--- title: Is Your Marketing Strategy Sitting on a Shelf? description: "CEOs: If you have a marketing strategy just sitting on a shelf collecting dust, you’re not alone. Here’s how to get more “use” out of your marketing investment." image: https://blog.whitespacemarketinggroup.com/hubfs/Blog_images/bookshelf-g0e7ee2b63_1280.jpg --- [![White Space Marketing Group](https://blog.whitespacemarketinggroup.com/hs-fs/hubfs/ws-logo-header.png?width=253&height=80&name=ws-logo-header.png "White Space Marketing Group")](https://www.whitespacemarketinggroup.com/) ![blogbanner](https://blog.whitespacemarketinggroup.com/hs-fs/hubfs/blogbanner.png?width=1500&name=blogbanner.png "blogbanner") [Gray Matter at White Space](https://blog.whitespacemarketinggroup.com) [B2B Marketing Strategy for Small and Mid-Sized Companies](https://blog.whitespacemarketinggroup.com) # [Is Your Marketing Strategy Sitting on a Shelf?](https://blog.whitespacemarketinggroup.com/is-your-marketing-strategy-sitting-on-a-shelf) ![Ilene Rosenthal, CEO](https://blog.whitespacemarketinggroup.com/hubfs/IHR%20BioPIc%20643x703.jpg) by [Ilene Rosenthal, CEO](https://blog.whitespacemarketinggroup.com/author/ilene-rosenthal-ceo) on Nov 18, 2021 - [Tweet](https://twitter.com/share) You spent the money. You invested the time. All those meetings with strategy experts; the brainstorming sessions that felt really amazing, and revolutionary, and even radical at the time. Then, you arrived at... ![Is Your Marketing Strategy Sitting on a Shelf?](https://blog.whitespacemarketinggroup.com/hs-fs/hubfs/Blog_images/bookshelf-g0e7ee2b63_1280.jpg?width=350&name=bookshelf-g0e7ee2b63_1280.jpg) ...a marketing strategy that is encapsulated in a big, beautiful binder sitting on an office shelf—or on your virtual Dropbox “shelf”—collecting dust. It’s no wonder CEOs, business owners, and other business leaders question the *value* of strategy. ### **Strategy Action vs. Non-Action** This happens. To be honest, it is more common than not. And, it’s one of the primary reasons why marketing strategy gets a bad rap. [![Looking to reduce random acts of marketing that waste time and money?](https://no-cache.hubspot.com/cta/default/176305/9dbe1cfb-3a8e-4f24-b893-19b29618de94.png)](https://cta-redirect.hubspot.com/cta/redirect/176305/9dbe1cfb-3a8e-4f24-b893-19b29618de94) A key observation I’ve witnessed in the business leaders I’ve been in conversations with is the perception that strategy is a whole lot of *blah, blah, blah*. When the blah, blah, blah is over, you stare at it each quarter and wonder: Am I ever going to use this thing? If so, *how*? Maybe, in your mind, strategy is just “theory” and you can't really apply it. Therefore, you think strategy is actually the *opposite* of action. But you NEED action! In truth, strategy is *required* for action. It is: - a structure for prioritizing marketing spending decisions/resource allocation - a framework for determining exactly where to spend marketing dollars - principles to help us figure out what we should be saying in our market  But, here’s the biggest benefit of a strategy: It gives us permission to let go of things that are not front-and-center for the growth you need. At its very core, a strategy helps you say NO—something that doesn’t always come easy. ### **Are You Ready to Define (or Redefine) Your Approach to Marketing?** There’s no getting around it: marketing is a cost center. You have your P&L, which is necessary to measure your profitability. Without a strategy, they work against each other. If your company needs a more DEFINED marketing strategy for growth, here are some resources to help: > *“Am I ever going to use this thing?”* 1. See more videos on marketing strategy on our [YouTube channel](https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCM0OuoY2azBxNRzgp7HkZJQ)—and don’t forget to subscribe so you get the new ones in your inbox.  2. Check out the [Strategy Lab](https://info.whitespacemarketinggroup.com/strategy-lab-training-webinar) to help businesses break the vicious cycle of random acts of marketing through a proven three-step framework to help them maximize every marketing dollar they spend. 3. Let some air out of your marketing strategy “balloon” by exploring a part-time CMO to guide your in-house or outsourced marketing teams. Make sure your tactics have a strategy to stand on. [Let's talk specifics](https://info.whitespacemarketinggroup.com/meetings/irosenthal/strategy-work-session). 4. If your team needs a strategy primer to finesse your current strategy roadmap, [get in touch](https://info.whitespacemarketinggroup.com/meetings/irosenthal/strategy-work-session) so we can set up time to discuss timing and cost so you're in good shape moving into 2022.   [![WATCH THE webinar: HOW TO avoid random acts of marketing](https://no-cache.hubspot.com/cta/default/176305/08bb4240-2fb8-4d8e-aa07-84d9851cd4cd.png)](https://cta-redirect.hubspot.com/cta/redirect/176305/08bb4240-2fb8-4d8e-aa07-84d9851cd4cd) Topics: [content marketing](https://blog.whitespacemarketinggroup.com/topic/content-marketing), [marketing strategy](https://blog.whitespacemarketinggroup.com/topic/marketing-strategy), [strategy](https://blog.whitespacemarketinggroup.com/topic/strategy), [marketing](https://blog.whitespacemarketinggroup.com/topic/marketing), [business strategy](https://blog.whitespacemarketinggroup.com/topic/business-strategy), [CEOs](https://blog.whitespacemarketinggroup.com/topic/ceos), [B2B marketing](https://blog.whitespacemarketinggroup.com/topic/b2b-marketing), [Founders](https://blog.whitespacemarketinggroup.com/topic/founders), [B2B](https://blog.whitespacemarketinggroup.com/topic/b2b), [small business](https://blog.whitespacemarketinggroup.com/topic/small-business) About The Author ![Ilene Rosenthal, CEO](https://blog.whitespacemarketinggroup.com/hubfs/IHR%20BioPIc%20643x703.jpg) [ Ilene Rosenthal, CEO ](https://blog.whitespacemarketinggroup.com/author/ilene-rosenthal-ceo) Ilene Rosenthal is the CEO of White Space Marketing Group, fulfilling her aspiration to bring hybrid marketing expertise to the mid-market. With a dee... [read more](https://blog.whitespacemarketinggroup.com/author/ilene-rosenthal-ceo) [![watch the WEBINAR: how to AVOID random acts of marketing ](https://no-cache.hubspot.com/cta/default/176305/c5f63d26-b091-48d9-822b-8e8904eecef0.png)](https://cta-redirect.hubspot.com/cta/redirect/176305/c5f63d26-b091-48d9-822b-8e8904eecef0) Search this site on Google Search Google ## We're glad you're here. We write about our marketing passions: building digital brands, digging deep for customer insights, tracking marketing effectiveness and ROI for better results. 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