Common Misconceptions About Marketing Operations

These 6 myths aren’t just wrong... They’re killing your marketing results. Marketing is full of advice that sounds good but often misses the mark. From outdated tips to oversimplified “hacks,” these myths can waste your time, drain your budget, and stall your growth. Let’s cut through the noise and debunk some of the most common misconceptions holding businesses back. 𝗠𝘆𝘁𝗵 #𝟭: “𝗕𝗿𝗮𝗻𝗱𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗜𝘀 𝗝𝘂𝘀𝘁 𝗮 𝗟𝗼𝗴𝗼” Your brand isn’t just a pretty mark; it’s your message, reputation, and experience. A logo may catch attention, but a consistent brand story is what earns trust and loyalty. 𝗠𝘆𝘁𝗵 #𝟮: “𝗜𝗳 𝗬𝗼𝘂 𝗕𝘂𝗶𝗹𝗱 𝗜𝘁, 𝗧𝗵𝗲𝘆 𝗪𝗶𝗹𝗹 𝗖𝗼𝗺𝗲” Simply creating a website, launching a product, or posting on social media doesn’t guarantee an audience. Effective marketing means meeting your audience where they are and giving them a compelling reason to care. 𝗠𝘆𝘁𝗵 #𝟯: “𝗘𝗺𝗮𝗶𝗹 𝗠𝗮𝗿𝗸𝗲𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗜𝘀 𝗗𝗲𝗮𝗱” Nope, not even close. Email marketing delivers one of the highest ROI across digital channels. The key is to send value-driven content your audience wants to open, not spam that gets sent to the trash. 𝗠𝘆𝘁𝗵 #𝟰: “𝗠𝗼𝗿𝗲 𝗙𝗼𝗹𝗹𝗼𝘄𝗲𝗿𝘀 = 𝗠𝗼𝗿𝗲 𝗦𝘂𝗰𝗰𝗲𝘀𝘀” A million followers mean nothing if they’re not engaged. A smaller, loyal audience that actually interacts with your content is far more valuable than vanity metrics. 𝗠𝘆𝘁𝗵 #𝟱: “𝗦𝗘𝗢 𝗜𝘀 𝗮 𝗢𝗻𝗲-𝗧𝗶𝗺𝗲 𝗧𝗮𝘀𝗸” SEO is not a “set it and forget it” game. It’s an evolving strategy that requires regular updates, fresh content, and staying in tune with changing algorithms. 𝗠𝘆𝘁𝗵 #𝟲: “𝗠𝗮𝗿𝗸𝗲𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗪𝗼𝗿𝗸𝘀 𝗢𝘃𝗲𝗿𝗻𝗶𝗴𝗵𝘁” Good marketing is like planting seeds—it takes time, nurturing, and consistency. Sure, a viral campaign can bring quick results, but long-term growth comes from building relationships over time. Marketing isn’t about shortcuts or following one-size-fits-all advice—it’s about strategy, consistency, and truly understanding your audience. By letting go of these myths, you can focus on what really works: building meaningful connections, delivering value, and creating lasting impact. --- Follow Michael Cleary 🏳️🌈 for more tips like this. ♻️ Share with someone who needs help with their marketing.

Nothing quite like being told marketing is just "collateral and website images" by the same person who just spent 20 minutes explaining why customers aren't converting. I've heard this conversation more times than I can count: "Sales are down, customers aren't converting, we're missing our target market, but this isn't a marketing problem, it's a sales problem." What they really mean is: “We don’t understand what marketing actually does or how our customers even find us in the first place.” Let me be clear: marketing is not decoration. It’s not a department. It’s the engine that aligns your story, your strategy, and your sales. Brand is what creates preference. Strategy is what clarifies your edge. Messaging is what drives conversion. Without it, you're running uphill with your eyes closed. With it, your team knows where they’re going, and your customers do too. The companies winning aren't just selling better, they're thinking differently. They understand that marketing isn't an expense; it's the strategic foundation that makes everything else work. It takes patience to pop the bubble of misconceptions around marketing's real value. If you’re a founder, CEO, or operator quietly nodding because this sounds familiar, let’s connect.

One of the biggest misconceptions I see is CEOs expecting every marketing effort to drive immediate pipeline. I get it, leads = revenue, right? Not always! Some marketing works now. Some marketing works later. The best companies invest in both. Think about it like this: Demand Gen = Short-Term Growth → LinkedIn ads, webinars, outbound campaigns. These efforts are trackable, measurable, and can drive immediate pipeline. Brand Marketing = Long-Term Growth → Thought leadership, organic content, customer storytelling. These efforts build trust, increase inbound interest, and make future demand gen efforts more effective. The mistake many software leaders make? Cutting brand investment because it doesn’t show an immediate return. Then months later, they wonder why their paid campaigns are getting more expensive and their inbound pipeline is drying up. The companies that win are the ones that balance short-term revenue drivers with long-term brand-building. #Marketing #DemandGen #BrandMarketing #Growth #Leadership #B2BMarketing

