10 Years. 10 Insights.
A decade ago, I started this practice on a simple premise: the companies that struggle to grow aren't usually lacking good products. They're lacking the go-to-market strategy to take those products to market effectively. Ten years later, that belief hasn't changed.
Over dozens of engagements, I've worked alongside founders, CEOs, and leadership teams navigating real strategic challenges: new markets, new products, stalled growth, misaligned teams, and the constant pressure to do more with limited resources. Every engagement has added to a body of knowledge about what works, what doesn't, and why the gap between the two is almost always more strategic than tactical.
To mark our anniversary, I'm looking back at ten insights that have shaped how I think about B2B growth strategy.
Lesson 1: Make Marketing a Strategic Function
Too many marketing teams start at the execution layer: campaigns, content, collateral. That work matters, but it's the output of good strategy, not a substitute for it.
This is an easy pattern to fall into. When people think about marketing, they think about what they can see: a website, a trade show booth, an email campaign. Those outputs are visible and concrete. The strategic thinking that should drive them is less visible, and so it often gets skipped.
Here's what gets lost when that happens.
You may be executing in the wrong direction. Tactics without strategy aren't necessarily bad work. They can look fine. But without the upstream thinking, there's no way to know whether you're talking to the right audience, expressing the right value, or prioritizing the right activities. You're spending time and money without a reliable way to know if it's working toward anything meaningful.
Marketing stays reactive instead of becoming a growth driver. When marketing is treated as an execution function, it responds to requests: build this, write that, organize the other thing. Strategic marketing works differently. It contributes to business decisions, helps define where the company should compete, and shapes how the organization presents itself to the market. That contribution only happens when marketing has a seat at the table and a role in setting direction, not just carrying it out.
Activity gets mistaken for progress. Campaigns go out. Content gets published. Events get staffed. There's plenty of motion. But without clear goals tied to business objectives, it's hard to measure what's actually moving. Strategic marketing starts with the question: what does success look like for the business? Everything else, the audiences, the messages, the channels, the calendar, follows from that answer.
So what does it take to make marketing a strategic function? A few things need to be in place.
The C-suite needs to understand that marketing is more than execution, and value what it brings to the strategic conversation.
The business needs a working sense of its goals and direction, and
The leadership team needs to be willing to align on objectives before jumping to action.
That last one is harder than it sounds. Most leaders have a bias for action, and there's nothing wrong with that. But taking time upfront to gain alignment on where the company is headed, and building a marketing strategy that reflects that direction, makes everything downstream more efficient and more effective.
The execution still happens,b ut when they're shaped by a real strategy, they're working toward something.
This is the first in a ten-part series marking Inkberry's 10th anniversary. Over the coming months, I'll be sharing insights across four areas where I see B2B companies struggle most: marketing strategy, product marketing, leadership, and getting the most from outside help. Each lesson stands on its own, but together they reflect a decade of work alongside founders and leadership teams trying to grow with intention.
If making marketing a stronger strategic contributor is something you're thinking about right now, I'd love to talk.