I’ve noticed a pattern across B2B teams, especially in SaaS.
Marketing is always “on.”
Posts go out. Emails ship. Ads run.
Everyone’s working.
But progress feels… stuck.
When you look closely, the problem usually isn’t effort. It’s where the effort starts.
Most teams begin at the execution layer and try to think their way upward.
That almost never works.
There are a few distinct layers in B2B marketing
You don’t need a framework to see this. You can hear it in meetings.
At the bottom: execution
This is where most teams live day to day.
Writing copy.
Launching ads.
Sending emails.
Publishing posts.
This work matters — but on its own, it’s reactive. It responds to requests instead of shaping outcomes.
One level up: tactics
This is where channels show up.
Content programs.
Outbound sequences.
Paid campaigns.
Partnerships.
Tactics answer how you reach people. But they don’t explain why this should work for your business specifically.
Above that: marketing strategy
This is usually where the real conversations start.
Who are we actually building this for?
Why should they care?
What story do we repeat everywhere?
What do we deliberately ignore?
When this layer is missing or fuzzy, tactics turn into experiments without memory.
At the top: business intent
This part rarely lives in marketing docs, but it controls everything.
What kind of revenue are we actually building toward?
Which market are we committing to?
What tradeoffs are we willing to accept?
If this layer isn’t clear, marketing gets pulled in ten directions at once.
Why teams get stuck at the bottom
Execution feels productive.
Strategy feels slow.
Business decisions feel risky.
So most companies start with “just do something” and hope clarity emerges later.
It usually doesn’t.
Instead, teams end up revisiting the same debates every quarter — just with new campaigns.
The feedback loop most teams miss
Good marketing isn’t top-down forever.
What you learn in execution should inform strategy.
What strategy reveals should refine business focus.
But that loop only works if you know which layer you’re operating in — and don’t confuse motion for progress.
The quiet fix
When marketing feels chaotic, the answer is rarely “work harder.”
It’s usually:
stop optimizing execution
go one layer up
fix the confusion there
then come back down
Everything below that point gets easier.
If this felt familiar, you’re not behind.
It usually takes a few failed quarters to notice this pattern.
By then, the fix is obvious.
Top comments (0)