We’re not in the same marketing landscape we were five years ago. Hell, even last year looks like something from a bygone era.
The rules are shifting fast, and the brands that win won’t be the ones who simply execute better. They’ll be the ones who think better.
Not that long ago, digital marketing followed a simple formula: pick a channel (usually Google), pump in your budget, and watch the results come in, tweaking things now and again to keep it fresh.
This ‘old way’ (as we’re calling it now) of marketing was all about execution. You didn’t need a sophisticated strategy to be on the digital landscape's pulse, or to adopt new platforms every five minutes. You just needed to know which buttons to press and how often.
This wasn’t a lazy approach. It was the standard operating model because it worked. The platforms were simpler, costs were lower, and competition was manageable. Most businesses could build a decent growth engine by focusing purely on optimisation and spend.
But that version of marketing is not just going: the horse has bolted, and most mid-market businesses are desperately trying to catch it.
As we covered in our last post (which you can read here), AI has made execution cheaper, faster, more accessible and endlessly replicable. Now, anyone can spin up ads, auto-generate copy and produce content at scale. The barrier to doing has dropped.
But that’s created a paradox: more simplicity creates more confusion.
Marketers and business owners now face decision fatigue on every front. More channels. More options. More noise. More Canva templates. Platforms that once saved time are now causing paralysis. Everyone can hit “go”, but very few know where to go. Every road, highway and blind alley looks like part of the route.
Meanwhile, the landscape is fragmenting:
It’s no longer enough to execute your digital marketing well. The execution-first approach risks wasting time, energy and budget chasing diminishing returns.
Instead, you need to think strategically about where and how you show up.
The future? Even more complicated.
Here’s one for you: rather than a search engine, Google is turning into an answer engine. Already, 60% of searches don’t result in a click, and with AI Overviews rolling out, that number is only going to climb. That’s a fundamental shift in how search works, and it will reshape how brands are discovered.
People are also spending time online in myriad places that become hard to track, engaging with content in different ways and formats. They bypass Google and open their YouTube, Instagram or TikTok app to find what they need, before taking bespoke algorithmic journeys through whole new content landscapes.
At the same time, nearly every major platform is trying to trap attention within its own ecosystem. LinkedIn down-ranks posts with external links, as well as pushing advertisers towards black box AI-powered ad campaigns. Meta is also pushing advertisers into Advantage’s fully automated AI-led campaigns, leaving little room for nuance or creative control (or transparency, for that matter).
The frustration is real. Marketers are being nudged, forced and funnelled into systems they didn’t choose and can’t get away from. It feels sneaky and self-serving. And there’s a deeper shift coming: we may soon be marketing to AI agents as much as we’re marketing to humans.
That has huge implications:
That’s before we even talk about the legislative and cultural shifts in how we see, protect and manage privacy, all of which have major impacts on marketers’ ability to track and analyse results.
We’re entering an era defined by uncertainty, experimentation and mixed results. So, how do you navigate through that? How do you lead through that chaos?
This is where strategy makes its triumphant return to the driver’s seat.
If the last decade was about execution power, the next one belongs to the strategists. The businesses that filter, focus and adapt shall inherit the new earth.
Strategy fell out of favour in the hazy execution-first days. That could be because the execution-first model seemed to work without a strategic North Star, or because a lot of strategies lacked the agility to be useful.
But a good strategy isn’t some vague document stuck in a moment in time. It’s a dynamic, hard-edged filter that tells you:
• What’s worth doing
• What’s not worth doing
• And how to focus limited energy on outcomes that actually matter
At Insight Online, we know it’s no longer the case that putting $5k into Google Ads every month will automatically deliver results. The platforms are changing, the metrics are murky, the audience is scattered, and it seems like the only ones making money are the ad platforms themselves.
That’s why we’re spending more time upfront getting strategic ourselves. Because, in a chaotic landscape, strategy is clarity. It’s not about being perfect; it’s about being intentional. Choosing your channels, your audiences and your messages on purpose rather than by algorithmic default. And, it’s worth repeating: it’s about being intentional about what you don’t need to do and where you don’t need to be. Strategy gives you the power to say no.
If you’re ready to get more strategic, we recommend starting with a strategic audit. Or, better yet, book a 90-day planning session with us.
Because the brands that lead through the chaos won’t be the ones with the most content or the flashiest tools. They’ll be the ones with a clear plan and the discipline to stick to it.
