Balancing Marketing Objectives

Marketing has two big jobs, but we're usually judged on only one. Our job in marketing splits into two parts: Building mental availability: making sure people know who we are and remember us when they’re ready to buy. This is often called brand marketing. Activating demand: making sure that people who are ready to buy choose us. This is typically performance or demand marketing. Here’s the challenge — most of our metrics (MQLs, pipeline, revenue) are tied to demand activation. But brand and demand aren’t separate – they work together. Still, they behave differently and aren’t always easy to measure in the same way. Brand is like staying in shape. You go to the gym, eat healthy, and take care of yourself. You don’t always see instant results, but over time, your body gets stronger. → In marketing terms: We want more people to know us, remember us, and think of us when they’re ready to buy. This is a long-term game. Demand activation is like showing up on race day. You’ve trained for months, and now it’s time to perform. If you’re fit, you’ll likely do well. → In marketing terms: When someone’s ready to buy, our goal is to be easy to find and hard to ignore. Most of the time, our execs care about the race day numbers – leads, opps, deals. That’s fair, because those drive revenue. But if we don’t also take care of our brand (our fitness), performance eventually suffers. So what do we do? We need to measure both. Performance marketing already has clear metrics. But brand often feels fuzzy — hard to prove it’s working. That’s why Share of Search (SoS) is useful. It’s a quantifiable way to track how much people are searching for our brand compared to competitors. It acts like a “brand scoreboard”, so we can see how campaigns are moving the needle, even if the revenue impact comes later. So: Use performance metrics for activation (leads, opps, CAC, etc.) Use Share of Search as the north star for brand Run both in parallel, and know that each supports the other Two different motions. Two different metrics. One goal: revenue growth.

How Sustainability Teams can make money. Ethical operating companies like Patagonia, Ben & Jerry’s, and Interface have proven that sustainable business practices aren’t just a “nice to have”. they drive profitability. It improves the bottom line of a company. Now, as corporate sustainability teams face growing pressure to prove their value amid deregulation and cost-cutting, it’s time for a strategic repositioning. Sustainability isn’t just policy work. It’s a core driver of business success that delivers financial returns. Here’s an approach that aligns impact with investment: High ROI + High Impact 👉 Priority Initiatives Low ROI + High Impact 👉 Strategic Investments High ROI + Low Impact 👉 Quick Wins Low ROI + Low Impact 👉 Low Priority Projects Impact How much does this project contribute to environmental and social sustainability? 💚 Carbon Reduction 💚 Circularity 💚 Water & Energy Savings 💚 Social Impact 💚 Biodiversity Protection ROI (Return of Investment) How much financial value does this project generate? 📈 Cost Savings 📈 Revenue Growth 📈 Regulatory & Compliance Benefits 📈 Brand & Customer Value 📈 Operational Efficiency Scoring System To prioritise projects, it’s necessary to have a scoring system in place—for example, a 1–10 scale for each metric under both Impact and ROI. Then, you weight the metrics according to the company’s priorities (e.g., carbon might be weighted more heavily). Examples Here are some examples for potential business cases: 💡 LED lighting retrofits 👉 Priority Initiatives Often has payback periods < 2 years with significant energy savings 🔃 Product redesign for circularity 👉 Strategic Investments Transformative impact but requires R&D and retooling 🚚 Optimising logistics routes 👉 Quick Wins Quick fuel savings but smaller portion of overall emissions 🌳 Carbon offsetting low-impact activities 👉 Low Priority Projects When direct reduction would be more effective »When you are led by values, it doesn't cost your business, it helps your business.« - Jerry, Greenfield / Co-Founder Ben & Jerry’s. This Matrix helps to prove it.

