Embracing Uncertainty in B2B Marketing Planning

Patrick McGill
Dec 20, 2023

Graphic of a person with a question mark over their head

At the turn of the year, it’s customary for media outlets, publications, companies, agencies, pundits, and just about anyone with access to a microphone or platform to offer predictions for the coming year. What are the trends? What will happen? What will capture our attention as the year unfolds? What is on the horizon that we should all expect to be a big thing?

While predictions like these are almost always interesting and fun (and do take a look at our agency’s views in the space as the new year unfolds!), when it comes to making marketing decisions for your brand it’s more prudent to give yourself the time and space to understand the situation and the nuances you face before following the latest trend.

But these days, the prognostication and speculation don’t just happen at year-end. They are the never-ending fodder that feeds the daily content beast, where each special election, shift in Fed rates, change in the Dow, loss on the football field, or pedestrian daily occurrence is some sort of epic, seismic event that is exhaustively pored over and looked into for signs of larger trends in the nation’s or your team’s future fortunes.

Smart thinking, smart marketing work, and generally being a well-informed and logical human being requires some calm, some perspective, and an honest attempt to understand the facts and separate them from the opinion.

It’s exhausting. And it's mostly all just hot air to fill space because no one knows for certain what these daily shifts mean. Uncertainty and nuance are not concepts that many people are comfortable with. “Black and white” is easier to communicate than shades of gray, and speculation and opinion are easier to come up with than reasoned investigative reporting. Many would rather have the alarmist, sky-is-falling, breathless, hyperventilating swirl of speculation and supposed absolutes that are common from the commentary world and the news cycle than a balanced and nuanced look at a problem.

Smart thinking, smart marketing work, and generally being a well-informed and logical human being requires some calm, some perspective, and an honest attempt to understand the facts and separate them from the opinion. While understanding the difference between what is happening or has happened and what people THINK will happen.

How Uncertainty Affects Marketing Strategy

Our marketing work is all about taking often imperfect and incomplete information and looking at it from different angles to try to find a solution. Uncertainty is at the heart of what we do because it's essentially a creative endeavor where there is rarely one right answer. We try things out, and when they work out, great! And when they don’t, we learn and try again.

As B2B marketers, we're often more cautious than other marketers and slower to adopt new or untested marketing approaches, which can be a very good thing when there's constant swirl and uncertainty. We consider budgets, risk, potential results, context, audiences, and many other factors — all the nuances help mitigate uncertainty and get us closer to having a good result and not hot air.

Embrace Uncertainty and Nuance

So for 2024, I would encourage not just marketers but everyone to embrace uncertainty and nuance, and give yourself the space to understand complex problems before making the necessary leaps forward. Slow down. Gather the facts (and limit the opinions you gather), look at your problem or issue from different angles, and challenge your preconceived beliefs or ideas.

Believe what you are seeing with your own eyes, not through someone’s retelling. Look at what is actually happening, not what you or the pundits think will happen. Remember how our nation’s low unemployment rate was going to send us into a recession every week for the last three years? Or how many people look at their own financial situation and think it is fine, but project that other people are having a hard time and that the economy is bad? It’s speculation based on not much fact, if any at all.

Resist the urge to speculate too much, and only do it when you’ve done your homework, considered your options, and need to make an educated decision on a path forward. It’s easy to form a half-baked opinion, marketing strategy, or creative idea, but it’s not reality and likely isn’t going to work out the way you want it to. If you embrace uncertainty, backed by thoughtful consideration, your marketing efforts and personal experiences in 2024 will be so much better than the alternative.

I am certain of that.

We can help you embrace uncertainty and use it as an opportunity for growth and innovation. Reach out to us to start the conversation.

Get to know Patrick

Patrick McGill, vice president of integrated marketing, has more than 25 years of experience helping clients develop strategic plans, craft customer personas, and analyze data to uncover key insights. Reach out to Patrick to take your marketing strategy to the next level — or to chat about the best Lego sets and his favorite places around the world to grab a pint.