webinar, uh, last week is I've given them a like prep module like get started now and use April to ask the following list of questions to your leaders to gather intel, like how they perceive marketing, you know, what they think could be better. Get a few like top level sales numbers, results from the marketing and also reflect on like you and your performance and how you feel about yourself as well, not just them. And I think this is such a good place for you to start is to like, I don't want to be like, oh come on, let's start tomorrow. Like I think it's good to spend this month fresh start. Um, it's April. It's the start of a new uh, financial year for many companies, particularly in the UK and it's like fresh, clean slate. By like before summer you could have written your marketing strategy. And I do think that using April as a like kind of run up towards starting to build your strategy plan in May is so important because you're going to be getting those foundations so that you're like good to go. And I actually believe that this workbook and I've had feedback that even just going through this workbook, which is the prep module I give to people inside B2B Breakthrough Academy, it really helps you to be seen as strategic by your leaders really quickly because it's getting you to ask them questions they wouldn't have been asked before. And um, it's getting you to be reflective too and just start putting in those groundwork. So get hold of that if you haven't already because it's, it's just, it's really important not to be a people pleaser and to be completely honest about like what is going on in your marketing and not just keep giving vanity metrics and keep making things look better. And so actually the people pleasing strategy for me is the most heartbreaking one because you're doing it because you feel so unheard and so unvalued, but actually in a way you're actually creating your own issues later on. So a couple of signs that your marketing strategy does really work. And this is the feedback I've had from people who have taken previous rounds of B2B Breakthrough Academy. Like how it should feel is that your leaders totally get it. They understand what you're doing, they understand why the strategy was clear and simple enough to overcome their issues and objections and they would have been involved in the stages way before even you did the review and the objectives. So that at each stage, what you've come up with in terms of your strategies, your tactics, how you'll measure, how you'll report all of that stuff, what you'll actually do, who will do it, what budget you'll have, is all being pre agreed throughout a process. And so they get it. And but further than that, they're behind you on it. Like you have done the mindset work on yourself and educated them so that they know, okay, this is why we're doing it. And I really support this marketer and every objection they've come up with to try and push you down the task wheel again, you've overcome it. And there are so many people like that. I've been talking like, if you watch the webinar replay, I talk about Anna, Lise, um, and Shannon. I think there's one other. And like the things they've done to change themselves, to then get leaders to really finally flip and listen to them. Uh, like for example, I'll give you a quick one now. So Anna, um, she has been amazing in that there were some big issues with like the CRM not working properly, the positioning not being right, them not being clear about who they are as a business. And she's like, um, you know, I need some budget for us to do this. Would you, would you like me to do this? It should have been done already. This is not something that should have been left till now. This should have been done. Um, and it's kind of like, well, what's the return on the marketing investment? And her, she, she was like, well, I will talk to you about the areas of the marketing strategy that will bring return. However, I need to be clear, this one does not, and you should not expect it from it. It's a market, it's a business investment. It's something you should have had from day one. And so that's just an example of where having like, I don't mean this in like a rude way, but like having an answer for everything. You have to be rock solid in the framework you've learned. And so if you just use an AI, for example, to build a strategy and like, I'll just throw this together. I've noticed increasingly people are using AI to build a strategy that again, back to point 2, looks impressive, but when I look at them, I pull them apart straight away because I'm like, unless you have deeply learned a framework that you're going to follow, you're not going to be able to say, whoa, why did you go that route. Whoa, whoa, whoa. That's gone a bit wrong. Hang on, bring it back. Because when I work with AI I am constantly pulling it back, pulling it back, pulling it back. No, you've missed this. Why have you done that? That's not the right route. Because of my 20 years experience in marketing, I know how to spot it. But when you use AI it's so scary because it sounds so good and it sounds so convincing and you have to be rock solid in what it's telling you. Now, what happens a lot of the time with these AI strategies. I mean this is number four really. The AI strategy is you take them into the room and then you present it and like, oh, that's amazing. And then when they challenge you on something. So why