Adding "Brand" to our direct response was central to saving our business and achieving a $100M+ exit. The truth is, we were only able to make Brand investments in the first place by finding a new level of efficiency in our DR, which was only made possible by starting to use Marginal CAC instead of blended CAC metrics as the way to guide our allocation of capital on the marketing side. If you know you need to add 'Brand' to balance your performance marketing but don't know where to find the money, transitioning to a Marginal CAC capital allocation framework might be just what the doctor ordered. After the darkest days of our mid-life crisis when we almost went out of business, we knew that to have any chance of surviving, we needed to find a way to invest in brand, but it was nearly impossible to justify or allocate in the budget, especially without being able to attribute a revenue number to that spend. Starting to use Marginal Customer Acquisition Cost (CAC) as the framework for how, when, and where we spent dollars to drive our short term revenue was the only way we could optimize the efficiency of our direct response (DR) to the degree that we could feel comfortable 'taking the leap' into spending marketing dollars that didn't maximize short term ROAS. 

B2B Lead gen is not a strategy. It’s a sugar rush. And branding? It’s not the saviour you think it is either. Marketing won’t save you. Branding alone won’t either. On one side: Performance Marketing Trackable. Tactical. Lead-chasing madness. CEO and CFO love it. The kind of marketing that fills a pipeline… fast. But burns through budget just as fast, leaving no lasting brand equity. On the other side: Brand Marketing Emotional. Aspirational. Sometimes considered fluffy, especially from Phil the CFO. The kind of work that builds reputation and recall… but struggles with ROI and board meetings. And here’s the truth nobody wants to admit: Neither one works in isolation. In a saturated, low-attention B2B economy, Performance Branding is the only strategy that makes sense. So what is Performance Branding? It’s the strategic integration of two things most companies still treat as separate departments: - The data-driven precision of performance marketing - The emotional depth and memorability of brand building You don’t have to choose. In fact, choosing is the problem. Why it matters now more than ever: 1. Short-Term Wins + Long-Term Value Yes, you need leads. But leads without lasting brand recognition are just transactions, easily won, easily lost. Performance Branding ensures that every campaign plants a seed for future sales and delivers measurable results today. 2. The 95-5 Rule Only 5% of your market is actively buying right now. The other 95%? Not yet. But they will be ready. And when they are, your brand needs to be the first thing that pops into their head. Performance Branding is how you stay top of mind, by reaching beyond intent signals and building familiarity before demand kicks in. 3. Brand Without Performance = Wasted Potential If your brand is strong but your marketing doesn’t convert, you’re just a pretty face with no influence. People know you, but they don’t choose you. 4. Performance Without Brand = Race to the Bottom If you’re always chasing clicks without a clear brand story, you’re one discount away from irrelevance. Cheaper competitor? You lose. No emotional differentiation? You’re forgettable. Data + Creativity = The New Power Couple Performance Branding is not “branding with KPIs.” It’s creativity that performs. It’s when your ads get attention and action. It’s when your campaigns are optimised, but not sterile. It’s when your message cuts through, not just because of the algorithm—but because it’s memorable and meaningful. Think about it this way: Marketing fills your pipeline today. Branding makes sure that next quarter, people still remember who you are. Performance Branding makes sure both happen. And in a world of B2B sameness, where features blur and products copy each other overnight...your brand is often the only thing that sets you apart. Final thought: It’s time to stop choosing between performance and brand. You need both. Not in conflict. In harmony.

