It can be frustrating and costly when your marketing is not delivering results. You are investing time and budget, but the leads aren’t coming in, engagement is low, or sales have not improved. Instead of guessing what’s wrong, it is important to take a structured approach to diagnosing the problem.
This guide walks through key areas to assess when your marketing is not working, helping you identify gaps, refine your approach, and ensure your efforts align with what is driving results in today’s market.
Are you clear on your goals?
The first step in troubleshooting underperforming marketing is ensuring your goals are well-defined. Start by asking: What does success look like for your business? Are you trying to generate high-quality leads, shorten your sales cycle, improve conversion rates, or increase customer retention?
Your marketing KPIs should directly align with business objectives. If your goal is pipeline growth, prioritise metrics like marketing-qualified leads (MQLs), sales-qualified leads (SQLs), and conversion rates. If brand positioning is the focus, track engagement with decision-makers through content consumption, event attendance, or inbound inquiries.
Marketing efforts can become unfocused without clear, measurable goals, leading to wasted budget and poor results. Before making any changes, ensure you track the right success metrics that drive business growth.
Do you have a solid strategy—or just tactics?
A common mistake in B2B marketing is confusing activity with strategy. Running campaigns, posting content, and attending events might feel productive, but without a clear, structured plan, these efforts can be disconnected and ineffective.
A strong marketing strategy starts with understanding your ideal customer—who they are, what problems they need to solve, and how they make buying decisions. Every campaign should be built around this, ensuring messaging, positioning, and sales enablement work together to drive tangible commercial results.
Your strategy should also be data-driven and measurable. Are you tracking the right performance indicators? Are your campaigns optimised based on real insights rather than guesswork? If your marketing is not working, it may not be a budget issue—it could be a lack of strategic direction.
Are you investing enough (time, budget, and resources)?
Underinvestment is one of the biggest reasons B2B marketing efforts fail. Many companies expect strong results without committing the necessary time, budget, and expertise. If your marketing is not working, it is worth assessing whether you are investing in the right areas.
Effective B2B marketing requires a well-balanced approach. Paid ads, SEO, content marketing, and video all play a role—but spreading resources too thin across too many channels can lead to mediocre results. Instead of trying to do everything, focus on high-impact activities that directly contribute to pipeline growth.
Another key factor is talent. Do you have the in-house expertise to execute your strategy effectively? If not, outsourcing elements like content production, paid media, or campaign management to specialists can be a more cost-effective way to achieve results. If the results are not there, it might be time to reassess where and how you spend.
Are you keeping up with what works today?
B2B buyers are more sceptical than ever, and by the time they engage with your sales team, they have likely done extensive research on your company. If your marketing is not building trust before that point, you are already behind.
Modern B2B marketing is about creating genuine, human connections. Decision-makers do not just buy from brands—they buy from people. If your content is overly corporate and impersonal, it is unlikely to resonate. A strong marketing approach ensures messaging continuity across all touchpoints, from your website and LinkedIn presence to email campaigns and sales conversations.
Are you bringing your leadership and team to the forefront? Showcasing the people behind your business—through expert insights, video content, or personal branding—helps build credibility and trust. Buyers want to see who they are engaging with, not just read another dry case study or whitepaper.
Equally important is maintaining consistency in how your brand presents itself. Mixed messaging across different channels creates confusion and weakens your positioning. Whether it’s thought leadership, advertising, or sales outreach, your brand story should be clear, authentic, and aligned with what your buyers care about.
Are you leveraging video effectively?
Video is no longer a ‘nice to have’ in B2B marketing, it is essential. However, simply producing video content is not enough. The format, messaging, and frequency all determine whether your efforts drive engagement or fall flat.
Different types of video serve different purposes. Short-form clips work well for brand awareness and social engagement, while long-form content—such as thought leadership interviews, in-depth case studies, or behind-the-scenes insights—helps build credibility and nurture leads. If your video content is not delivering results, it is worth reassessing:
- Are you posting consistently enough? Infrequent content makes it harder to stay top-of-mind.
- Is your messaging clear and compelling? Overly scripted or generic videos often fail to connect.
- Does the production quality match the expectations of your audience? While B2B doesn’t always require high-end production, poor lighting, bad audio, or unpolished delivery can make your brand seem unprofessional.
- Are you targeting the right people? Even the best video will not convert if it is reaching the wrong audience.
The key is to align video with your broader marketing strategy. It should reinforce your brand positioning, add value for your audience, and integrate seamlessly across different channels—whether that is LinkedIn, your website, or email campaigns.
Is your sales team enabled to convert leads?
Marketing does not stop at generating demand—it needs to support sales in converting that demand into revenue. If leads are coming in but deals are not closing, the issue may not be the volume of leads but how they are being handled.
One of the most common breakdowns is poor lead handoff. If marketing and sales are not aligned on what qualifies as a high-value lead, sales teams may waste time chasing unqualified prospects or, worse, ignore leads that could have converted with the right approach.
Misaligned messaging is another issue. If marketing positions a solution one way but sales presents it differently, it creates confusion and erodes trust. A strong sales enablement strategy ensures the messaging remains consistent across all touchpoints, from the first marketing interaction to the final sales conversation.
Follow-up processes also make or break conversions. Many leads require multiple touchpoints before they move forward, yet too many sales teams give up after one or two attempts. If your sales team is not following a structured, data-backed process for lead nurturing, you are likely losing potential customers along the way.
Marketing and sales should function as a single, integrated system. If there is a disconnect, even the best marketing strategy will not translate into business growth.
Conclusion
When marketing is not delivering results, it is rarely due to just one issue. More often, it is a combination of factors—unclear goals, lack of strategy, underinvestment, outdated tactics, or misalignment between marketing and sales. The key to fixing it is not guesswork but a structured, data-driven approach.
Start by ensuring your goals are clearly defined and tied to business objectives. Then, assess whether your strategy is well-structured or just a collection of disconnected activities. Evaluate whether you are investing enough in the right areas, keeping up with today’s best practices, leveraging video effectively, and supporting your sales team in converting leads.
By addressing these areas systematically, you can turn underperforming marketing into a growth engine that delivers measurable business results.
How Resonate helps B2B tech companies get marketing back on track
If your marketing is not delivering the right results, we can help. At Resonate, we build data-driven marketing strategies that attract high-value leads, strengthen your brand positioning, and support sales in closing more deals. Book a consultation today to assess your current marketing approach and realign your strategy for growth.
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