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Growth Models

The new normal? Or just noise...

Published about 2 hours ago • 1 min read

A big name marketer shared the results of a study he did last week on how brands are marketing in 2026.

Long story short, most of them are...

  • Cutting ad spend
  • Cutting content/online PR
  • Removing agencies

... all because the lead quality is trash.

It went on to explain how people are moving back to in-person marketing and the established methods are dying off.

Which ain't exactly true.

Look, brands are cutting spend.

And yeah, I agree that in-person stuff - or at least non AI stuff - is gonna help you stand out in the next year.

But if you thinkg digital is dead cause your lead quality is trash, you've only got yourself to blame.

Google, Meta, LinkedIn, or even TV/billboards are not "free money" buttons.

You don't turn on ads and start collecting cash.

If it was that easy, we'd all be bajillionaires.

This is what happens when you think tactics are the solution to strategic issues, or you hire a cheap ass agency that's just gonna "run some ads on Meta" for you.

Paid ads and digital in general, are amplifiers - they just speed things up.

... If your product is trash... more people will realise it faster.
... If your messaging doesn't explain the benefits... more people will be confused.
... If your wider system is broken... you'll lose more opportunities.

But if you spend the time to get the basics right, things like...

  • Product
  • Positioning
  • Overall strategy

... then those digital channels - paid or free - are just gonna be a benefit to you.

The brands cutting agencies and digital channels to me, have a bigger issue.

They're either optimising for the wrong thing, or they have a bigger issue in their product market fit.

If any of this is sounding familiar with your brand and the marketing effort sjust not hitting like they used to, let me know.

I'm taking on a few clients to personally help scale through 2026.

And this isn't gonna be a simple "just run ads" approach.

We'll figure out the right strategy to help you get the most out of everything you're doing and leave the competitors who are making errors in your dust.

If you're interested, hit reply with a little info about your business.

If I can help, we'll organise a time to talk.

Speak soon,

Pete "nothing iportant is changing" Boyle

Vagrants, Vagabonds, and Villains Ltd, Unit 16535, 13 Freeland Park, Wareham Road, Poole, Dorset BH16 6FA
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Growth Models

Analysing and experimenting with growth marketing

I've spent ~10 years helping digital brands grow. I share what I know and what I'm experimenting with in this newsletter.

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