"Your GTM Isn’t a Strategy—It’s a System" a $7M CEO asked me: "what’s the best go-to-market strategy for our stage of growth?" my response? "you don’t need a strategy. you need a system." most companies treat gtm like a series of disconnected tactics— 📌 launch a new outbound sequence 📌 tweak paid ads to drive pipeline 📌 invest in brand, content, or demand gen but the best b2b companies don’t run tactics. they run GTM systems. GTM is not a one-time initiative—it’s an operating system. if your growth is dependent on heroic sales reps or one-off marketing plays, you don’t have a system—you have a patchwork of tactics. if your sales and marketing teams operate in silos, you don’t have a system—you have a misalignment problem. if you’re adding pipeline but not improving efficiency, you don’t have a system—you have a leaky funnel. when GTM is a system, it runs on predictable inputs and scalable outputs. what does a gtm system look like? 1️⃣ predictable demand generation → how do we consistently create pipeline? ✅ content, brand, paid, outbound all work together (not separately) ✅ marketing & sales agree on icp, lead quality, and follow-up timing ✅ metrics track revenue impact, not just MQLa 🚀 example: Snowflake → multi-channel demand engine that created urgency around data cloud migration. Gong → blended inbound, outbound, and category creation to dominate sales tech. 2️⃣ seamless pipeline conversion → how do we ensure pipeline turns into revenue? ✅ sales process is mapped to buyer journey (not internal quotas) ✅ deal velocity, conversion rates, and forecast accuracy are measured weekly ✅ marketing doesn’t just generate leads—it owns pipeline acceleration 🚀 example: HubSpot → inbound marketing aligned with a structured sales handoff for faster close rates. Stripe → self-serve and sales-led motions work together to maximize growth. 3️⃣ revenue retention & expansion → how do we grow customers beyond their first purchase? ✅ net revenue retention (nrr) > new arr focus ✅ cs and sales align on customer expansion playbooks ✅ partnerships, integrations, and upsells create ongoing growth 🚀 example: Datadog → started with monitoring, expanded into full observability & security. Shopify → moved from a website builder into a full commerce ecosystem with payments, banking, and financing. final thoughts 📌 if your gtm motion isn’t predictable, scalable, and repeatable, you don’t have a system—you have tactics. 📌 if your teams operate in silos, you don’t have a system—you have friction. 📌 if you can’t measure efficiency, you don’t have a system—you have guesswork. GTM isn’t about launching a strategy. it’s about building a system. so i’ll ask you: is your gtm running on tactics, or are you building a system? let’s discuss 👇 love, sangram p.s. follow Sangram Vajre to learn how to fix your broken GTM with GTM O.S. #gotomarket #gtm #growth #b2b #sales #marketing

Architect Eero Saarinen designed the soaring, singular, iconic Gateway Arch in St. Louis. He also designed the sculptural, almost organic TWA Flight Center at JFK. These buildings look nothing alike. Saarinen believed in "the style for the job." Amazingly, across wildly different buildings throughout his career, his work remained unmistakably his. Not because it all looked the same, but because he applied consistent principles to unique problems. As marketers, we grapple with this tension: How do we build a consistent brand while staying adaptable? Many marketers go the rigid route, forcing the same tone, visual system, and approach regardless of the situation. Other marketers are scattered, changing everything so often that nothing feels connected. Saarinen shows us a third way. Be consistent in your principles and adaptive in your expression. Saarinen didn't have a "signature curve" he put on every building. He had a signature commitment: understand the context, honor the function, create something that belongs exactly where it is. That's the consistency. The adaptability is how it shows up. In marketing terms: Your crisis response shouldn't sound like your product launch. Your B2B pitch shouldn't read like your consumer campaign. Your recruitment message shouldn't look like your Super Bowl ad. Not because you lack brand consistency. Because you understand that the job changes. Most brands mistake consistency with repetition. They build guidelines that say "always use this tone" or "never deviate from this visual system." Then they wonder why their apology letter sounds tone-deaf, why their B2B content lacks connection, and why their profound moment lacks gravitas. The versatility is the sophistication. Saarinen's buildings don't all look alike. But they're all unmistakably his because they demonstrate the same mastery: deep understanding of context, commitment to solving the right problem, and a willingness to let the solution emerge from the situation rather than forcing a predetermined style. Your brand can maintain a clear identity while still adapting. You can be recognizable without being repetitive. You can retain continuity while changing your expression to fit the context. The secret isn't sameness, it's the power of principles.

