Marketing isn't broken. But in a lot of firms, it's still built for a different era.
Newsletters, annual campaigns, firm-branded events - these efforts were designed for visibility, not velocity. They often reflect a traditional approach that values doing something over doing the right things in the right way.
The shift happening now isn’t about more marketing. It’s about retooling your entire approach, so it aligns with how clients buy, how referrals work, and how growth actually happens in today’s environment.
The New Mandate for Firm Marketing
In many firms, marketing is still built around legacy expectations.
That means newsletters, event support, branded folders, and the occasional content push. Marketing may be asked to “generate leads,” but in practice, the efforts often lack the structure, tools, and measurement to actually drive the pipeline. The function is reactive, disconnected from strategy, and often evaluated based on activity - not impact.
But marketing has evolved. And the real transformation isn’t flashy, it’s foundational.
Today’s marketing mandate is about building a system that actually moves the firm forward:
Multi-channel execution that meets prospects where they are
Campaign development with clear targets and calls to action
Lead generation and tracking across the full funnel
Sales enablement that gives your teams the messaging, materials and confidence to promote what's new
Performance measurement that connects marketing to ROI
AI and automation that enhance speed, consistency, and scale
It's not about doing more.
It's about doing marketing the way growth actually happens today.
Final Thoughts
Retooling marketing isn't a dramatic overhaul. It's a necessary shift in how firms structure, execute, and measure.
Today's firms need both visibility and velocity - a presence in the market and the systems to turn that presence into progress.
When marketing is aligned with strategy, equipped for execution, and focused on outcomes - it stops being extra.
It becomes essential.
About This Series
I write and share what I see - from inside firms and across the broader industry.
This series pulls from years of experience leading growth strategy, marketing transformation, and service innovation - across firms, industries, and evolving business models.
It’s not about representing one firm, or one way. It’s about surfacing the real questions that leaders are wrestling with, and helping firms think more strategically about what’s next.