 It’s a conversation that keeps surfacing with clients and peers alike. Teams are overwhelmed, budgets are stretched, and yet marketing feels harder than ever. Not because they lack tools, but because they’ve invested in too many. Despite the martech landscape now containing over 11,000 platforms (WebFX, 2023), many businesses are still seeing minimal returns. The idea that ‘more tools = better results’ simply doesn’t hold up.
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Email marketing still punches above its weight when it comes to conversions and customer retention. But if your emails aren’t reaching inboxes, none of that matters. One of the most overlooked steps in launching a successful campaign, especially from a new domain or IP address, is warming up your IP. It’s not just about sending. It’s about sending smart. Find out more in this blog and download my IP Warm-Up Checklist.  Somewhere along the line, “growth” became the one metric to rule them all.
Marketers talk about it. Boards demand it. Tools promise it. But here’s the quiet truth that often gets tucked behind quarterly reports and big campaigns: obsessing over growth too early or in the wrong way can hold your business back. The real trick? Learning when not to grow. Want to audit your growth? Then download my free Marketing Audit Scorecard 
Marketing can feel like guesswork if you don't measure results. You might believe a headline is compelling, assume a design is eye-catching, or trust that a call-to-action is irresistible. Yet without evidence, these are only hunches. That is where A/B testing comes in.  I first read Eric Berne’s The Games People Play whilst on a course back in the early 2000s. It was a three-day Women in Management event, and the trainers had brought along a small library of recommended titles we could borrow. I picked up Berne’s book on the first morning and barely put it down. Every break, every evening moment, I was completely absorbed. When I returned it on the final day, I knew I wasn’t finished, so I ordered a copy for next-day delivery and read it cover to cover that weekend. What I read opened my eyes to how we interact with one another, particularly in professional environments. Berne’s observations on human behaviour and transactional patterns stuck with me long after that course. His insights into the subtle games we play, often without realising, still influence how I interpret team dynamics, stakeholder conversations and even digital communication. When Games People Play was published in 1964, Zoom meetings and Slack messages weren’t even a thought. Yet the behavioural patterns he described appear everywhere; in office politics, cryptic emails and the unsaid tension of a virtual team call. The tools may have changed, but the dynamics remain.  We’ve all been there. You're planning a campaign or reviewing quarterly progress, and terms like KPI, benchmark, and OKR are often used interchangeably. Add in the occasional 'vanity metric' or talk of industry standards, and it’s no wonder that clients, teams and stakeholders end up talking at cross purposes.
So let’s straighten things out. This post will take a closer look at what these different measurement tools mean, how they work together, and why understanding the distinction is key to making better decisions. And yes, we’ll also tackle the role of vanity metrics and the unsung heroes of measurement: hygiene checks.  Somewhere along the way, we stopped saying thank you.
Not the automatic, half-heard thanks you mutter while walking away from the printer someone fixed. Not the team-wide email where praise gets lost in a list. But real, human acknowledgements. For a job done properly. For kindness that wasn’t required. For people who just quietly got on with things when you needed them most. That’s where The Gratitude Habit began for me. I noticed how rarely people thanked others simply for doing their job well. Somewhere between busy schedules, performance targets and shifting team dynamics, we’ve let go of the small acknowledgements that remind people they matter. And what’s worse, many have become hesitant to express appreciation at all – fearful that saying something nice might be misread, misused or come back to bite them later.  In a world of dashboards, deadlines and data points, it's easy for marketing strategy to get bogged down in the detail. Targets are set. KPIs are tracked. Margins are trimmed. Yet without an ambitious, guiding north star, even the best-run campaigns risk becoming directionless. This is where BHAGs come in. First introduced by Jim Collins and Jerry Porras in their book Built to Last: Successful Habits of Visionary Companies, a BHAG (Big Hairy Audacious Goal) is a long-term, emotionally compelling objective designed to drive progress and unify teams.  Last week, we asked a bold question: Can you be an ethical marketeer?
The answer, of course, was yes. But it’s one thing to agree in principle. It’s another to act with integrity day to day when pressure, pace and performance targets take over. So this week, we’re diving into the ‘how’. Below are ten straightforward, actionable tips that help you market more ethically – without losing impact. If you missed the first part, catch up here  In today's data-driven world, businesses rely heavily on the quality of their contact databases. Whether stored in a CRM system, an e-commerce platform, or a humble spreadsheet, clean and accurate data is crucial for maintaining efficiency, ensuring compliance, and maximising customer engagement. Yet, data rarely remains pristine. Over time, inaccuracies can creep in, such as duplicate records, outdated contact details, or unengaged subscribers, which can muddy the waters and impact business performance and regulatory compliance.  Most website errors are frustrating. The 404 page is no exception. But what if this “page not found” could work just as hard as your homepage? Too often, businesses leave their 404 pages as technical dead ends. At best, it’s a default message. At worst, it drives someone away entirely. But handled well, this forgotten page can become a small but powerful moment of brand experience.  Marketing has always walked a fine line. We persuade. We influence. We help shape decisions. So, can you really do all of that and still call yourself ethical? Yes. And in today’s environment, you must. Ethical marketing isn’t a contradiction. It’s a deliberate way of working that respects privacy, values honesty, and prioritises long-term trust over short-term wins.
Lead times that function smoothly in June can collapse under the pressure of November.
Holiday campaigns, especially those aimed at B2C customers, must go live earlier and reach consumers before they’re overwhelmed by competition. |
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