My Marketing Mid-Life Crisis (And What It Taught Me About Strategy)

The question of generalist vs. specialist is not black and white, especially for agencies. And this is exactly where your voice as both a strategist can be most valued.

There’s something I’ve started calling my marketing mid-life crisis.

I’ve been in the industry long enough to recognize that something fundamental is shifting. And I don’t mean the usual “algorithms changed again” kind of shift. I mean a deeper one.

The rise of AI has thrown the whole game into question. Channels that used to work don’t hit like they used to. Campaigns that followed all the rules still underperform. The go-to strategies? Suddenly feel outdated.

As someone who’s built inbound strategies, scaled B2B pipelines, and coached marketing teams toward growth targets, this shift feels personal. And real. We’re past the point of arguing about "which channel works best." It’s deeper than that now.

It’s about redefining how we approach marketing entirely.

So here I am. Re-evaluating everything I know about quality, efficiency, and how marketing and sales work nowadays.

Channel-by-Channel Breakdown - What’s Not Working (and Why)

1. SEO. So... Now What?

Build great content, follow best practices, optimize for the user. Wait. Rank. Convert.

SEO used to be one of my go-to lead generation strategies. Inbound has always felt like the sustainable long game for B2B. But in 2025? 

Between AI-written content flooding the web, algorithm updates we can’t reverse engineer, and changing search behavior (are your users even on Google anymore?), inbound feels less predictable than ever. Are people still searching on Google the way they used to, or use AI for their questions?

Tips I still believe in:

• Be useful. Create content for people, not bots. Think about your unique expertise or perspective and how it can reach the right people with the right message - what do you want to share with your audience to be useful? 
• Double down on content pillars. Create structured, useful knowledge hubs, in the form of clear and well-structured pillars.
• Be authentic. Find a focus, share real expertise and don’t rely on bots and copied ideas. Think - find your unique perspective and share it if it’s valuable.

And while we are on the content topic - let’s not forget that we also need to talk about digital sustainability in content.

So many sites today are bloated. Content is duplicated, outdated, or irrelevant. Want to do better? Start with a professional content audit. If your posts or pages don’t bring traffic, impressions, or value - archive, merge, or delete them.

Yes, it sounds scary to SEO traditionalists. But Google itself has said it prioritizes reputable sites that serve users, not bots. And believe me, the results you will see from your content restructuring is what your business needs. Not vanity metrics. 

If you haven’t done a proper content audit in a while, you should. Ask:

• Is this piece still bringing in traffic or impressions?
• Does it actually help a user?

And many more. But we will talk about it separately.

2. PPC. Cheaper, Easier, and Surprisingly Less Trusted

Everybody’s running ads. Why? Because in the age of AI, it's fast, it's cheap, and generating ad copy and creatives has never been easier.

But here’s the catch:

• People are overwhelmed.
• Attention spans are short.
• Ad blindness is real.

Does Meta work for B2B? Sometimes. Does it convert? Depends on targeting, funnel depth, and about 20 other variables.

Yes, ads can work. But they need:

• Constant calibration
• Deep understanding of your ICP
• Long-term investment

Most companies want fast results. But great campaigns require iteration. Without that, you’re just creating more digital noise. And that’s digital waste.

3. Email Campaigns. Still Not Dead, But Definitely on Life Support

Don’t even get me started on email.

It used to be the channel. These days? Most people don’t even open emails from unknown senders. Including me.

My team and I have poured hundreds of hours into trying to make email work. But the open rates are down, trust is low, and inboxes are overloaded.

Some quick stats:

• The average office worker receives over 120 emails per day.
• Over 50% of global email traffic is spam.

That’s a lot of digital waste with very little return.

The Human Rebound: Real People, Real Conversations

Ironically, as AI automates more, people are starting to crave human contact again.

• Events are making a comeback
• Peer conversations hold more weight than whitepapers
• LinkedIn (even with its flaws) is still one of the best ways to reach real people in your niche

We’re seeing a return to person-to-person selling. Not because it's nostalgic, but because it's effective.

Some Good News (and Stats to Back It Up)

In the age of AI and automation, people are circling back to real, human connection.

• More people are going to live events
• Peer-to-peer trust is stronger than brand promises
• LinkedIn, while noisy, still connects you to real people

People want conversations. Not funnels.

This is where strategy shifts. And where consultants come in.

