The B2B Marketing Playbook Is Broken—Here’s What I’m Using Instead

Let’s face it: the majority of B2B marketing playbooks are stuck in a time warp, still echoing strategies from 2012.

They’re filled with tired funnel diagrams, generic buyer personas, and content calendars that churn out blog posts that no one reads.

And yet companies are still wondering…

• “Why isn’t our pipeline growing?”
• “Why do our leads go cold?”
• “Why don’t our campaigns do anything?”

It’s not just a problem of tactics; it’s a fundamental issue with strategy.
It’s high time we acknowledge that the old playbook is no longer effective.

Why the Traditional B2B Playbook Fails

Here’s what I see again and again (in both startups and enterprise settings):

1. Content is created for algorithms, not humans.
2. Teams churn out SEO content optimized for Google, but not for resonance, insight, or trust.
3. Sales and marketing are still misaligned.
4. Marketing talks “awareness” while sales screams for “leads.” No shared language. No feedback loop. No results.
5. Campaigns are activity-based, not outcome-based.
6. There’s a calendar. There’s content. There’s a budget. But there’s no strategic direction.
7. Personas are surface-level and outdated.
8. “CFO Carl” and “IT Ingrid” no longer suffice. We need buyer intelligence, not buyer assumptions.

What I’m Using Instead

As a Fractional CMO, I had to throw out the old playbook and rebuild from the ground up.
Here’s what works now:

1. Narrative Strategy First

Before we touch a channel or tool, we clarify the core story:

• What do we believe?
• Why do we exist?
• What’s the tension in the market that we solve?

This narrative becomes the north star for messaging, sales enablement, content, and brand.

2. Radical Alignment with Sales

I don’t “support” sales—I build with them.

We create a shared language, define SQLs together, and run integrated campaigns where the handoff isn’t a drop-off. Marketing doesn’t pass leads. It builds momentum.

3. Campaigns That Feel Personal

Mass emails and whitepapers are often met with indifference. Instead, I use segmentation, empathy, and simplicity to craft campaigns that feel like a one-on-one conversation—even at scale.

Real examples:

• Microsites built for specific industries
• Messaging tracks for complex buying committees
• Decision journey maps that inform timing and tone

4. Strategy at the Speed of Reality

I’ve worked across the U.S., Europe, and Asia. What works in one region may flop in another.

So I build modular strategies:

• Local relevance + global consistency
• Quick pivots based on real-time data
• No ego—just iteration

Bottom Line

The B2B buyer has changed. The market has changed. The playbook has to change too. If you’re still running marketing like it’s 2012, you’re not falling behind—You’re already behind.

Ready to break your playbook?

Let’s talk.