From paper maps to GPS: Why marketers need to navigate, not just plan
“The best marketers aren’t just data-driven; they’re direction-driven.”
Marketing used to be like planning a road trip with a paper map. You’d lock in a route months in advance, set your course, and hope you wouldn’t get lost. But the landscape has changed. Consumer behavior shifts overnight. Platforms evolve weekly. AI reshapes the rules monthly. What worked in January might be irrelevant by March.
Marketing today is a live system. It demands continuous navigation, not static planning.
So the question is; are you still following a paper map, or have you started marketing like a GPS, navigating in real time and course-correcting as you go?
Jesse’s GPS Model: The Four Shifts that define modern marketing
I call this The GPS Model of modern marketing. It's about shifting away from rigid, linear, outdated strategies and adopting dynamic, responsive, real-time marketing practices that actually reflect how people behave today.
1. From campaign launches to continuous optimization
Marketing isn’t about big launches anymore. It’s a continuous loop of sensing, responding, and improving.
A fashion brand we work with moved from monthly planning to daily optimization. Just that shift increased ROAS by 37%. Why? Because they adjusted course in real time instead of sticking to a fixed path. Not by doing more, but by doing smarter.
Try this: Replace your monthly planning meeting with a 15-minute weekly performance stand-up. Shift budget weekly instead of quarterly.
2. From ROAS to real impact
If you’re still optimizing for, you’re optimizing the wrong thing. ROAS doesn’t reflect value created, it reflects cost efficiency. And cost efficiency without incrementality is a vanity metric.
Nielsen found up to 40% of digital ad spend creates zero incremental value. That’s not inefficiency, it’s missed growth.
The smartest teams don’t just ask "what performed best?" They ask: what drove real change versus what would've happened anyway?
Try this: Run a simple incrementality test by holding back spend in a region for a week. Measure what happens. What changed because of your ads? That’s your true baseline.
3. From funnels to growth loops
The funnel is dead. Consumers don’t move from awareness to consideration to purchase in clean stages. They zigzag: TikTok > friend’s WhatsApp > Google > newsletter > Instagram.
That’s why I look at the customer journey as a growth loop.
Growth loops embrace the chaos. They create momentum by reinvesting user action into future growth.
Loops:
- Turn customers into advocates
- Reinvest activity into acquisition
- Build efficiency over time
Try this: Pick one user action (e.g. post-purchase review, referral, or content share). Turn it into a trigger that loops back into acquisition.
4. From manual optimization to AI and automation
Still shuffling spreadsheets or shifting budgets manually? You're already behind.
By 2027, I predict that brands that don’t automate 50% + of their marketing tasks will be priced out of growth.
Brands like Gymshark use AI to reallocate budgets and automate creative testing, freeing teams to focus on brand-building.
Try this: List your team’s weekly to-do list. Choose one repetitive task and automate it within 30 days.
Your strategy is the driver
Even the smartest tech is useless without a clear direction. Before you add another tool to your stack, ask: what decision will it make faster or smarter?
And remember, automation only works if you have the right inputs. Without first-party data, your GPS has no signal. Tools like Billy Grace help brands unlock this data and power real-time decisions.
But never confuse the tool for strategy. Your strategy sets the destination. Technology just helps you get there faster.
Try this: Create one first-party data asset this month. A quiz, gated content piece or loyalty perk that fuels your growth loop.
Shift Gears: 3 tactical moves you can make this month
- Launch one test-and-learn cycle. Replace a static campaign with a flexible budget and daily check-in.
- Design one simple growth loop. Where can one customer action trigger more growth?
- Automate one manual task. Free up your team for creativity, not copy-pasting.
Final thought
The best marketers today aren’t the best planners. They’re the best navigators.
Because the road is changing. And paper maps don’t update themselves. This is your GPS moment. Adapt not, or risk getting lost.
Written by Jesse – navigating the future of marketing one loop at a time.