Ever presented rock-solid research only to hear "Thanks, but we're going with our gut on this one"? Securing stakeholder buy-in is rarely about the quality of your work. It's about something deeper. When you’re dealing with a research trust gap, ask yourself 5 questions. 👽 Are you speaking alien to earthlings? When you say jargon like "double diamond" or "information architecture," your stakeholders hear gibberish. Business leaders didn't learn UX in business school—and most never will. Translate everything into business outcomes they understand. Revenue growth. Customer retention. Cost savings. Competitive advantage.  Speak their native language, not yours. ⏰ What keeps them awake at 3am? Behind every skeptical question is a personal fear. That product manager who keeps shooting down your findings? They're terrified of missing their KPIs and losing their bonus. Have honest conversations about what they're personally on the hook for delivering. Then show how your research helps them achieve exactly that. ❓Are you treating assumptions as facts? You might think you know what questions matter to your stakeholders. You're probably wrong. Before starting research, explicitly ask: "What questions do you need answered to make this decision?" Then design your research to answer exactly those questions. ⚒️ Are you dying on the hill of methodological purity? Sometimes you have 8 hours for research instead of 8 weeks. Being dogmatic about "proper" research methods doesn’t always pay off. Focus on outcomes over process. If quick-and-dirty gets reliable insights that drive decisions, embrace it. 🍽️ Are you force-feeding them a seven-course meal when they wanted a snack? Executives need 30-second summaries. Product managers need actionable findings. Junior team members need hands-on learning. Tailor your approach to each one. You can also use my stakeholder persona mapping template here: https://bit.ly/43R7wom What’s the best advice you’ve heard about dealing with skeptical stakeholders?

As creators, we walk a fascinating line: building & nurturing our personal brand while contributing to the growth of the companies we work for. It’s a balancing act, and when done thoughtfully, it can benefit both you and your employer. I've spent a lot of time thinking about this. Here are a few key principles to consider: Start with Alignment: Your personal brand should reflect your unique voice, passions, and expertise. At the same time, ensure your values align with your company’s mission. This synergy builds authenticity, helping you shine as a thought leader while amplifying your company’s vision. Add Value Both Ways: Your personal content isn’t just about self-promotion – it’s a chance to highlight industry trends, solve problems, and share knowledge. When your audience sees you as a trusted voice, it reflects positively on the organization you represent. The more value you provide, the stronger your brand and your company’s reputation become. Be Transparent About Your Dual Role: It’s okay to let your audience know that you’re a creator who’s also part of a larger mission. A simple acknowledgment, such as, “In my role at FinLocker, I’ve learned the value of engaging early journey first-time homebuyers", builds credibility and reinforces your connection to your employer without overshadowing your individuality. Prioritize Consistency: Whether you're sharing insights under your name or your company’s banner, make sure your message is consistent. Both brands should feel complementary – not competitive. Think of it as two interconnected streams feeding into the same river. Use Your Brand to Build Bridges: Your personal platform can help you connect with other professionals, clients, and opportunities that can ultimately benefit your company. And your company’s resources can enhance your ability to create impactful content. When both sides grow, it’s a win-win. Ultimately, this balance is about mutual growth. Your personal brand showcases the unique skills and perspectives you bring to the table, while your work for your company demonstrates your ability to drive results and collaborate with a larger team. The takeaway? Don’t think of it as “choosing” between your brand and your company. Think of it as a partnership where both grow stronger together. How do you balance your personal brand with your company’s goals?

