If your leadership team only cares about “what did we close?” but you’re stuck reporting traffic, followers and vibes… this episode is for you. 😅

In this live session, we’re joined by Paul (20+ years in marketing, now at Marmalade Marketing and a HubSpot Gold Partner) to get into the actual data and metrics that matter — what to stop reporting, what to track instead, and how to explain B2B buying journeys without hiding behind a funnel diagram.

Marketing confession of the episode:
Paul got Argos catalogue pricing wrong and a product that should’ve been £79.99 went out as £39.99. Print mistakes are forever.

We get into:
✅ Vanity metrics to ditch (and why CEOs eventually come for “commercial impact”)
✅ The three numbers that matter most: revenue, pipeline, ROI — and why conversion and velocity deserve a seat too
✅ People, not personas: why named accounts beat “Jane, 32, reads The Guardian”
✅ The funnel is not linear (and maybe never was) — so how do we explain the journey?
✅ Account-based thinking: quality, penetration, and activity in the right accounts
✅ How long B2B journeys really are (and why 3 website visits over 2 years can still be a win)
✅ Lead scoring as a practical way to track progress without funnel theatre
✅ The “so what?” problem: data everywhere, but no story — how to fix analysis and reporting
✅ Minimum data every marketer should have: TAM, conversions, velocity, plus GA and website behaviour tools
✅ Website metrics: what matters, what doesn’t, and why top-of-funnel numbers still need context

If you’re tired of getting dragged into “why didn’t this channel convert?” arguments, or you need a smarter way to communicate marketing impact to finance and leadership — hit play.

Like, subscribe, and drop your worst “CEO hates my metrics” moment in the comments.

#B2BMarketing #MarketingMetrics #ROI #Attribution #HubSpot #MarketingOps #ConversionRate #ABM

Ever walked into a meeting with a spreadsheet… and watched everyone’s eyes glaze over? 😅

This episode is for the marketers trying to use data to influence up, sideways, and across the business — without being ignored, undermined, or dragged into a channel-by-channel debate.

We’re joined by Jade Faulconbridge, marketing ops consultant (finance, manufacturing, payroll — the full chaos), to talk about how to build a data story that executives actually understand, and how to use that story to set boundaries, win budget, and prove marketing is a revenue team.

Marketing confession of the episode:
Jade got fired from her shortest-ever job after pushing back on a founder’s “AI will replace SEO and write all our content” plan. Painful… but also iconic.

We get into:
✅ Why marketing should be treated as a revenue-generating team (with KPIs that matter)
✅ The only way to win influence: pick your numbers, repeat them, report over time
✅ Why you should never start with data — start with the “why” and use data to back it up
✅ The 3 numbers to take to the board every time: revenue, pipeline, ROI (plus conversion and velocity if you’re feeling spicy)
✅ Direct vs influenced attribution — and how to talk about both without getting eaten alive
✅ How to push back without saying “no” (be curious, force trade-offs, let them realise it’s a bad idea)
✅ Why CRM and reporting foundations come first — otherwise you’re “just doing stuff”
✅ What not to share with leadership until you’ve fixed it (some dashboards are inside-only)

If you’re tired of being asked to prove marketing with one month of data, or justify every channel like it lives in a silo — this episode will save your sanity.

Like and subscribe for more Blame It On Marketing episodes.
Comment your worst “show me the ROI” meeting story below.

#MarketingOps #B2BMarketing #MarketingStrategy #Attribution #ROI #RevOps #StakeholderManagement #MarketingLeadership

Marketing feels harder than it should right now. Bigger targets, tighter budgets, AI expectations, more noise everywhere… and somehow it’s still “why didn’t that email get opened more?” 😅

In this episode, Emma and Ruta sit down with Jake (co-founder of ChannelCrawler) to talk about why marketing feels so brutally difficult in 2026 — from both sides: founder brain and marketer reality.

Marketing confession of the day:
Jake thought he was resetting a SendGrid API key… and it turned out to be a phishing scam. Cue password resets, broken automations, and a serious “I thought I was tech-savvy” moment.

We get into:
✅ Why marketing has always been hard — but budgets and expectations make it feel impossible now
✅ The AI noise problem: more content, less quality, less attention
✅ Founder syndrome: “I’ve got a great idea” vs the roadmap (and how to push back)
✅ How to communicate marketing properly to sales and leadership (and stop the magic lead tree fantasy)
✅ Why more traffic doesn’t mean more revenue (and why conversion can be the real priority)
✅ Picking your path: channels, trade-offs, and committing without panic-sweating
✅ Lead quality vs lead volume: why 50 MQLs are not all created equal
✅ A practical tool to protect focus: OKRs and “what are we dropping to do this?”

If you’ve been asked to do more with less, explain your existence in every board meeting, or compete with a tidal wave of AI slop — this one’s for you.

Like and subscribe for more Blame It On Marketing episodes.
Drop your biggest “marketing is hard right now” pain point in the comments.

#B2BMarketing #MarketingStrategy #StartupMarketing #ConversionRate #MarketingLeadership #AIinMarketing