Why are we still pretending Marketing Ops is about marketing? ...Because marketers are easier to underpay than data analysts And vendors trained you to call that a strategy. This is exactly the kind of bullshit 𝘉𝘶𝘳𝘯 𝘐𝘵 𝘋𝘰𝘸𝘯 was built to torch. This is RevOps work with a different label—slapped under “marketing” to justify lower compensation, blur team responsibility, and keep marketers busy being reactive instead of strategic. Most “Marketing Ops” roles have nothing to do with actual marketing. You know what Marketing Ops 𝘴𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 be? • Driving operational clarity • Aligning campaign execution with real buyer behavior • Building feedback loops between sales, marketing, product • Helping marketing move faster, not just report better But in more organizations that anybody's willing to admit—that’s not how it’s treated. Some of you are breaking your neck nodding right now. • They’re CRM janitors. • Tool-stack interpreters. • Attribution repair techs. • A Band-Aid for bad data. • A live-in therapist for your CRM. They’re mislabeled RevOps roles wearing a marketing badge because someone wanted to save on headcount. This is not marketing. Meanwhile, the real work of marketing— → Understanding people → Telling stories that land → Building strategy that scales → Earning trust instead of just traffic —gets buried under dashboards, sync errors, and campaign codes. You know what this creates? —A generation of marketers who never get to do marketing. 𝙍𝙚𝙖𝙙 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙖𝙜𝙖𝙞𝙣. They’re too busy pulling reports and cleaning up after tools that were sold as “plug and play.” This isn’t just inefficient. It’s malpractice. Stop calling it Marketing Ops if it’s not marketing. Stop training creatives to be analysts. And stop pretending this mess is strategic just because it has KPIs attached to it. You want operational excellence in marketing? • Hire real data analysts. • Put RevOps where it belongs. • And give marketing its power back. Because until we burn down this broken structure— we’ll keep mistaking noise for performance, and maintenance for momentum. 𝘉𝘶𝘳𝘯 𝘐𝘵 𝘋𝘰𝘸𝘯 𝘨𝘰𝘦𝘴 𝘭𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘯𝘦𝘹𝘵 𝘔𝘰𝘯𝘥𝘢𝘺. 𝘚𝘪𝘨𝘯𝘶𝘱𝘴 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘳𝘵 𝘍𝘳𝘪𝘥𝘢𝘺. 𝘗𝘳𝘦𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘭𝘰𝘪𝘯𝘴.

COMPLETE THE SENTENCE: The biggest misconception in marketing today Is _____. Here are a few from me: 1. Finding your audience is as simple as posting on social media. It’s not. It takes persistence, failure, and iteration to figure out what resonates and where your audience actually is. It’s not about one post—it’s about dozens. It takes time, experimentation, and a willingness to learn from what doesn’t work. 2. You only need to say something once for your audience to hear it. Think about your own inbox or social feeds. How often do you miss things? Your audience is no different. They’re bombarded with messages every single day. If you want to cut through the noise, you need to share your message consistently and creatively across multiple channels. Even your existing customers might not know what you’re up to. Over-communicating? It’s not a bad thing. It’s a necessity. 3. A single piece of content will help you achieve all your goals. This one comes up a lot, and it’s simply not true. Most content falls into one of two buckets: Reach or Retain. Retain content goes deep, think long-form pieces for people who are already invested in your brand. It’s designed to keep them engaged, but it likely won’t go viral. Reach content, on the other hand, is thumb-stopping and disruptive. It’s meant to grab attention in the feed and attract new people to your brand. No single piece of content can do it all. You need both types working together to create momentum. 4. Don’t try something unless you’re sure it’ll work. People get so afraid of failure that they don’t even try. But here’s the thing: failure is where the learning happens. If you try and it flops, you’ve learned something. If it works? That’s a win. The real danger isn’t trying. It’s overinvesting before you’ve tested. Start small, fail fast, and iterate. That’s where the magic happens.

Let's face it: marketing is just making things look pretty. And 9 other tired takes on marketing that strong teams and smart leaders know how to leave behind 👇 🔟 Stereotype: Marketing is just “making things look pretty.” Reality: Great marketing isn’t decoration, it’s *translation.* It turns business strategy into (measurable) story. Reframe it: Every creative idea should stem from a clear insight and lead to a clear outcome. 9️⃣ Stereotype: It’s all gut, no data. Reality: The best marketing blends instinct with hard evidence. Reframe it: Bring data in as early as possible, as a creative input. Imagination and measurement are not opposites. 8️⃣ Stereotype: Marketing = ads. Reality: It’s the whole ecosystem... product fit, audience growth, retention. Ads are one cog in that machine. Reframe it: Claim marketing's seat at the business strategy table. Use marketing to MOVE the business. 7️⃣ Stereotype: Marketing is a cost center. Reality: Modern marketing builds revenue, relevance, and brand equity. Particularly in an uncertain economic landscape. Reframe it: Ground your work in business outcomes. Frame creativity as a growth lever to achieve those outcomes. 6️⃣ Stereotype: Marketers don’t get the product. Reality: The best marketers are OBSESSED with both product and customer. Reframe it: Sit in on user research. Join sales calls. Shadow support. Learn it like you’re shipping it (because you are). 5️⃣ Stereotype: Marketing’s just here to get eyeballs. Reality: Eyeballs don’t buy... people do. Reframe it: Focus on relevance over pure reach. 4️⃣ Stereotype: Marketing spins the truth. Reality: Trust is actually your most valuable brand asset, both internally and externally. Reframe it: Transparency > shortcuts. Play the long game or don’t play at all. 3️⃣ Stereotype: Marketers just want awards. Reality: Recognition is nice, and looks cool on LinkedIn. Results are better and drive your career longevity. Reframe it: Prove your team's work works. Worry about the accolades later. 2️⃣ Marketing is just “soft skills.” Reality: It’s business acumen, emotional intelligence, systems thinking, and creative execution... all in one. Reframe it: Stop diminishing the hardest parts of leadership! Influence, storytelling, and decision-making at scale aren’t soft, they’re vital. The best marketers are the best leaders in the room. 1️⃣ Stereotype: Marketing is optional. Reality: In saturated markets, it's often the only differentiator left. Reframe it: Build a brand people believe in. One that stands for something, and therefore stands out. What did I miss? - - - - - - - - - - 🎶 For curious minds who manage teams and love a good groove, subscribe to my Sunday newsletter on music x leadership.