Why the Consultancy Model Wins in This Landscape

In a world where channels shift overnight, you need people who can zoom out. People who get the bigger picture, and who can tell you not just how to run ads, but if you should run ads. 

This is where consultancy and generalist thinking matter more than ever. In my experience, you can hire a PPC agency, an SEO expert, an email specialist, or someone familiar with the latest fancy tooling out there, but without someone who sees the whole picture, you’re just switching tactics. Sometimes:

• You don’t need a new campaign.
• You need a better offer.
• Or clearer positioning.
• Or smarter segmentation.

Consultancy connect dots. People with big picture expertise have seen enough patterns to know where the problem really is, and what small, strategic shifts will get you moving again.

Generalist thinking + strategic depth = resilience in a marketing world that’s evolving fast.

And sometimes, businesses just need to hear one smart idea from someone with broad experience to change their whole strategy. Most businesses don’t need more marketing noise. They need clarity, relevance, and context. 

And marketers who aren’t afraid to challenge the brief.

Strategy Is the Future. Execution Will Be AI.

Niche skills can (and will) be automated. Strategic thinking? That still needs a human. For now.

The future isn’t about knowing one channel. It’s about knowing how to think. To ask better questions. To read between the lines of a broken funnel or a ineffective sales cycle and actually understand what’s missing. Because the truth is, most businesses aren’t struggling because they don’t have the right tools. They’re struggling because they don’t have the right lens.

Execution is becoming easier, cheaper, and faster thanks to AI. You can spin up landing pages, social posts, ad sets, and even marketing plans in seconds. But while everyone has access to the same tools, templates, and prompts, execution alone becomes noise.

What stands out? Strategy. Context. A clear point of view.

The ability to sit across from a client, understand their market, map their real blockers, and give them a plan that cuts through the nonsense. That’s where human marketers win. Not in the tool, but in the translation.

Because the next era of marketing isn’t about doing everything. It’s about knowing what not to do, and having the guts to say it out loud.

That’s the future in my perspective. And I’m all in.

How This Changes the Hiring Mindset

The next generation of marketers won’t be the ones who know how to use every new platform - it’ll be the ones who can connect the dots. Instead of asking, “Can you run Facebook ads?” ask, “Can you figure out if Facebook ads even make sense for this business model?” That’s the shift. Hire people who think in systems, who see execution as one small part of a bigger puzzle. The best teams aren’t made of task machines, they’re made of people who challenge assumptions, pressure-test decisions, and know when to push back. 

Train people to ask better questions, not just get faster at clicking buttons. Because the companies who win long-term won’t be the ones that automate first, they’ll be the ones that stay intentional.

What This Means for Team Culture and Leadership

When you start hiring thinkers, your entire culture shifts. You stop optimizing for speed and start optimizing for clarity. And that requires a different kind of leadership - one that doesn’t just delegate tasks, but invites contribution. Your role as a leader isn’t to have all the answers; it’s to create an environment where smart people feel safe asking hard questions. Where it’s okay to challenge the strategy, suggest a better approach, or say, “this won’t work, and here’s why.” That’s not resistance. That’s the signal you’ve hired people who care. And in a world flooded with plug-and-play execution, care is a serious competitive advantage.

This has been one of my biggest personal challenges as a leader. I’m extremely demanding - not in a “do more” way, but in a “think harder” way. I want to see my team hustling to figure things out, not just checking boxes. I want them to understand the why behind the task. To see how their piece fits into the bigger picture. Not just executing, but aligning.

And that’s not easy. It takes time. From a leadership perspective, it means being patient. From a business perspective, it means investing a lot more hours into execution - because before you do, you need to understand. You need to get familiar with the client’s world, dig into their actual business model, and sometimes have the uncomfortable conversations. You have to say the thing no one else is saying. Spot the challenge the founder is too close to see.

But this - this is the work. This is what consultancy is supposed to look like. If you’re not bringing insight, what are you really bringing?

Final Thoughts

We don’t need more channels. We need better strategy.

And more often than not, that starts with someone outside your organization, who’s seen the patterns and knows where to look.

It’s not about doing more. It’s about doing what matters.

A consultant’s job is to:

• Challenge your assumptions
• Ask the questions you’re not asking
• Spot where you’re wasting time or budget

And then? Help you act on it.

That’s the path forward. And if you’re feeling the same kind of shift I am, it might be time to rethink your approach too.

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