> ## Content Index > Fetch the complete content index at: https://www.customermarketingalliance.com/llms.txt > Use this file to discover other available public pages before exploring further. # How to approach customer marketing strategy at every stage of maturity - URL: https://www.customermarketingalliance.com/customer-marketing-strategy-maturity-stage/ - Published: 2026-08-19T10:47:00.000Z - Updated: 2026-08-19T12:21:15.000Z - Description: “Strategy without execution is useless.” “Execution without strategy is foolish.” You've probably heard some version of that before, and it's stuck around for good reason. - Author: Sophie Cheng - Tags: Strategy, Leadership, Articles “[Strategy](https://www.customermarketingalliance.com/customer-voice-unlocked-dropboxs-strategy-for-growth-and-scale/) without execution is useless.” “Execution without strategy is foolish.” You've probably heard some version of that before, and it's stuck around for good reason. I've had the chance to build, manage, and optimize [customer marketing teams](https://www.customermarketingalliance.com/ensure-success-by-building-and-structuring-your-team-to-your-needs/) of all sizes. I've been a one-woman show [building programs from scratch](https://www.customermarketingalliance.com/how-to-build-and-structure-a-powerhouse-customer-marketing-team/), and I've led teams of 30+ people. Because of that, I want to break things down by maturity level as we go. ## The definition of strategy and execution Strategy describes the **desired outcome** you're looking to achieve, and it exists in service of your **overall business objectives**. That's it. It's the what and the who. Execution, on the other hand, is all about the **tactics and resources** you're going to use **to reach that outcome**. It's how you bring the strategy to life through a plan, a roadmap, and the day-to-day work. ## The “what”: Your 3 strategic pillars In most [customer marketing orgs](https://www.customermarketingalliance.com/customer-marketing-lab-workshops/building-a-modern-customer-marketing-function-team-structure-skills-and-scalable-processes-customer-marketing-labs/), we're responsible for three key strategic pillars: **engagement, advocacy and growth.** [Engagement](https://www.customermarketingalliance.com/how-lifecycle-marketing-transformed-customer-engagement-and-advocacy-at-ivanti/) is about increasing product usage, [adoption](https://www.customermarketingalliance.com/customer-and-product-adoption-where-customer-marketing-fits/), and stickiness across the entire customer lifecycle. This is where you're working on user onboarding flows, nurture campaigns, and often supporting your [customer success team](https://www.customermarketingalliance.com/customer-success-story-questions-template-framework/) with new content or tools they need to educate customers. [Advocacy](https://www.customermarketingalliance.com/advocacy-strategy-template-framework/) is about creating lasting relationships and building loyal brand fans, then leveraging their voices through reviews, case studies, and references. [Growth](https://www.customermarketingalliance.com/how-to-make-customer-marketing-a-growth-engine/) is about expanding existing accounts. This is your classic [cross-sell](https://www.customermarketingalliance.com/how-to-secure-cross-sell-upsell-strategies-without-ruining-customer-experience/), [upsell](https://www.customermarketingalliance.com/upsell-email-templates-framework/), and [referral](https://www.customermarketingalliance.com/customer-referral-program-challenges-and-fixes/) work. And all three of these are underpinned by customer insights. You’ve got to have a deep understanding of your customers' needs, their [pain points](https://www.customermarketingalliance.com/identifying-and-resolving-customer-pain-points-for-optimal-digital-experiences/), what's working and what isn't. Without that, you can't build a solid strategy for any of these areas, let alone the tactics that go with them. Now, you may not personally own all of these areas. You might not be responsible for gathering insights, but you still need to understand them and know how to use them. You might not own customer growth at your company (maybe that sits with a different team entirely), but you should still understand it as a key lever of a [holistic customer marketing strategy](https://www.customermarketingalliance.com/perfect-your-customer-marketing-strategy-by-prioritizing-customer-relationships/). The goal is to see how all of these pieces come together, especially if you're building an annual plan from scratch. [![Become a CMA Insider: Access exclusive content and templates for free.](https://storage.ghost.io/c/16/4c/164ccee2-1afe-418d-8b1c-b185533d0b88/content/images/2025/10/Insider--2-.jpg)](https://www.customermarketingalliance.com/insider-membership-plan/) ## Deciding where to focus This can feel like a lot, so how do you decide where to actually spend your time? Usually it starts at the top. Your executive team sets corporate goals, often annually, sometimes quarterly depending on how fast your organization moves. From there, your [marketing leadership defines marketing goals](https://www.customermarketingalliance.com/how-to-make-and-structure-your-marketing-goals-why-its-important-for-them-to-be-flexible/). What