For a long time, my approach to marketing was chaotic.
I would jump straight into execution—building email campaigns, writing content, running ads—without a real plan. I told myself I was being agile and fast-moving, but in reality, I was just winging it.
It worked sometimes. But more often than not, I would hit a wall. Users were not converting, engagement was low, or worse, I had no idea if anything was actually working. I would pour hours into marketing efforts that felt productive, only to realize later that they were not moving the needle in any meaningful way.
Eventually, I hit a breaking point. I needed to be more strategic. But instead of finding balance, I overcorrected. I went from no plan to too much planning.
I became obsessed with getting everything just right before launching anything. Weeks of roadmaps, detailed documentation, endless strategy meetings. By the time I was finally ready to execute, I swear it felt like things had changed, and most of my carefully laid plans no longer made sense.
That is when I realized I needed to focus on building a strong foundation but without overcomplicating it. I needed a balance: a strategy that gave me direction but still allowed room for flexibility.
Start by Fixing the Foundation
Looking back, one of my biggest mistakes was assuming I could figure things out on the fly. I would dive into execution before making sure the foundation was solid. And that led to some very painful lessons.
Like the time I ran an entire SEO campaign for a lead generation company without setting up proper tracking. We published dozens of blog posts to support SEO, acquired backlinks through digital PR, and even saw some decent traffic. But when my boss asked how many of those visitors converted into leads, I had no idea. Our tracking was not set up properly for once a user clicked a CTA and went to our forms, and we had no way to measure whether the campaign was successful.
That was a wake-up call. Without clear goals, proper tracking, and a defined measurement plan, I was just throwing darts in the dark.
Some hard questions I now ask before launching anything:
- Do I have the data I need? If I do not understand my audience’s pain points, I am guessing at what will resonate.
- Are my tracking systems set up? If I cannot measure it, I cannot optimize it.
- What does success actually look like? If I cannot define it, I will not know if I am hitting the mark.
Once I started focusing on these foundational elements, everything became easier. Suddenly, my marketing efforts were not just activity for the sake of activity. They had a clear purpose and measurable impact.
The Minimum Viable Strategy
After learning the hard way that execution without a plan did not work, I overcompensated. I thought a marketing strategy had to be fully fleshed out before launching anything. I would spend weeks crafting detailed roadmaps, planning multiple campaigns at once, and getting buy-in from every possible stakeholder. By the time we were ready to execute, it felt like the market had shifted, priorities had changed, and all that planning went out the window.
Now, I take the opposite approach. Start lean, test fast, and iterate.
A great example was when my team wanted to expand into video marketing. Instead of hiring an expensive production team or mapping out a full year’s worth of video content, we created a single test video. We put it in front of a small audience, gathered feedback, and adjusted. That low-risk experiment gave us real data to guide our next steps without wasting months on unnecessary planning.
This is what I now call a minimum viable strategy. Rather than waiting until everything is perfect, launch small, gather insights, and refine as you go.
Here is how I keep it simple:
- Set a single marketing goal. Example: Generate high-quality leads.
- Test a small set of strategies. Example: Run three channel experiments to see what works best.
- Measure actual results. Not vanity metrics, but real impact like conversion rates.
- Refine and scale based on what works. Double down on what performs and cut what does not.
This approach has saved me so much time and effort, and it keeps me from overcomplicating things.
A Framework That Actually Works: OGSM
After years of trial and error, I finally found a framework that keeps marketing strategy structured but flexible—OGSM (Objectives, Goals, Strategies, Measures).
I have tried going without a framework before, and every time, I regret it.
When there is no clear structure, marketing turns into a messy list of disconnected tasks. Teams get pulled in different directions, projects pile up with no real prioritization, and worst of all, there is no clear way to measure success.
OGSM fixes that:
- Objective. The big-picture goal. Example: Support revenue growth by improving lead quality.
- Goals. What we need to achieve to support the objective. Example: Understand our customers better to improve targeting.
- Strategies. The specific actions we will take. Example: Set up analytics to track key customer data points.
- Measures. How we track success. Example: Run three channel experiments and analyze conversion rates.
The reason I love OGSM is that it keeps me focused on outcomes, not just activities. It forces me to think about why I am doing something, not just what I am doing.
Why This Works
The best marketing teams understand how their daily work connects to the bigger company goals. When that connection is clear, people are more motivated, more strategic, and more likely to pivot when needed.
But when it is not clear, you get:
- Campaigns that feel random and disconnected.
- A team that is constantly shifting priorities with no real strategy.
- A long list of completed projects but no real business impact.
I have seen it happen firsthand. There was a quarter where my team did not use OGSM, and everything felt scattered. Everyone was working on their own projects, but none of it tied back to our larger objectives. When the quarter ended, we had done a lot—but none of it had a real impact.
That was the last time I let strategy take a backseat.
Execution Over Perfection
At the end of the day, marketing is not about having the perfect strategy. It is about having a cohesive one.
Here is what I have learned through years of trial and error:
- Fix your foundation first. Without data and tracking, you are guessing.
- Start with a minimum viable strategy. Do not get stuck in planning mode.
- Use OGSM to stay structured. Keep your team aligned and focused.
- Move fast, measure, and iterate. The best insights come from real execution.
Marketing should never be an endless planning session. At some point, you just need to execute. The best insights do not come from a strategy deck. They come from real-world results.
So if you are feeling stuck in the planning phase, or if your marketing efforts feel disconnected, take a step back and simplify.
Get your strategy down, start testing, and adjust as you go. That is how I learned to build a marketing plan that actually works.
