Marketing Strategy Isn’t a Slide Deck. It’s a Habit.

We throw the word strategy around a lot. 

It looks good in a deck and it sounds smart in a team meeting. 

But here’s what I see too often: someone spends days (or weeks) crafting a beautiful 10-page marketing strategy. Then… it sits in a Google Drive folder, untouched.

Because in the rush of day-to-day execution, strategy quickly becomes something that was “done.”

A neat story that doesn’t survive contact with the reality of building a business.

But strategy isn’t a finished document.

 It’s not an artefact.

 It’s a decision-making tool. And for it to work, you have to use it. Often.

This is especially true in startup land.

So what is strategy?

Strategy is just the thinking that sits behind your actions. It helps you decide what matters most right now, and why.

That “why” is important. Because when you're testing assumptions, chasing early traction, or gearing up for a raise, you need to know what success looks like in the short term. Not just in five years.

Marketing strategy in an early-stage business should be tied directly to your immediate business goals. What needs to happen in the next quarter, and how do your marketing activities most effectively support that? If you're gearing up for a raise perhaps your overall goals are generating early expression of interest and investor interest. So starting a podcast, a Tik Tok channel or writing thought-leadership pieces might not be your main game right now. That doesn't mean you can't layer this into your strategy in its next iteration. Keep it lean, keep it living, and learn from everything you do.

Because the best startup strategies aren’t fixed, they’re flexible. They evolve as you learn. They guide your marketing, not limit it.

And if you’re not sure what your marketing strategy is, just ask:

 What are we trying to achieve next, and how will we know if it’s working?

Why strategy falls flat for so many lean teams

1. It feels like it has to be perfect. Too many of us get stuck trying to craft a strategy that’s complete and airtight. But in an early-stage business, that’s impossible. You don’t have perfect information — you're still learning.

2. It doesn’t match your resources. A strategy that looks amazing on paper but needs a five-person marketing team to execute? That’s not a strategy. That’s wishful thinking.

3. It doesn’t connect to execution. You write it once, then move on to “doing.” But if there’s no clear link between your strategy and your day-to-day marketing efforts, it will get lost.

4. It’s not part of your routine. Strategy only works if you revisit it. If you use it to make decisions. If you build in space to adjust it as you go.

How to make strategy stick

This isn’t about building a massive roadmap. It’s about building momentum and systems that support it.

Here’s what that looks like in practice:

Know what you're testing

Strategy starts with assumptions. What are you trying to learn or prove right now?

• Are you validating a new segment?

• Testing a pricing structure?

• Exploring a new acquisition channel?

  
  

Whatever it is, your marketing should be designed to support that learning. Not to “do all the things.” Yes, in mature businesses, marketing spins many plates at once, but I promise you, they all started out much simpler. 

Make it a calendar habit

If you don’t make time for it, it won’t happen.

• Block out time each week or fortnight to review your efforts

• Set 30-, 60-, or 90-day goals, not 12-month ones

• Schedule strategy reviews like you would client calls or investor meetings

  
  

Treat it like a muscle. Use it regularly and it gets stronger.

Track what matters

It’s easy to get distracted by surface-level stats. But what you really want to know is: is this helping us get closer to the results we care about?

Focus on:

• Lead quality, not just quantity

• Buyer signals, not just vanity metrics

• Funnel movement, are people dropping off? Where are they converting?

Build a feedback loop

Here’s the gold. You need to know what worked, why it worked, and whether it’s worth doubling down.

Ask yourself (or your team):

• What did we test?

• What happened?

• What did we learn?

• What will we do differently next time?

  
  

Without this loop, you're just reacting and over time this can make your business feel very chaotic.  

Make it realistic

This is a big one. You might want a Rolls Royce strategy, sleek, polished, comprehensive. But can you afford the maintenance and the fuel?

Be honest about your resources.

• What can you or your current team or contractors realistically execute?

• What tools are already working for you?

• Do you need to simplify, not scale?

  
  

A good strategy is one that gets delivered. Not one that looks good on paper. 

A strategy that looks amazing on paper but needs a five-person marketing team to execute? That’s not a strategy. That’s wishful thinking.

Strategy is the string. Not the pearl.

Here’s one way I explain it to clients:

Tactics are like pearls. A webinar. A LinkedIn campaign. A newsletter.

They’re all valuable. But on their own? They don’t go far.

Strategy is the string. It’s what ties everything together so it tells a coherent story and leads people somewhere.

That’s what makes marketing feel connected. It’s what builds trust. It’s what gives you the insight to say this is working, let’s keep going or this isn’t, let’s change direction.

If you've ever felt like you should have a strategy but don’t know where to start, that’s not a bad thing. It means you care. But don’t buy into the idea that strategy has to be perfect before it’s useful, or that you can’t begin until you have time to create the full, polished version. Start with what you do know. Let that shape your next step, then review and refine as you go. 

The right strategy isn’t fixed. It’s something you build into your rhythm, a way of working that reflects both your current capacity and your bigger ambitions.

It helps you make smarter, faster decisions and it shows up in your daily thinking, how you prioritise, and how you move.

Think Boldly and move with intention.

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Think Boldly! helps founders and early-stage teams turn marketing chaos into strategic clarity.

From fractional CMO support and strategic projects to sprints and webinars, we meet you where you’re at, with tools, insights, and action plans you can confidently execute. With deep start-up and investor experience, we cut through the noise, move fast, and focus on what truly drives growth.

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