The biggest marketing misnomer. Performance is a bad moniker 👇👇👇 Marketing is often split into two camps: Performance Marketing & Brand Marketing. One is obsessed with immediate results, the other with long-term impact. Here's the big problem - The way we define “performance” is flawed. Imagine if we classified medicine into just "painkillers" and everything else. Painkillers give instant relief, but multivitamins build long-term health. Performance marketing is the painkiller - driving immediate conversions, tracked clicks, short-term wins. Brand marketing is the multivitamin - building trust, recognition, and emotional connection for sustained growth. Yet, calling one “performance” marketing implies the other doesn’t perform. That’s a flawed and misleading notion that has hurt the marketing industry. SHORT TERM-ISM AND MISEXPECTATIONS Businesses love instant metrics. Performance marketing delivers direct attribution - spend X, get Y conversions. It’s measurable, reassuring, and looks great in reports. Brand marketing is harder to track in a straight line. It influences subconscious perception, cultural relevance, and long-term demand. But does that mean it doesn’t work? Absolutely not. Performance marketing = instant gratification but diminishing returns if done alone Brand marketing = long-term demand that makes performance marketing more effective over time HOW HUMANS PROCESS BRAND MESSAGING Marketing isn’t just numbers. It’s psychology. 🔹 Familiarity breeds trust People buy what they’ve seen before, even if they don’t recall where 🔹 Emotion beats logic They don’t choose the “best” product; they choose the one that makes them feel a certain way 🔹 Recognition leads to recall A well-branded product wins, even if a competitor offers more 🔹 Sustained presence wins Only running ads during a sale trains customers to wait for discounts BRAND MARKETING SUPERCHARGES PERFORMANCE MARKETING When brand marketing is strong, performance marketing gets cheaper and more effective. ✅ Higher conversion rates - A trusted brand doesn’t need to fight for clicks ✅ Lower acquisition costs - If people already know your brand, ads work better ✅ Stronger recall - They might not click today, but they’ll remember you later ✅ Increased loyalty - Brand-driven customers stay longer, reducing churn Brand marketing makes performance marketing perform better. BALANCE THE PAINKILLERS AND THE MULTIVITAMINS A business that only runs performance marketing is like someone who only takes painkillers - quick relief with no long-term health. A business that only runs brand marketing is like someone who only takes multivitamins - strong foundation, but no immediate solutions to address the pain You need both. ✅ Brand marketing builds trust, awareness, and long-term demand ✅ Performance marketing captures intent, drives conversions, and boosts efficiency Stop treating them as separate. The real magic happens when they work together 🚀

𝐁𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐯𝐬. 𝐏𝐞𝐫𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐦𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐌𝐚𝐫𝐤𝐞𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠: The question most of us have as we have limited time and money. In 2014, we had ₹0 for ads and a small co-working space office in Indore. 𝐒𝐨 𝐰𝐞 𝐝𝐢𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐨𝐧𝐥𝐲 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐰𝐞 𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐚𝐟𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐝: 𝐭𝐞𝐥𝐥 𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐲 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐤𝐞𝐞𝐩 𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐦𝐢𝐬𝐞𝐬. - Genuinely written post. - Practical information - DM replies I wrote myself. - Weekly demos our clients could feel. That helped build a strong brand for us, long before we could spend money on ads. And we were actually benefitting in the form of a lot of organic leads from that! By 2018 we crossed our first 100 customers, without spending any money on paid ads, just by building REAL TRUST. All organic leads. In 2020, when the world froze because of covid, most businesses were failing, our brand is what kept the business coming in. 𝐎𝐧𝐥𝐲 𝐢𝐧 2023 𝐝𝐢𝐝 𝐰𝐞 𝐚𝐝𝐝 𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐦𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐦𝐚𝐫𝐤𝐞𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠, 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐭𝐨𝐨, 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐬𝐨𝐦𝐞 𝐧𝐨𝐧-𝐧𝐞𝐠𝐨𝐭𝐢𝐚𝐛𝐥𝐬: - Protect branded search. - Only Retarget warm traffic (case study readers, demo watchers). - It'll be just a 2-week experiment. But It worked because the brand was already doing the heavy lifting. Outbound got easier. Hiring got easier. Clients came warmer. It's not about organic or inorganic marketing, it's about having a right balance between both: - If you can’t say your promise in one line, ads won’t save you. - Tell three core stories on repeat until your team can finish your sentences. - Publish & proof weekly….wins, fixes, and what you learned. - Add performance after the brand starts attracting the right people. Measure what compounds: direct leads, reply quality, time-to-trust, hiring pipeline. 𝐁𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐢𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐦𝐢𝐬𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐤𝐞𝐞𝐩 & 𝐏𝐞𝐫𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐦𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐢𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐝𝐨𝐨𝐫𝐛𝐞𝐥𝐥 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐨𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐩𝐞𝐨𝐩𝐥𝐞 𝐚𝐥𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐲 𝐤𝐧𝐨𝐰 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐬𝐞. So keep a 80% Brand and 20% Performance (later) Split in your marketing strategy! 𝐑𝐞𝐩𝐨𝐬𝐭 𝐢𝐟 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐟𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐡𝐞𝐥𝐩𝐟𝐮𝐥.