• Is it testable?
• Can you prove or disprove it?
•If you reversed your hypothesis, would you care about the difference it would make to your overall logic?
• If you shared your hypothesis with any other stakeholder, would it sound naive or obvious?
• Does it point directly to an action or actions that you might take?

There's a difference between marketers who follow trends and those who create them. The gap isn't talent or luck, it's philosophy. The masters I've studied, who built empires from ideas, all shared certain beliefs that guided their decisions. What are some of those beliefs? I can't believe you asked...

Marketing practitioners understand features and benefits, but we sometimes struggle with narrative momentum. We often connect campaign elements with "and" thinking, creating flat, predictable sequences that fail to engage audiences. Effective marketing stories require "but" and "therefore" connections. These words signal shifts, build tension, and drive audiences forward through your message.

When you can’t nail your routine, or when, for whatever reason, your routine doesn’t leave you feeling energized or “ready,” it’s so easy to hit the mental eject button: today’s just not my day. But this isn’t necessarily true. Yes, routines really can help. Yes, every great performer uses routines. Yes, you should probably have a few routines yourself. But they are not destiny.

Learning is not passive, and the growing reliance on AI bypasses the often difficult and frustrating learning curve and goes straight to stagnant mediocrity.

Like any creative endeavor, each campaign represents an experiment with unknowable outcomes. This uncertainty bogs down marketers who expect guaranteed results before investing resources. Marketing campaigns exist in a space that resists predictability and is filled with false expectations.

We mostly hear about the winners (like Facebook and Apple), not the many entrepreneurs who tried similar approaches and failed. This creates a false picture that can lead to poor business decisions.

Picture yourself walking through a graveyard where only the fanciest tombstones still stand. Time crumbled away the simple ones. Looking around, you might think everyone buried here was wealthy. You're just seeing the survivors.

Marketers must constantly look closely at their growth engine. What looks successful on paper often conceals disastrous vulnerabilities. Here are eight (if that is too many, just read 3 or 5 or whatever works for you) questions you can ask during your investigation:
1. Are we building on rented or owned platforms? Every algorithm change, reach reduction, or cost spike exposes the fragility of platform-dependent marketing.
2. How quickly can external forces dismantle our current strategy? LinkedIn throttling reach, Instagram algorithm shifts, or rising paid customer acquisition costs can instantly transform a "solid" marketing system into a leaking structure.

Bad marketing persists and may get worse as the creation speed increases and barriers to launch evaporate. I see three factors driving this phenomenon:
First, marketing has democratized. Everyone with a product or idea now does marketing, regardless of skill, understanding, ot training. The sheer volume guarantees diminishing quality and effectiveness. Second, most people handling marketing excel elsewhere. The artisanal baker knows bread, not positioning. The hospital administrator understands healthcare systems, but less so, if at all, emotional storytelling. Most professionals treat marketing as an afterthought. Third, marketing lacks clear feedback mechanisms. Without definitive standards or immediate consequences, practitioners struggle to evaluate their work objectively, resulting in failures being misidentified as missed opportunities rather than catastrophes.

A customer will very quickly leave the company that gives empty promises and makes no effort to correct the resulting unsatisfactory outcome. They are not available for time-wasting nonsense. You’re looking for a version of a customer that doesn’t exist anymore.

Creating the conditions for the word to spread is the job of the marketer. Spreading the word is the job of the customer. Great brand marketing doesn’t just promote a product. It creates an emotional container people want to step into and incorporate into their lifestyle, and tell other people about.

Is increased complexity the path to better performance, or would marketers be better off if they removed a few things?
Many interactions fail despite apparent attention because basic listening captures spoken words. Most people stop here, creating a false understanding while missing crucial context. The second layer involves understanding and grasping what words mean in context. The deepest level uncovers what remains unspoken in the underlying emotions, unstated needs, and hidden assumptions.

Avoid producing (and consuming) marketing junk food. Feed your audience substance and they will thank you with their attention and business.

Marketing innovation requires the expectation of ridicule coming your way. Your absurd campaign approaches might become tomorrow's industry standards or they won't. However, marketers who obsess over avoiding criticism seldom discover breakthrough strategies that differentiate their brands. Why not pause right now and think of the most memorable campaigns that initially raised eyebrows before changing perspectives?

But wait, there's more...

What now?

Many of us defend past decisions, doubling down on failing campaigns. We point to the research, time invested, and executive buy-in we secured. We resist walking away from work representing our best thinking that failed. This attachment creates marketing inertia. While competitors pivot quickly based on feedback, organizations clinging to past investments continue pushing messages that fall flat and strategies that drain resources without delivering results.