The Real Work of Marketing: Lessons in Leadership, Messaging, and Team Engagement

When it comes to marketing, most companies fall into a trap: they focus on what’s new, what’s flashy, and what looks good on paper. But as anyone who’s run a real business knows, marketing isn’t about endless experimentation. It’s about discipline, measurement, and extracting the most value from what already works.

Recently, I sat down with our team to discuss our marketing direction, and what came out of that conversation was a series of hard truths—truths I believe more companies need to hear.

Stop Chasing Shiny Objects

Every marketing team loves the idea of “the next big thing”—a new landing page, a new product, a new campaign. But here’s the problem: every time you chase something new, you burn money and lose focus. The fastest route to growth is not launching new experiments, but doubling down on what’s proven. When a campaign works, scale it. When it stalls, don’t immediately abandon it—analyze, optimize, and extract more value. Don’t waste resources on endless newness just because the old seems boring.

Message Like You Mean It

One of our biggest weaknesses has been messaging. Too often, our marketing copy looks and sounds like every other company in our space. There’s no creativity, no distinct voice, nothing that truly separates us from the competition. It’s easy to churn out generic copy, but real marketing leaders dig deeper. They find the stories within the organization, tell them in fresh ways, and continually push for unique, relevant content that reflects the heartbeat of the company.

Don’t Write the Blog—Curate It

Here’s a secret most marketing departments miss: you don’t have to write every piece of content yourself. In fact, you shouldn’t. The people with the best stories are the ones doing the real work—sales, tech, client success. If you’re a marketing leader, your job is to become an editor, not just a writer. Go to your team. Ask for a 500-word blog from every department, every week. Don’t worry if it’s rough. AI can help polish the language. Your job is to gather, organize, and showcase the stories that matter.

Demand More, Not Less

If you ask for one blog a month, you’ll get one every two months. If you ask for one a week, you might get three a month. Set expectations high. Make content creation everyone’s job. If your team doesn’t want to write, let them talk—record conversations, turn transcripts into posts, and build your content engine from the inside out.

It All Comes Down to Accountability

At the end of the day, marketing isn’t about “doing more stuff.” It’s about accountability—measuring what works, fixing what doesn’t, and making sure everyone contributes. If your salespeople aren’t converting leads, you need to change your approach. If your content isn’t resonating, change your process. Never settle. Never stop questioning.

The work of marketing isn’t glamorous. It’s relentless, honest, and, above all, human. That’s the only way real growth happens.