that does is narrow your focus. You don't have to consider every possible area, because [leadership](https://www.customermarketingalliance.com/blueprint-for-cross-functional-team-leadership/) has already told you that this year the emphasis is on retention, or that you're still in a build phase where net new logo acquisition matters most. Once that pool is narrowed, you start thinking about your customer marketing goals. And this is where customer insights become essential. Whether you own them or not, you should be pulling from: - What's **driving active usage**, and where do people drop off or get stuck? - Which **features** actually **drive retention**? - **What do customers genuinely like** – and dislike – about your product and experience? (NPS, G2, CSAT, annual surveys. Read all of it.) - Why are you **winning or losing deals**, and what's getting in the way of renewals or expansion? - What's **weighing on your customers' minds** right now – internally and in their market? Bring all of it together to figure out the biggest factors impacting your customers today. *That's* what sharpens your goals. You'll never be able to focus on everything, so lean on a **prioritization framework**. A classic one is impact vs. effort. If you don't have one yet, now’s your chance: define a prioritization framework and share it with your team and the wider org. Most people weren't part of the journey you went through. They weren't there when you dug into those insights, so help them understand the data you used and the hypotheses you built to land on your focus areas. ## How focus shifts with maturity Where you spend your time depends heavily on the **maturity of your product**, your customers, and your team. There's no one-size-fits-all approach, but I've seen a fairly consistent pattern – so let me walk you through it. ### Early stage (Series A–B) In the early days, your focus is usually validation through [social proof](https://www.customermarketingalliance.com/transforming-customer-reviews-into-enterprise-wide-battle-cards/): reviews and case studies. Advocacy gives you the biggest bang for your buck – you can use it in both net new business and expansion, and social proof plays a huge role across the entire [customer journey](https://www.customermarketingalliance.com/customer-journey-map-template-framework/). So if you're a solo customer marketer just starting out, advocacy is very likely the area you've been tasked with, or the one that naturally bubbles to the top. [Engagement](https://www.customermarketingalliance.com/executive-customer-engagement/) tends to be more ad hoc at this stage. Maybe a one-off newsletter, or that first welcome stream. You're focused on the basics. Growth is typically negligible. As a company, you're focused on bringing in new logos and new deals – expansion hasn't come into focus yet. [How to prioritize and allocate resources for scalable customer marketingIt’s easy for customer marketing to get overlooked in favor of acquisition – but retention and engagement are where the real financial impact happens. So, let’s make customer marketing indispensable. To do this, we need to strategically prioritize, scale, and allocate resources.![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/16/4c/164ccee2-1afe-418d-8b1c-b185533d0b88/content/images/icon/android-chrome-192x192--1--1-f9b43eb3-2c9d-4c59-be50-486a6f8de509.png)Customer Marketing AllianceLisa Pratt![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/16/4c/164ccee2-1afe-418d-8b1c-b185533d0b88/content/images/thumbnail/CMA_Website_Article_Images_Author_Highlight--16--ccb915cf-c0aa-4048-8161-30fbf6985af2.jpg)](https://www.customermarketingalliance.com/how-to-prioritize-and-allocate-resources-for-scalable-customer-marketing/) ### A real example At Chorus, I was brought in as the first customer marketer. A one-woman show building from scratch. In my first year, I spent about 70% of my time on advocacy, 25% on engagement, and 5% on growth. In my second year, as the team grew, the split shifted to around 50% advocacy, 30% engagement, and 20% growth. ### Growth stage (Series C–E) This is where engagement jumps to a high priority. You'll be [building scalable programs](https://www.customermarketingalliance.com/how-to-scale-your-marketing-for-smbs-and-enterprises/) that touch every part of the customer journey, so good customer journey maps become essential for spotting those key inflection points. Advocacy dips to a medium focus. You've got your baselines, so now you're thinking about *scale* – moving from accepting every case study request to building repeatable motions and a real story throughput process. You might also start exploring more labor-intensive programs like a [community](https://www.customermarketingalliance.com/ai-community-advocate-playbook-template-framework/) or [customer advisory board](https://www.customermarketingalliance.com/customer-advisory-boards-what-they-are-and-how-to-do-them-well/). Growth stays low here, either because someone else owns it or because you're starting to leverage what you've already built – asking how advocates can drive referrals, or how case studies can feed