Tired of Hearing ‘Just Do It the Way We Always Have’?
- Lyanne Campbell
- Apr 19
- 4 min read
Recently, I was speaking with a marketer who wanted to change how their organization approached certain areas of marketing.
With each recommendation, leadership responded with:
“Just do it the way we’ve done it before.”
The work still got done. Boxes were checked.
But it raised a bigger question:
Are we making the best use of a marketer’s time and knowledge?
And more importantly, are we doing what the organization truly needs to grow?
This isn’t the first time I’ve heard this.
If you’re in a marketing role (especially as a team of one or leading a small team) you’ve likely experienced it too.
You see opportunities to improve things.
You bring ideas forward.
And instead of a conversation, you get a quick “no”… or a redirection back to what’s familiar.
Over time, that can be both frustrating and discouraging, especially when you can see a better way forward, but can’t get traction.
So how do you break through to leadership that’s focused on staying with what’s worked in the past?
Here’s the approach I’ve found most effective.
1. Understand the organization’s goals and priorities.
There are a couple of ways to do this.
The first is to request access to the corporate strategic plan (if you don’t already have it). These plans are typically created after board and executive planning sessions.
As you review it, take note of where marketing is (or could be) supporting those priorities.
If you don’t have access, set time with leadership to ask:
· What are the top goals this year?
· How are they being measured?
This step matters more than people think.
Because without this context, even strong ideas can feel disconnected.
2. Connect the dots.
Once you understand where the organization is headed, you can assess how your recommendations align.
Sometimes your idea will fit directly.
Other times, you may realize leadership is focused elsewhere.
Either way, this step helps you position your thinking in a way that’s easier for others to understand and support.
3. Present your case clearly.
Leadership has a lot competing for their attention.
When ideas are shared casually, it’s easy for them to default to “no.”
It’s not always because they disagree. It’s often because “No” is the fastest, simplest response.
Early in my career, I ran into this often.
I would bring ideas forward and struggle to move them ahead.
My GM introduced me to a framework called SOPPADA.
That was the best advice, and an approach I have taken numerous times over my career.
Here is the framework:
Subject: The title … what is this all about?
Objective: Briefly, the "thesis statement" of what you want to accomplish, change, or inform about.
Present Situation: Description of current status, including the problem your proposal is meant to solve. This is the place where you convince the reader why he or she should care about this proposal.
Proposal: An outline of the key points of your request, concisely listing all key details.
Advantages: A list of arguments supporting your proposal. Be as complete as necessary to make your point, but limit the number to a reasonable length.
Disadvantages: A list of anticipated arguments against your proposal. This is an important step to show you understand problems that may be faced in implementing your idea, and will help the decision maker develop a complete understanding of the issue. Be fair in your analysis of opposition. It is seldom that there are absolutely no reasonable disadvantages to a proposed action.
Action: The call to action is what you will do or what you ask the reader to do with the information you have presented. This step could be as simple as requesting permission to move forward with further investigation and analysis, or you may ask for a final decision to be made. You also may put in a timeframe, such as: "I will call to make an appointment with you for next week to discuss this matter."
If you’d like to put this into practice, I’ve created a simple SOPPADA template you can use to structure your ideas and present them to leadership.
It is designed to be clear, practical, and easy to apply.
(You’ll be asked to enter your name and email, and I’ll send it directly to your inbox.)
What I’ve found is this:
When you take the time to connect your idea to business priorities and present it in a clear, structured way…
It becomes much easier for leadership to:
· Understand it
· Evaluate it
· And say yes to moving it forward
If ideas are shared as one-off comments, it’s easy for them to be dismissed.
But when you show how your thinking supports the organization, you shift from simply executing work to contributing strategically.
And that’s where real momentum starts to build, not just for your ideas, but for how you’re seen as a strategic voice within the organization.
Keep on being amazing,
Lyanne
Marketing shouldn’t feel like guesswork.
If you’re tired of wasting time on marketing tactics that don’t move the needle, you’re in the right place. My goal is to help you create a clear, strategic marketing plan that actually works—so you can stop spinning your wheels and start seeing results.
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Need hands-on help? As a nationally recognized marketing strategist and Chartered Marketer, I’ve helped businesses transform their marketing from a cost center to a revenue driver. Whether you’re looking for marketing guidance, to be a part of a marketing community or get in on a mastermind group, I’d love to connect. Let’s make your marketing work smarter, not harder.
To your success,
Lyanne
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