Mind the Gap: The Disconnect Between SME Boards and Effective Marketing Strategy
If you sit on the board of an SME, you’re tasked with driving the business forward. You’re balancing growth, margin, operational pressures, and risk. But when it comes to marketing, there’s often a gap — a big one — between what the board understands and what the business actually needs to generate sustainable, profitable growth.
I see this gap in almost every organisation I join. It’s rarely intentional, but it has real consequences: wasted budget, confused messaging, and stalled growth.
Here are the biggest gaps, and what to do about them.
1. The Gap Between Tactics and Strategy
Boards often jump straight into doing; more ads, better SEO, a new website, without a strategic foundation.
The reality:
Tactics without strategy are activity, not progress.
Why the gap exists:
Boards are used to operational decision-making, not marketing architecture.
What’s needed:
A clear strategic north star
Alignment between business objectives and marketing goals
A framework (like SOSTAC) to structure thinking before spending
When you close this gap, you stop “doing marketing” and start directing it.
2. The Gap in Understanding the Customer
Boards often believe they know their customer. But many SME strategies are based on outdated assumptions or anecdotal insights.
The reality:
Markets move. Buying behaviour changes. Competitors evolve. Your understanding must evolve with it.
Why the gap exists:
Customer insight rarely makes it up to the boardroom unless someone intentionally brings it there.
What’s needed:
Proper ICPs (ideal customer profiles)
Segmentation based on value, not guesswork
Regular customer research and feedback loops
This closes the gap between who you think you’re selling to, and who is actually ready to buy.
3. The Gap in Differentiation
Boards often lean on generic value propositions: “leading’ “high quality,” “trusted,” “reliable.” These are not differentiators, they’re expectations.
The reality:
If you can’t articulate why you’re different, the market will assume you’re the same. And when you’re in a beauty parade of vendors all offering the same thing, you become a commodity with the only differentiator being price.
Why the gap exists:
Boards focus on operational strengths; customers care about emotional and commercial outcomes.
What’s needed:
Clear, testable value propositions
Messaging that aligns to customer pain, not internal pride
Consistency across every touchpoint
This is where strategy becomes story, and story becomes competitive advantage.
4. The Gap in Measurement
Many boards feel marketing is “hard to measure,” so they let it slide.
The reality:
Marketing is measurable, just not always in the way boards expect.
Why the gap exists:
Boards are used to financial KPIs. Marketing KPIs need translation and context.
What’s needed:
KPIs that link to business outcomes (pipeline, margin, velocity, CAC, LTV)
Regular reporting with insight, not just numbers
The discipline to stop what isn’t working and double down on what is
Closing this gap turns marketing from a cost centre into a predictable engine.
5. The Gap in Capability
Many boards underestimate the difference between marketing execution and marketing leadership. They hand responsibility to someone junior or to an agency that only thinks in deliverables, not direction.
The reality:
Execution without leadership creates noise, not momentum.
Why the gap exists:
Boards assume “marketing is marketing,” when in fact the gulf between strategic leadership and tactical delivery is huge.
What’s needed:
Senior marketing capability (whether in-house or Fractional CMO)
Agencies aligned to strategy, not steering it
Clear ownership of direction, budget, and performance
This gap is why so many SMEs plateau in their marketing effectiveness.
6. The Gap in Focus: Shiny Objects vs. Strategic Priorities
Every board is tempted by trends; AI tools, new platforms, the latest growth hack.
The reality:
Shiny objects rarely solve strategic problems.
Why the gap exists:
Boards want quick wins, and marketing often appears to offer them.
What’s needed:
A roadmap that balances long-term foundations with controlled experimentation
A filter: does this support our objectives, audience, and proposition?
An appetite for disciplined testing, not impulsive investment
When this gap closes, you stop chasing and start choosing.
7. The Gap Between Ambition and Capacity
Boards often approve ambitious marketing plans without checking whether the organisation can deliver them.
The reality:
A strategy you cannot execute is not a strategy, it’s a wish.
Why the gap exists:
Boards think in terms of direction; teams operate in terms of bandwidth.
What’s needed:
Capability audits
Training and coaching for the marketing team
Phased approaches with pilots before scaling
Closing this gap reduces burnout, bottlenecks, and missed opportunities.
Why These Gaps Matter
All of these gaps create friction. Friction slows growth.
Left unaddressed, these gaps lead to poor decisions, wasted spend, and missed market opportunities. Worse, they create tension between the board’s expectations and the marketing team’s reality.
Bridging the gap requires senior marketing leadership. Someone who understands both the boardroom and the customer. That’s exactly where a Fractional CMO fits.
Mind the Gap, or Pay for It Later
If you’re serious about growth, you need to mind the gap: between what the board knows, and what the business actually needs to succeed in the market.
The good news? These gaps are fixable quickly, with the right guidance.
If you suspect your organisation has one (or several) of these gaps, let’s talk. I help SME boards turn marketing from a question mark into a competitive advantage with strategic clarity, commercial discipline, and leadership your team can rely on.