cross-sell and upsell campaigns. ### Mature stage (Series E or post-IPO) At this stage you'll get more role specialization: advocacy experts, customer engagement experts with deep lifecycle experience, growth experts with demand gen or integrated campaign backgrounds who can think about customer ABM as a full programme. Engagement becomes a lower focus – the foundations are built, and now you're optimizing and testing. Advocacy stays at a medium investment because relationships are hard to systematize away. But growth? Now, that *skyrockets*. You move beyond one-off campaigns and start thinking about how to drive it systematically across the whole lifecycle. [![The Customer & Commnity Engagement Playbook](https://storage.ghost.io/c/16/4c/164ccee2-1afe-418d-8b1c-b185533d0b88/content/images/2026/04/The-Customer---Community-Engagement-Playbook--1-.jpg)](https://www.customermarketingalliance.com/a-guide-to-customer-and-community-engagement-download-the-playbook/) ## The “who”: Understanding your target audience You know what you're trying to achieve. But who should you be targeting? I tend to think about three key dimensions. ### 1\. Their role in the buying process Are they the **decision maker**? You might break that down further into **budget holder** or **technical decision maker**. Are they an influencer with a say in the purchase? Or are they simply the **end user**? ### 2\. Their role as a user of your product Most products have an admin role. At Chorus and ZoomInfo, we sold to sales and marketing folks, so we had distinct user personas with different pain points and use cases. We even went a step further, distinguishing between an SDR, an AE, an AM, and so on. Think about your **different user types**, whether they're official roles in your product or just how you approach targeting them. ### 3\. Their loyalty level Are they part of your general customer population? Have they raised their hand as an advocate willing to speak positively about you in public? Or are they a VIP you lean on for product and company strategy, someone who might sit on your [customer advisory board](https://www.customermarketingalliance.com/how-to-set-up-customer-advisory-boards/)? People can belong to multiple groups. Someone could be the decision maker, the admin, and a VIP all at once. When you're starting out, though, drive focus and limit your investment. Don't try to boil the ocean. Pick one area, maybe helping your admins and users onboard. Two simple audiences. Once you've nailed that, add layers, guided by the customer insights you've been collecting. ## The “how”: Bringing execution to life Execution is all about the "how." The tactics, projects, [KPIs](https://www.customermarketingalliance.com/customer-marketing-kpi-redesign-template-framework/), timelines, budgets, roles and responsibilities, and your narrative and messaging. Each of these is a building block of a solid plan, and while we can't cover them all here, they're all worth your attention. I like a good framework, and I'm a visual person, so let me share how I bring the what, the how, and the who together. Say you're focusing on advocacy at an early stage, and you want to tailor your efforts differently for decision makers vs. power users, because in your case the decision maker doesn't actually use the product. From there, I think about which tactics can serve everyone vs. which should be more focused. A [customer advisory board](https://www.customermarketingalliance.com/fine-tuning-your-b2b-customer-advisory-boards-for-maximum-success/) can have enormous impact, but it's expensive and takes a lot of your time, so you'd likely only invite decision-makers and VIPs. [References](https://www.customermarketingalliance.com/why-a-customer-reference-program-is-todays-most-important-b2b-marketing-initiative/) follow similar logic; you want someone with enough gravitas and title to matter. But a [customer conference](https://www.customermarketingalliance.com/the-power-of-customer-events-in-building-brand-loyalty/) or case study program might include your whole customer base, with the experience tailored by tier. Different interview questions for a case study. Different tracks for the C-suite versus end users at your conference. Visualizing it this way helps you see how much you're actually taking on. ## Write it down I always tell my team to write it down. Articulating your thinking in a brief is one of the most important things you can do. Include the key insights and assumptions that got you here, and be specific about risks and dependencies. At ZoomInfo, we ask for a brief on any project classified as medium or larger. My rule of thumb: if something's going to take 20-plus hours, write a brief. It drives focus and it limits scope creep, which matters more than you'd think. ## Know which levers you can pull We've all been in that meeting. "I love the plan, but can you do even more? And can you deliver it two months early?" This is where the classic project management pyramid comes in. If quality stays constant, you can pull three levers: time, scope, and cost. If you want to maintain quality and your time is fixed (you've got a customer conference with a hard date), then you either decrease the scope or increase