Marketing is Leading Tech Companies Again, Faster Than You Think

The tectonic shift in how tech companies operate is unmistakable: whether evident in VCs saying Storytellers will run the world, advisors shifting to stress that media is most important, or research validating that marketing is what defines a company’s success or failure, people are waking up again to the fact that marketing runs your business. Organizations are structuring their entire organizations around it.

Marketing is not just taking over because of generational preferences or changing customer habits, and while technology is replacing much of the work marketers do, marketing remains fundamental and in being so, is reshaping the structure and economics of startups.

The End of Traditional Sales

The rise of digital-first generations — Millennials and Gen Z — has rendered traditional sales strategies nearly obsolete. Heck, I can point to myself, in Gen X, being one of the earliest adopters of and working professionals online; if you want to sell me, I’m going to show you the door. Such customers prefer to educate themselves. They’d rather dive into a YouTube rabbit hole of product reviews, TikTok testimonials, or Reddit threads than spend five minutes on a sales call. I use AI and social media to find the ideal solutions for my needs and in the same process, make no mistake, I ensure that I’m seeking solutions that do NOT require sales calls, demos, and webinars.

This behavioral shift has forced SaaS companies to pivot. Every successful SaaS company I’ve seen mastered marketing first, leaning heavily on content, community, and self-service models. Traditional sales only came into the picture 3–4 years later, often as a secondary function to nurture and upsell existing users rather than acquire new ones. What we heard in startup ecosystems years ago was that if you’re building SaaS, you’d better launch with a way for your audience to just sign up and use it — astonishingly, startups today continue neglecting this, and they don’t get our business.

Amusingly in that happening, Sales and that user experience that would guide SaaS to be immediately available, were roles in an organization that used to live under Marketing…

The Fragmentation and Decline of Marketing’s Role

Historically, marketing commanded a significant share of budgets and played a central role in a company’s strategy. It wasn’t just a department; it was the engine driving awareness, sales, and customer loyalty. Marketing was the thread that connected the product to the market, ensuring the business stayed aligned with customer needs and preferences.

But as the digital age accelerated, a phenomenon emerged that changed this dynamic: the Digital Divide.

The rise of the internet and digital tools allowed businesses to specialize their operations. Roles that were once unified under the marketing umbrella — such as customer acquisition, sales, revenue generation, and product development — became increasingly siloed. This fracturing diluted marketing’s influence and led to a misconception: marketing was reduced to a function of promotion, a task to be executed after a product was built and ready for market.

Marketing began to be seen as an auxiliary force — a tool to grow or scale only when the company was “ready.” This shift placed undue emphasis on the product itself, perpetuating the belief that if the solution was innovative or superior enough, it would naturally sell itself. Startups in particular fell victim to this myth, investing heavily in engineering while relegating marketing to the sidelines, seen as something to be added later, like a decorative flourish.

The result? Widespread failure.

Countless startups cratered under the false promise that their superior product or groundbreaking solution was enough to drive growth. These businesses often struggled to gain traction, not because they lacked innovation, but because they failed to build bridges to their customers. They neglected the foundational work of defining and reaching their audience, telling their story, and building trust in the market.

Recently, this cycle has reversed. Businesses are reorienting themselves to the truth that marketing is far more than a megaphone for an existing product-it is the strategic groundwork that precedes, informs, and supersedes all other functions.

Marketing isn’t just about telling the world about your product; it’s about ensuring that your product fits the world in the first place. Done right, marketing shapes the product by connecting it to the needs of its audience, defines the go-to-market strategy, and drives growth by embedding customer insight into every part of the business.

This renewed understanding has become particularly critical today, when competition is global, product development inexpensive, capital is driving alternatives, and focused attention is harder to capture than ever before. The companies succeeding now aren’t the ones treating marketing as a last-mile solution; they’re the ones treating it as the first and most essential step.

