3 outdated marketing tips to unlearn (and what to do instead).

Marketing advice has a habit of outstaying its welcome.

Once something works, it gets repeated enough times that it starts to feel like “fact.” Even when the context has completely changed.

Because it has. Audiences behave differently now. Platforms have shifted. Expectations are higher. But the advice hasn’t always kept up. So you end up following rules that sound right, but don’t quite work anymore.

There are quite a few I could pick apart, but here are three that come up again and again.

1. “You need to sound professional”

This one shows up everywhere.

Businesses are told to sound polished, formal, and “on brand”. Which often ends up meaning longer sentences, more complex wording, and a tone that feels slightly removed from how anyone actually speaks.

On paper, it makes sense. You want to come across as credible. But in reality, it tends to blur everything together.

Most “professional” copy sounds very similar. It leans on familiar phrases, avoids saying anything too direct, and ends up feeling vague.

You’ll see things like:

• We deliver innovative solutions

• We are committed to excellence

• We provide a customer-focused approach

None of these are wrong. They just don’t tell the reader anything useful. They could belong to almost any business.

Clear, straightforward language often signals far more confidence than overly polished wording. It shows that you understand what you do well enough to explain it simply. And that’s usually what people are looking for.

2. “You need to be everywhere”

This is another one that sounds logical at first.

More platforms mean more visibility. More visibility should mean more opportunities. So businesses try to show up everywhere at once. LinkedIn, Instagram, email, blogs, maybe even TikTok. All running in parallel.

What often happens instead is that everything becomes a bit diluted. Content gets rushed. Messaging becomes inconsistent. And the overall presence feels scattered rather than intentional.

There’s also an assumption baked into this advice, which is that all platforms deserve equal attention. They don’t. Some platforms will be far more relevant to your audience than others. Some will suit the way you communicate. Others will feel like a stretch.

Spreading yourself too thin usually leads to weaker content across the board. A more useful approach is to focus on fewer channels and use them well.

That means:

• understanding where your audience actually pays attention

• creating content that fits the platform, rather than forcing it

• giving yourself enough space to think, not just produce

Consistency matters, but trust me, quality is what people will actually remember.

3. “The marketing funnel is linear”

The traditional marketing funnel is usually presented as a neat sequence: Awareness → Consideration → Decision.

The idea is that people move through these stages step by step, becoming more informed and more ready to buy as they go.

If you run a business, you probably know by now that it rarely works like that.

People don’t follow a straight path. They dip in and out. They read something, forget about it, come back weeks later, compare options, get distracted, and revisit again. They might discover your business through a social post, look at your website briefly, leave, then come back after hearing your name somewhere else. Or they might be ready to buy, but hesitate because something isn’t clear.

It’s not a clean journey. It’s a messy one.

The issue with treating the funnel as linear is that it can lead to very rigid thinking.

You start creating content for “top of funnel”, “middle of funnel”, “bottom of funnel”, as if people neatly sit in those categories. But most of the time, you don’t actually know where someone is when they land on your content.

They could be:

• completely new to what you do

• vaguely familiar but not convinced

• actively comparing options

• or already ready to take action

Sometimes all at once.

A homepage might need to explain the basics and build trust and encourage action. A LinkedIn post might introduce your thinking to someone new while reinforcing it for someone who’s been following you for months.

When you move away from the idea of a linear funnel, the focus shifts. Instead of trying to guide people through fixed stages, you focus on making each interaction clear and useful in its own right. You answer questions. You remove friction. You make it easier for someone to take the next step, wherever they are. And that tends to work much better than trying to fit real people into a neat sequence.

If you’ve been following all the “right” advice but your marketing still isn’t quite landing, it might be time to rethink the approach. I can help you simplify it and make it work properly.

Book a CopyKate Hotline session & get one hour to ask all the questions, untangle your messaging, and get clear on what’s actually going to move things forward in your biz. I’ll wait for your call 😉