the cost. Maybe you bring in freelancers to handle event management or external help to craft content. You don't need to map out every permutation, but having a backup option up your sleeve, or better yet, including it in your brief, shows you've already thought through the alternatives. [![Craft narratives that actually move your customers with Storytelling Certified: Masters program](https://storage.ghost.io/c/16/4c/164ccee2-1afe-418d-8b1c-b185533d0b88/content/images/2026/03/CMA_Education_In-Article_Banner_--3-.jpg)](https://certified.thealliance.io/course/storytelling-certified-masters-3) ## Communicate and evangelize throughout The real key to bringing strategy and execution together is [communication](https://www.customermarketingalliance.com/effectively-communicate-your-services-to-your-customers/). Talk to your stakeholders early and often. ### Invite key stakeholders to actively participate Run listening sessions to understand what matters to them. Try simple voting exercises, giving everyone a hypothetical $100 to allocate across your potential focus areas. Or build something more structured, like an influence council that meets regularly. ### Create joint ownership Are there **shared KPIs** you can set up? Can stakeholders play an active role in execution? Maybe your CS team helps run that new webinar series, manages the community with you, or serves as executive sponsor so they feel real ownership. That leads to **shared accountability** – regular steering committees to talk through what's working and what isn't, shared dashboards so everyone can track progress, and a habit of celebrating the wins while learning from the failures together. ### Who do you include? It depends on your [team structure](https://www.customermarketingalliance.com/unlocking-customer-marketing-success-insights-from-industry-leaders-on-structuring-your-team-for-maximum-impact/) and, honestly, internal politics. But ask yourself: - Who do I need something from – whether that's insights or a view into the product roadmap? - Who's going to help execute the work, on my team or elsewhere? - Who has final sign-off? Bring approvers along early so you never catch them off guard. Then lean on something like a RACI to clarify who's a decision-maker and who's simply informed. [Unlocking customer marketing success: Insights from industry leaders on structuring your team for maximum impactA well-structured customer marketing team is a crucial part of achieving success and growth and our panel discussion, Building & Structuring Your Team for Success, at the Customer Marketing Summit provided key insight.![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/16/4c/164ccee2-1afe-418d-8b1c-b185533d0b88/content/images/icon/android-chrome-192x192--1--1-8ae27ec9-c91f-491f-8c51-6123c802d5c0.png)Customer Marketing AllianceElizabeth Raffa![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/16/4c/164ccee2-1afe-418d-8b1c-b185533d0b88/content/images/thumbnail/imattsmart-Vp3oWLsPOss-unsplash--1--1-a301cd62-6358-4fa8-ba70-a739d45332d5.jpg)](https://www.customermarketingalliance.com/unlocking-customer-marketing-success-insights-from-industry-leaders-on-structuring-your-team-for-maximum-impact/) ## Bring your team along Finally, **don't forget your team.** I think about these conversations across two dimensions: the setting (group or one-on-one) and the frequency. Big group settings usually happen once, like your annual kickoff. That's where you set the tone and sell the vision. You keep that energy going in your biweekly team meetings and all-hands, reinforcing what you're working toward and celebrating wins. One-on-one settings are for constructive, deeper conversations. This is where you help someone understand the personal impact they'll have on a project, or how they'll support the goals you've set. And in ongoing meetings, whether one-on-ones or coaching sessions, make space for clarifications and removing blockers. ## 4 takeaways to carry with you Let me close with the things I hope stick. 1. **Always write it down:** Articulating your strategy is harder than you think, and if you can't write it down, it probably isn't clear in your own mind yet. 2. **Start small:** Crawl, walk, run. Do the basics really well before you reach for anything advanced. 3. **Resist the shiny thing:** That impressive, cutting-edge tactic everyone's raving about on LinkedIn is probably not where you need to be right now. 4. **Communicate your insights,** successes, and failures early and often. Get those four right, and you'll find your strategy and execution meeting successfully in the middle. --- *This article has been adapted from a talk Sophie gave at our virtual Customer Marketing Summit in February 2024\. At the time she gave her presentation, Sophie was VP, Global Product & Customer Marketing at ZoomInfo. She currently holds the position of Chief Marketing Officer at Sinch.* *If you’d like to watch the full recording of Sophie's talk (and others like it from our virtual event), our* [*CMA Pro+ membership plans*](https://www.customermarketingalliance.com/signup/) *give you access to 100+ hours of on-demand footage of our event talks.* [ Don't miss out ](https://customermarketingalliance.com/signup/)