Grateful for a busy few months working with several SaaS and data businesses. A few reminders along the way:
๐ฆ๐ฝ๐ฒ๐ฒ๐ฑ ๐ฏ๐ฒ๐ฎ๐๐ ๐ฝ๐ฒ๐ฟ๐ณ๐ฒ๐ฐ๐๐ถ๐ผ๐ป. Theory doesn't grow companies. Execution does. You don't need the perfect plan - you need to start. I've built a messaging framework "live" in a one hour workshop, a digital strategy in a morning.
๐๐ผ๐ป๐๐ถ๐๐๐ฒ๐ป๐ฐ๐ ๐ฏ๐ฒ๐ฎ๐๐ ๐ฐ๐น๐ฒ๐๐ฒ๐ฟ๐ป๐ฒ๐๐. Consistent messaging is better than better messaging. Endless tweaking is a great way to ensure the market never understands what you do.
๐๐๐๐ฟ๐ถ๐ฏ๐๐๐ถ๐ผ๐ป ๐ถ๐ ๐ผ๐๐ฒ๐ฟ๐ฟ๐ฎ๐๐ฒ๐ฑ. When you're small, pipeline beats precision. Yes, learn what's working, but don't get lost in the weeds trying to prove it. Teaming is more important than departmental victory laps.
๐๐ฒ๐ฐ๐ธ๐ ๐ฎ๐ป๐ฑ ๐ณ๐ฟ๐ฎ๐บ๐ฒ๐๐ผ๐ฟ๐ธ๐ ๐ฎ๐ฟ๐ฒ ๐ฒ๐๐ฒ๐ป ๐บ๐ผ๐ฟ๐ฒ ๐ถ๐บ๐ฝ๐ผ๐ฟ๐๐ฎ๐ป๐. But not for humans. For AI. Those plans/style guides/messaging frameworks that no one read are now the lifeblood of an AI-forward marketing team. Just don't labour the (power)point.
๐๐ ๐ฑ๐ฒ๐บ๐ผ๐ฐ๐ฟ๐ฎ๐๐ถ๐๐ฒ๐ ๐ฐ๐ฎ๐ฝ๐ฎ๐ฏ๐ถ๐น๐ถ๐๐. This feels like the early days of marketing automation all over again. Except faster. And bigger. Small teams can now punch way above their weight. Yes, there's a risk of beige content - but the upside is enormous if you get it right. Oh, and Claude all the way - great writing, much better file creation and Co-Work really is a game changer.
๐ฅ๐ฒ๐ณ๐ฒ๐ฟ๐ฟ๐ฎ๐น๐ ๐ฎ๐ฟ๐ฒ ๐ฒ๐๐ฒ๐ฟ๐๐๐ต๐ถ๐ป๐ด. My business has been built on them. No funnel beats trust. No campaign beats a recommendation. In the spirit of which - check out Thomas Coles if you need help. More people should be thinking this way.
And finally, eternally grateful to fashion designer JW Anderson for producing branded JWA merch ๐