Marketing teams often jump to visible solutions: a new website, better messaging, more leads, or another campaign. But the biggest marketing challenges are rarely the ones companies think they have. The real issue is often hidden beneath the surface, whether it is a lack of customer understanding, poor sales alignment, or a product experience that is not meeting expectations.

In this episode of Straight to Voicemail, Adam Sockel hears from Maylee Jacob, a fractional marketer who helps teams identify the problems they actually need to solve. Maylee explains why companies need to question the initial marketing request before jumping into execution and how the right customer insights can reveal what is really holding growth back.

You’ll learn:

• Why the marketing problem companies identify is often not the actual problem they need to solve
• Why building better messaging, websites, or campaigns cannot fix deeper issues like trust, positioning, or customer alignment
• How customer conversations, sales calls, and support insights can uncover the real barriers to growth
• Why marketers need to get comfortable questioning the assignment before moving quickly in the wrong direction

Jump into the conversation:

(00:00) Why we wanted to hear from Maylee Jacob

(01:24) Why the obvious marketing problem is often wrong

(02:16) What marketing cannot fix

(02:50) Why positioning should start with the customer

(03:05) Why more leads may not solve growth

(03:45) How companies lose sight of customer reality

(04:07) How to find the real problem

(04:55) Why marketing is not always the fix

(05:18) Why marketers should question the assignment

Straight to Voicemail is for CMOs, CEOs, and Heads of Marketing in B2B tech who want insights from the people who've been there. Each episode centers on one big question answered like a voicemail you'll want to play again.

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