The Tool Isn’t the Strategy
AI can accelerate execution, but it can’t decide who you are in the market.
Over the last year or so, I’ve noticed a quiet shift in the way business owners talk about marketing. The question used to be, “What should we say?” Now it’s more often, “What tool should we use?” AI has moved so quickly into the conversation that it feels less like an option and more like an obligation. If you’re not using it, you’re behind. If you are using it, you’re still wondering whether you’re using it enough.
And I understand the appeal. AI produces output. It gives you something tangible. A blog post, a campaign outline, a positioning draft, a list of taglines. For founders and operators who are already juggling too much, that kind of leverage feels like relief. It feels like momentum.
But the more I’ve watched this play out—both in my own work and in the companies we support—the more I’ve started to question whether we’re confusing production with progress. It’s easier than ever to generate content, but it’s not any easier to decide what you stand for, to define your value, or differentiate in a crowded market. In some ways, the abundance of tools makes it easier to avoid that work.
I’ve caught myself reaching for the tool before I’ve done the thinking. Instead of sitting with the harder questions — who are we really for, what are we willing to compete on, what are we not going to chase — it’s tempting to start building. Draft something. Ship something. Post something. Movement feels productive, even when direction is unclear.
The danger isn’t that AI produces bad work. In many cases, it produces very good work. Clean. Structured. Persuasive. The danger is that it can make undifferentiated ideas look polished. And polish can hide the fact that nothing underneath has actually been decided. You can sound clear without being clear.
And that’s what I’ve been wrestling with lately: not whether AI is useful — it is — but whether we’re letting tactics replace thinking. Whether we’re accelerating execution while neglecting strategy. That’s why my conversation with Eggs! The Podcast guest, Mike Snyder — retired Marine Corps Lieutenant Colonel, agency founder, and author of The Great Marketing Lie — was so compelling. Mike has spent decades watching marketing evolve from Yellow Pages ads to SEO to social media, and now AI, and his perspective is refreshingly simple: tools change, but strategy doesn’t. We talked about why AI is tactical, why positioning still belongs to leadership, and how businesses that skip the hard thinking end up producing more noise instead of more value.
The Tool Isn’t the Strategy
Mike Snyder is a retired Marine Corps Lieutenant Colonel who has spent the last several decades operating at the intersection of leadership, strategy, and marketing. After serving in public affairs roles around the world, he transitioned into business, building and leading multiple companies — including a marketing consultancy that has supported hundreds of organizations across industries.
Over the course of his career, Mike has watched marketing evolve from Yellow Pages ads to search engines, from social media to AI. He has taught MBA students, advised executive teams, and helped founders rethink how they position, price, and differentiate their businesses. His work centers on a simple but often neglected premise: marketing isn’t the website, the ads, or the content. It’s the strategic decision about why a business exists and what unique value it creates.
He is also the author of The Great Marketing Lie, and managing partner at RSM Marketing, where he challenges the idea that marketing is inherently complex and argues instead that most businesses make it harder than it needs to be — often by confusing tactics with strategy.
Strategy Before Tools
In our conversation, Mike kept returning to one core distinction: marketing communications changes constantly, but marketing strategy does not. AI may be the newest tool, but it doesn’t replace the thinking that determines whether your business actually stands out.
“How can we think strategically now that we’ve got 11 and a half months to go rather than act tactically? Because that’s the tail wagging the dog.”
Actionable insight:
It’s easy to let new tools dictate your agenda. When a platform shifts or AI improves, the reflex is to respond immediately. But strategy should determine which tactics matter — not the other way around. Before asking what tool to use, ask what position you’re trying to strengthen.
“AI is a tactic. Not a strategy.”
Actionable insight:
If that’s true, then it belongs in the execution layer — after the positioning has been decided. AI can help you write the email, build the landing page, and refine the messaging. It cannot determine what you’re competing on, how you’re priced, or what makes you different. Those are strategic decisions. If those aren’t clear first, AI just accelerates whatever ambiguity already exists.
“A lot of business owners think marketing is the website… I call that marketing jazz.”