did you come up with that one? You're thinking, shh, I didn't like, um. Oh, uh, just because like you're not going to be as solid in it because you didn't go through a really solid learning process to arrive at that. Uh, and you didn't sense check it and you didn't like come at it from multiple angles. Problem solving, thinking, thinking, thinking, thinking. It's just been made for you. And so it's just ultimately a, another version of AI slop. Now I do believe AI has a massive role to play in helping us build our strategy much quicker. So for example B2B Breakthrough Academy, it used to be like more of a 12 week minimum program and so people would usually even longer than that because it take a couple of weeks to their marketing review, then they do their objectives and they present the leaders. Going through the whole process was a lot, particularly alongside building their um, doing the marketing task reel activities they already had to do and like all their day to day stuff. But now because B2B Breakthrough Academy have actually built um, AI Jade. So that's a 24, 7 mentor that's fully trained in the framework and is powered by a really solid coaching AI platform. It's basically giving the knowledge of me because it's been training on hundreds of hours of my, my, my life consulting advice. Like how I approach things, exactly how my framework works. It's got samples of like dozens and dozens and dozens of like his objectives for that. Here's how it shouldn't work. It's basically like if you imagine having ChatGPT, but it's, it's been built based off of a very, very strict framework to not allow you to go too far wrong and just keep bringing you back. But it's also infused with like me so if you like the idea of me as a mentor, you inside B2B Breakthrough Academy now would have live calls with me, and then in between those calls, you would then be like, oh, hey, Jade, I've drafted this marketing objective. What do you think? And then AI Jade is able to reference all of the materials, all of the knowledge bank, everything that I've ever trained it on, and prompts and, like, my literal. Like, it's hard to explain. Like, I've literally told it what to and not to say in, in, like, as many scenarios as I possibly can. So, like, I wouldn't say that. I would say this, I wouldn't say that I would say this. And, like, every time someone uses it and asks a question, I'm, like, correcting it, tweaking it so she gets better the more she's used. I actually, like, work with her, which is really weird. Like, I will be like, jade, what do I do here? And I'm like, oh, yeah, that is 100% what I would say. And it just, it's just really strange. But that this is the point I'm getting to is there's four different ways you can build a strategy. Okay? So you can. You can build a strategy with no framework. And when I say framework, I mean, like, the five steps I take people through when I help them build strategies. So whatever framework you're going to use, you can try and build a marketing strategy without a framework and, um, without AI. And basically, you'll get nowhere in a really long period of time. So you won't get from A to B, you'll get from A to eat, not be, and it'll just take ages and you'll get all over the shot. The second way you can do it is with a framework only. And, um, that will get you from A to B. Absolutely. Bit like how B2B Breakthrough Academy used to be. So in 12, 15 weeks, maybe longer, you will work through this process methodically with your human brain, and you will eventually get there absolutely great. But maybe not. Maybe missing out an opportunity to sharpen things, maybe it wouldn't be as amazing as it could be. Like, maybe it'll be what your brain is capable of, but not boosted by that extra element of AI. And then the third way you can do it is by only using AI. And again, this is where maybe you don't go as far wrong as with no framework, like option A I told you about, where you end up at not A. You go from A and you don't end up at B. You end up at C, D, E, F, G, really far away from where you should be. Maybe with AI alone, you end up at C, which I would argue is still terrible because you, you needed to be at B and just being slightly out is not good. And actually thinking on it now, I think you'd be further away than just one step out. I think if you don't train your AI to go the right routes and have that experience of having delivered multiple marketing strategies in the past, you're just going to be led down the wrong path. And then the last one is, like I've said, having a framework that you are learning in depth, you're like, that's the framework I'll use and I'm going to learn in depth. And then having AI who's also on that same page as you is fully trained in it, like, I think that's the sweet spot. And that, like, that's why I've built my program to be that way. I knew 2026 had to have AI Jade involved and it's one of the reasons I shut the doors fully because I was like, I can't keep looking after everyone and like, being on the treadmill while things need to be built. So I am really excited, as you can tell, to be launching the May 11 round of intake. So doors open soon. You can join the wait list in the show notes. Um, you can literally just go to b2bjade.com forward/links as well to join the waitlist. That's fine. Or just b2bj.com like it's everywhere on my website. And so like I was saying, the, the marketers who, the marketing students I've