No vision? Your growth team is going backwards
It’s simpler than you think—here’s how to get ahead and stay there
Ever wonder why some growth teams feel years ahead while others seem stuck? Great teams have a clear, compelling vision.
Doing your day-to-day work well gets you through this quarter—but won’t guarantee success in two years. A strong vision forces you to anticipate the future and innovate.
Case in point: Within 12 months, the best growth teams will fully integrate AI copilots. Without a vision that accounts for changes like this, you'll quickly fall behind.
Here’s how to build your growth marketing vision:
Step 1: Gather research and insights
Situational Analysis
Start with a situational analysis. Include your whole team—pulling them out of day-to-day execution to think bigger.
SWOT (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, Threats) is a tested framework for effective situational analysis:
Layer in other relevant information and insights
Company goals & mission: You’ll need to align your vision with your company's long-term strategy - what is that? Do you have clarity?
Audience insights: Who is your audience? Are their behaviours and expectations changing?
External events: Anticipate significant events over the next 24 months (e.g., fundraising rounds, market shifts, regulatory changes).
Cross-industry insights: Aim to regularly speak with 1-2 high-performing growth teams to exchange valuable ideas.
Step 2: Create a vision document
Format isn't critical (text doc, slides, notion)—the content matters most.
Begin with Context
Highlight key achievements from the past 24 months, focusing specifically on strategic wins outside daily operations.
Clearly Highlight Challenges
Explicitly identify and state key challenges based on your research and analysis:
Example: “Diminishing Returns: Analysis indicates we can’t sustain acquisition growth beyond current forecasts without new audiences or channels.”
Being upfront about challenges helps build credibility and buy-in.
Clearly explain how you'll overcome challenges
Frame your strengths and opportunities directly as solutions to these challenges:
Example: “AI Copilots: Boost team productivity using growth AI copilots, enabling expansion into new channels without additional hires.””
Breakdown solutions clearly
If using slides, dedicate one slide per solution, clearly detailing how it will drive growth. Here’s an illustrative example of mine from early 2024 around integrating AI:
Step 3: Build a clear roadmap with milestones
Set key milestones for achieving your vision:
Example milestones (AI copilots):
Months 1-2: Engage with AI copilot vendors, benchmark with companies already using AI, research from events, podcasts, reading
Months 3-4: Test MVP AI copilots for reporting and optimization
Month 6: First AI copilot fully integrated
Month 12: Multiple AI copilos use cases operational
Your action today
Without a vision, you’re not standing still—you’re moving backwards. Schedule your situational analysis today, I promise you’ll feel like you have a clearer direction for the future.
Bottom line
✅ Without a vision, incremental improvements become insufficient—you gradually slip backwards.
✅ Having a vision ensures continuous forward momentum and innovation.
✅ Act today—define your vision clearly, keep moving forward, and stay ahead of your market.