Marketing Is Broken: How We Got Here (And Why Sharks Like Us Are Eating Your Lunch)
Welcome to the golden age of marketing.
We’ve got tactical “experts” on every platform.
We’ve got dashboards overflowing with data.
We’ve got algorithms practically running our lives.
And yet... somehow… your sales pipeline still looks like a kiddie pool.
Funny, isn’t it?
At SharkMetric, we’re not surprised. Because marketing today isn’t marketing. It’s glorified content creation dressed up as strategy. And businesses are paying the price. Literally.
Marketing's Identity Crisis: Everyone’s a Content Creator, Nobody’s a Marketer
Somewhere between TikTok trends and ChatGPT prompts, the marketing industry forgot its job:
Grow. The. Business.
Instead, we got:
Brand “storytellers” who forgot to mention the product.
Agencies that pitch “community building” but can’t explain CAC.
Ad campaigns that apologize for existing.
Modern marketing is one big identity crisis.
We’re not building brands, we’re building media companies with no actual revenue strategy.
Cute.
1. Tactical Experts: The Sharks Circling Their Own Tails
Let’s talk specialization.
We’ve got:
Paid media sharks.
SEO sharks.
Social sharks.
Growth sharks.
CRM sharks.
Every specialist is swimming in their own little tank, convinced they’re the apex predator.
The result?
1,000 marketers speaking 1,000 different dialects, none of whom can agree on what “pipeline” means.
At SharkMetric, we call this “strategy by committee.” It doesn’t work.
You don’t need 12 specialists arguing over who owns your funnel.
You need one hungry shark, laser-focused on results. (Hint: that’s us.)
2. Marketing Communications ≠ Marketing (Sorry, Not Sorry)
Here’s a spicy take:
Making ads and TikToks isn’t “doing marketing.”
We said it.
But modern marketers act like running some Facebook ads and dropping a LinkedIn post should magically spark demand. Newsflash:
Your comms team can’t fix your product, pricing, or distribution problem.
We’re not here to sugarcoat it. If your brand strategy is built entirely on content, congratulations, you’re building “awareness.” Not sales.
At SharkMetric, we prefer both.
3. Drowning in Data... and Still Guessing
Clicks. Likes. ROAS. Shares. Impressions.
The dopamine hits are endless.
But your accountant doesn’t care how many people “liked” your last Instagram post. And neither do we.
Here’s what we track:
Cash flow
Market share
Profit
Retention
Customer acquisition (new ones, not just the same five buying again)
You know, actual business growth.
4. The Digital Ads Scam Nobody Talks About
Google isn’t driving your sales. You are.
When someone searches your brand name and clicks your ad… that’s not a Google win. That’s brand equity, baby. But Google happily takes the credit and your budget.
We call this the “Google Tax.” And you’re paying it.
Here’s the truth:
Digital ads don’t create demand. They harvest it. If you’re not building your brand, you’re just feeding the algorithm.
5. Marketers Acting Like Salespeople: A Cautionary Shark Tale
If your marketing team thinks its job is to “drive leads,” congrats, you’ve officially turned your brand into a discount coupon.
Sales are short-term.
Marketing is long-term.
But thanks to short-sighted KPIs and lead targets, marketers are now glorified SDRs chasing metrics they can brag about on LinkedIn.
At SharkMetric, we don’t chase leads. We chase market dominance.
6. ROI: The Most Overrated Metric in Marketing
Want a killer ROI?
Target only your current customers.
Cut your ad spend.
Only advertise when it’s easy.
Congrats! Your ROI is through the roof… right up until your business flatlines.
ROI doesn’t equal growth.
ROI equals efficiency.
At SharkMetric, we care about effectiveness, which sometimes means spending more, not less.
(Scary? Only if you're not a Great White shark.)
7. Growth Marketing That Doesn’t… Grow
Ah, “growth marketing,” the buzzword that launched a thousand LinkedIn posts.
Here’s the uncomfortable truth:
While “growth marketers” are tweaking ad sets, sustainable growth is hiding where they aren’t looking:
Building mental availability (being remembered).
Expanding physical availability (being easy to buy).
Growth isn’t just more clicks. It’s building a brand that dominates the category.
And no, your retargeting campaign isn’t going to get you there.
The SharkMetric Solution: Stop Guessing. Start Growing.
At SharkMetric, we’re not here to babysit your social feeds or optimize your CPL to death.
We’re here to help you:
Build a brand people remember.
Capture customers who’ve never heard of you.
Increase profits, not just “likes.”
Scale, sustainably.
Tactics come second. Strategy feeds first.
Because sharks don’t nibble.
They bite.
Want to stop marketing like a guppy?
Let’s build a real growth system.