worked with who've had their breakthroughs, they've. Their leaders get it. They're behind them because they've been involved throughout, they've been educated, the market has risen up, overcome their mindset blocks because that's another huge one. And the leaders understand what's been missing and what is going to change and what good is going to look like. And then these people, they feel relieved. Like, a lot of the time they even feel excited because the plan is realistic. They're like, I can actually do this. Like, honestly, you guys, anytime I'm stressed out in my life, it's usually because I'm doing way too much. And if I just stop and go and I'm really good at doing this, like, my friends find me. I don't know what they find me. They. I think they like me, but they'll like, if, like a friend of mine has got an ambitious idea that I just think is too much for them to take on. I'd be like, don't do that. You'll be overwhelmed. Just don't do it. You haven't got time. Focus on these things. Just, like, crack on with them. And they're like, why are you saying that to me? Why aren't you positive? I'm like, I am positive, but I can 100% see that in that area of your life, you're already overwhelmed, so why would you take on something new? And so I'm really good in my own life at, uh, like, simplifying and going. I mean, it's the reason I'm a minimalist. Like, I don't own much stuff. So therefore cleaning and tidying is easier, which is one of my duties as a human, because I've got kids and I run my own business. So I'm like, but if I own less, cleaning and tidying and organizing becomes way faster because I don't want to spend my time cleaning my house, which is now bigger because we've moved. So that's something I would do and see as very important. And I can never understand why people who are like, oh, my gosh, my house is so overwhelming. It's so messy. And I'm like, but you're going shopping every week. You're literally bringing more stuff into your house. And it's the same with marketing. Like, if you're really stressed about how much you need to get done, why do you keep trying new things? So we have to simplify it. Like, a plan needs to feel realistic. It needs to feel connected. It needs to feel completely doable with the resources you have. And for you to go home and be like, oh, my gosh, like, I'm so happy. I know I can deliver this. I can't wait to get started next week. This is so nice. And, um, the good thing about this next start date, I can't wait is, like, people will be. Their strategies will be done by summer. And I think that's such a nice feeling because, like, when I'm going on holiday in the summer, I mean, I go to Italy for most of August. I love the feeling of, like, everything's tidied up, everything's good, everything's. Yeah. So I just think that is such a nice thing to have. So a proper strategy does not add pressure. It removes it. Okay, so let me know via any of my channels. You can contact me on LinkedIn. I love being emailed, you guys. I hate social media. Like, you probably Found me there. But I hate the um, constant like oh my gosh, does someone mash me on LinkedIn? There's someone mashed me on TikTok and I, um, am bringing everything together in one clear platform soon. But I also, from a simplicity point of view, I do think a lot of the tools we're sold are a bit of a convenience con. So I don't have too many fussy tools that aren't adding value to me. But yeah, you can email me@jadetobjade.com let me know where you fall in those four camps. Let me remind you, the campaign list, the impressive strategy, the people pleasing strategy and the AI strategy. Like where are you at? And did any of this relate? And just a reminder that the doors open soon for B2B Breakthrough Academy. Head to B2B Jade.com forward/links and you can get on the wait list. And there is also going to be an open house promoted, um, quite soon. So you can hop on. Tell me how you got on with your marketing with your um, Strategic Marketer Kit through April, share the results you've had so far if you've been working on that already and also hear um, more about how the program works because it'll be really cool to show you around, show you the new platform, show you AI Jade and how she works as well because that's such a fun addition and um, I really look forward to seeing you on my next episode. Thank you so much. Oh yeah, by the way, if you want to get that um, Strategic Marketer Kit, just a reminder that it's also available at b2b jade.com forward/links my links page. Like you might just want to head to b2bj.com and then go to the Breakthrough Academy page if you want to learn more about the pricing of the Academy, how it's all working, full module breakdowns, like that's all at the main website. That's something for you to look at. The wait list is just to say, look, let me know as soon as doors open. Um, I wish I could tell you the exact date the doors open for you to join but because we're actually starting work on 11th of May, obviously it's not going to be that long. But I just, I do not want to open the doors because just yet because when you enroll you are automatically added into the community, have access to AIJ and all the other things and the prep modules. So I just don't want to like release that until it's so ready for you. And I just. Yeah, there's been a lot going on. So, um, looking forward to speak to you soon and have a lovely rest of your day. Thanks, Bye.