Actionable insight:
Websites, ads, and content are visible. They feel like marketing because they’re tangible. But they are execution layers. Marketing, at its core, is answering a much harder question: Why does this business exist, and what unique value does it create that customers will pay for? The “jazz” only works when the composition underneath is sound.
“There’s no rule that says you have to describe your company the way everyone else does.”
Actionable insight:
Most businesses compete inside the category they’ve been handed. Same language. Same labels. Same comparison set. What Mike pointed out is that you can change the category simply by changing how you define yourself. His firm didn’t change its services. It changed how it framed them — and suddenly it wasn’t competing with the same agencies anymore. If you’re stuck in a crowded market, the first move isn’t necessarily to add something new. It might be to redefine what you already do.
“When we develop strategy, I use a simple test: how do we make this easier for the customer?”
Actionable insight:
When developing strategy, Mike asks a simple question: How do we make this easier for the customer? Easier to understand. Easier to buy. Easier to justify internally. Companies often chase complexity when clarity wins. If you can make the value obvious and reduce friction, you’ve already created an advantage.
“The enemy of easy is busy.”
Actionable insight:
Most teams don’t struggle because they lack tools. They struggle because they never slow down long enough to simplify. When everyone is moving, producing, responding, and reacting, complexity creeps in. Strategy gets replaced by activity. If you don’t create space to think, you default to doing — and doing is rarely the same thing as differentiating.
“They’re not thinking retention. They’re thinking acquisition.”
Actionable insight:
Most growth conversations start with leads. More traffic. More reach. More visibility. But if customers don’t stay, none of that matters. Retention forces you to confront whether the value is real, whether the product actually fits, and whether switching would hurt. Acquisition is exciting. Retention is revealing. If you build for the latter, the former usually follows.
The New Marketing Lie
AI isn’t going anywhere. It will keep improving. It will keep getting embedded into every workflow, every platform, every operating system. The companies that ignore it will fall behind. But the companies that treat it like strategy will make a different mistake.
What we kept circling back to in this conversation was simple: marketing communications evolves; marketing fundamentals do not. Positioning still matters. Differentiation still matters. Retention still matters. Making it easier for the customer still matters. You can automate execution. You can automate execution. You cannot automate clarity — and confusing the two is the real mistake
Every new wave of technology creates the same temptation — to reach for the tool before doing the thinking. AI just makes that temptation faster and more convincing. But strategy still belongs to leadership. It belongs to the founder. It belongs to the person willing to slow down long enough to decide what the business is and isn’t.
Use the tools. Accelerate the work. Just don’t confuse the accelerator for the direction.
Thanks for reading,
—Ryan
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Ready for more?
Catch Mike Snyder’s interview in its entirety on Eggs! The Podcast.
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Reading list
If you're looking to go deeper on the themes from this week's newsletter, here are a few books that pair well with the conversation and offer a broader perspective:
The Great Marketing Lie – Mike Snyder
A practical, experience-driven breakdown of why marketing isn’t inherently complex — and why most businesses make it harder than it needs to be by confusing tactics with strategy.Start With Why – Simon Sinek
A reminder that clarity of purpose precedes communication. If you don’t know why you exist, no amount of messaging will fix it.Purple Cow – Seth Godin
A classic on differentiation. In crowded markets, being “good” isn’t enough — you must be remarkable.The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People – Stephen Covey
Not a marketing book, but foundational thinking around discipline, intentionality, and long-term effectiveness.Good Strategy / Bad Strategy – Richard Rumelt
A sharp explanation of what real strategy looks like — and how often leaders mistake goals and buzzwords for actual strategic direction.
More to explore
RSM Marketing: https://rsmconnect.com
Contact Mike: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mikesnyderraptorusa
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Ryan Roghaar - Fractional CMO/Creative Director/Art Director: https://ryanroghaar.com
RŌG Health - A commercial readiness and strategy firm for medtech companies, helping CEOs identify what’s blocking growth and make clear, de-risked decisions around commercialization, partnerships, and fundraising. https://roghealth.com
Eggs! The Podcast: https://www.eggscast.com
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