Strategy First, Tactics Second

In a recent conversation with the CEO of a well-funded SaaS company that had already achieved product market fit with a few thousand SMB and Mid-Market customers, I was asked what set of marketing tactics drove non-linear growth at Toast as we’ve scaled to over 100,000 restaurant locations.

I’ve often been asked this question, and my answer has always been the same: You have to go “strategy first, tactics second.” The single biggest mistake that marketers make is copying growth tactics—often from competitors or companies they admire. As a result, they build funnels and programs that mirror the competition or, even worse, the buyer journey of a market they’re not even serving.

I’ve had the opportunity to lead sales and marketing teams at Toast and other companies serving the full array of segments (Enterprise, Mid-Market, SMB, and vSMB) and buyers (Chief Customer Officers, Chief People Officers, Director of Benefits, Restaurant Owners, and even Entrepreneurs). To these folks, I’ve sold or marketed technology products of varying contract values from sub-$5,000 to well over $1,000,000.