This shift, paired with the rise of AI, has returned marketing to its rightful place as the work that encompasses all other business functions. Startups now recognize that marketing isn’t just about promotion-it’s about market fit, demand generation, customer retention, and, ultimately, survival.

The King is Dead, Long Live the King

The rise of AI, no-code tools, and open-source platforms has commoditized product development. A single founder can now build and launch a product that rivals those of large corporations. The challenge is no longer what you build or how — it’s who notices and adopts it.

Customer acquisition has become the ultimate differentiator. In this world, attention is the new currency, and marketing is the engine that creates it.

Successful tech companies increasingly look like marketing agencies with a product offering. Marketing no longer just feeds the funnel, it never did; it owns the entire customer journey — from research to awareness and acquisition, to activation and retention, to referrals and word of mouth.

AI: A Marketing Revolution That Needs Marketers

Artificial intelligence is reshaping the marketing function itself. Tools like ChatGPT, MidJourney, and HubSpot’s AI integrations are automating everything from copywriting to audience segmentation to campaign optimization.

This efficiency has led to predictions that AI will replace large portions of marketing teams. And while it’s true that AI can handle many operational tasks, it doesn’t eliminate the need for human marketers because marketing is inherently creative problem solving derived from research — AI amplifies the need for strategic marketers. A tool can optimize ads, but it can’t define the vision of a brand or adapt to nuanced market dynamics. Founders need to invest in a Chief Marketing Officer (CMO) who understands how to wield AI to align with the company’s broader goals.

Without the expertise of a marketer directing AI-powered campaigns, startups risk wasting budgets on automated mediocrity. Founders and investors must recognize that AI doesn’t replace the marketer; it scales their impact-if properly funded and supported.

Predictions for the Next Two Years

For startups and indeed, companies all, the future is certain that marketing will dominate budgets, teams, and organizational strategy. Here’s what to expect:

• Marketing Will Command 50%+ of Budgets: Traditional silos between marketing and other departments will fade as the importance of customer acquisition and retention rises.
• Sales Roles Will Shrink: Sales teams will shift toward upselling and customer success rather than cold outreach or prospecting.
• Marketing Teams Will Grow: The marketing department will likely become the largest team in the organization, driving growth and engagement.
• The CMO Will (again) Eclipse the CTO: While technical expertise remains essential, the ability to connect with customers is the defining factor for success.
• Internal Marketing Agencies: Startups will increasingly build in-house marketing teams that function as full-service agencies, driving both branding and performance marketing before even considering a traditional sales function — exactly what Marketing used to do.

The Only Moat Left: Brand, Distribution, and Community

Customer acquisition costs (CAC) are skyrocketing as ad saturation rises and channels grow more competitive. Simultaneously, product differentiation is becoming harder. Startups cannot rely on their tech as a competitive advantage and examples drawn from our past that it is possible, were misleading representations of the fact that it was still marketing (informally and unintentionally perhaps) that resulted in a successful technology.

The only enduring moat beyond having a unique and ideal team, is a strong brand, strategic distribution, and an engaged community. These elements are inherently marketing-driven. Customers trust authentic content, social proof, and personal brands over polished sales pitches.

It’s no coincidence that those two potential moats (team and marketing) are exactly the same things that researchers have already identified as driving your success or failure. While founders continue dismissing the research that might help them avoid failure, they’re being forced to recognize that their competitive advantage can only be found here.

Marketing is the department. Startups that recognize this early and build their organizations around marketing will outpace their competitors.

For founders, this means prioritizing marketing expertise in early hires, embracing AI tools strategically, and allocating budgets to build a robust customer acquisition engine. For investors, it means looking for teams that understand the centrality of marketing to modern business and are willing to adapt their structures accordingly.

In this era, the startups struggling the most are those clinging to outdated structures where marketing is a secondary function. The winners will be those that put marketing at the core of their strategy-and fund it like their future depends on it. Spoiler: It does.

Originally published at https://seobrien.com on December 13, 2024.