Adtech, It’s Time to Market Like You Mean It

Every year, adtech tells brands how to market better. On stages and podcasts, in blogs and videos—adtech leaders can often be heard demanding more from brand marketers: “be more authentic,” “invest in brand,” “use quality data,” “you need AI!” And yet, when you look at the marketing for most adtech companies, the disconnect is impossible to miss. 

The industry calls itself innovative. The marketing doesn’t show it.  

Adtech is full of smart people solving genuinely hard problems - identity, measurement, automation, AI-led optimization. But when it comes to their own marketing, the gaps are flaring:

• No team to lead strategy or execution

• Lack of table-stakes marketing activities (e.g., LinkedIn communications)

• Inconsistent messaging, confusing brand narrative and undifferentiated positioning

• Tactics without a plan

• Lack of KPIs or data

With the conference circuit on pause and 2026 around the corner, it’s a good time for adtech companies to put their marketing in the mirror, and ask themselves how they can apply the advice they are doling out to better market themselves.

The companies who win next year won’t be the ones with the most features or the loudest booths—they’ll be the ones practicing what they preach. 

Here’s the reality: your clients hold you to the same standard you hold them. If you expect brands to trust your expertise, your own brand needs to reflect it—consistently, clearly, and strategically. 

In 2026, marketing cannot be viewed as a nice-to-have. It’s your competitive edge. 

The Adtech Marketing Team of the Future: The Fractional Marketing Team

Just like the technology ecosystem is changing, so is the adtech marketing team. While having a fully staffed marketing team on your payroll may sound optimal, it’s no longer a requirement for success. Companies can receive the same level of strategic support plus executional prowess from a part-time team that’s fully integrated into your process and systems, and accountable to achieving your goals.

The new model? The fractional marketing team.

With a fractional marketing leader at the helm, the fractional marketing team includes all of the strategic planning plus executional resources you need to scale content, campaigns, and results without the overhead. 

What does this get you?

• Refreshed messaging, positioning and branding

• Steady LinkedIn posting that drives awareness and thought leadership (your buyers are looking at you, believe that)

• An executive brand strategy that positions your leadership team as educators and innovators

• Press coverage that tells your story on powerful stages

• Capitalizing on events opportunities— ensuring that your presence builds your brand and fuels your funnel

• ...and more. 

The risk? None. The fractional marketing leader works with the client’s leadership team to create a plan, and manages the team to execute it—just like a full-time resource would, but at a fraction of the cost, and with the ability to scale up or down on the engagement depending on the business dynamics (no hard feelings). 

So as you head into 2026 planning, ask yourself:

• Is our brand positioning sharp and differentiated in the space? Or do we sound like every other “innovative platform”?

• Do we have a plan to market our product roadmap, or are we throwing out disjointed messaging with every feature release?

• Are our campaigns built for pipeline and business growth?

• Are we using our budget on the right activities?

• Do we have the right marketing leadership and resources in place to create and deliver a plan instead of hoping whatever resources we have will just “figure it out?”

For budget-driven companies, the last question is often the most important. If you don’t have marketing leadership in place plus resources to deliver your plan, you’re likely underinvesting in the very thing that fuels scale. 

It’s time to treat marketing like the business driver that it is

For adtech companies, as you build your plan for the upcoming year, think of marketing not as a cost center, but as a growth engine. Four areas deserve immediate attention:

1. Your Marketing Resources

If you are not regularly releasing strategic messages across channels, it’s highly likely that you have a resource or a process gap that needs to be addressed with urgency. Consider the fractional marketing team model as the right balance of leadership + executional support to actually get stuff done, and get it done well.

2. Strategy & Positioning 

This is non-negotiable. If your value-prop is muddled, your messaging flat, your go-to-market unfocused— neither a sales contest nor award entries will save you. Fractional leadership can bring clarity fast: refining your positioning, audience targeting, GTM strategy and brand architecture. 

3. Integrated Execution

Attending industry events is not a marketing strategy. Adtech companies should view their marketing in the same way their clients do: as a group of channels that integrate together to push a message and drive results. Content, demand, creative, paid, organic, measurement - all aligned under one story. 

4. Metrics & Accountability 

If you’re advising clients to be “data-driven,” start with yourself. Track brand and growth metrics and align budgets to those outcomes. Brand without measurement is fluff. Measurement without brand is noise. 

Your 2026 Marketing Checklist 

• Marketing support: Do we have the resources required to build and run the strategy?

• A clear brand POV: What do we stand for? How are we different?

• Integrated plan: One roadmap that links brand, content, paid, demand, measurement - and assigns ownership. 

• A results-led mindset: Can we articulate how marketing drives revenue, pipeline, and retention - not just impressions or clicks?

• Flexibility: Can we scale efforts up or down based on performance and priorities? 

Less talking. More marketing. 

Your brand and agency clients are jaded and overwhelmed. It’s time to give them a story they can stand behind: one that communicates value and delivers results. 

Let 2026 be the year you stop telling others how to market, and start showing them. Show them that you also take a 360 degree approach to marketing, that you also care about your brand, that you are also KPI-driven. Own the marketing story you want your clients to live. If you don’t invest in your own marketing, you’ll get left behind while your competitors take your place. 

If you’re ready to build a brand that reflects your ambition, a marketing engine that supports your goals, and a story that actually cuts through, Ljs Advisory is ready when you are. Our fractional marketing team model in partnership with leading B2B PR agency, Evergreen & Oak, delivers on all cylinders, so adtech leaders can focus on what matters most: whether that’s courting investors, steering towards a major financial event, or simply driving growth. 

Think and act like a big marketer without breaking the bank. We can help.

Reach out to lauren@ljsadvisory.com for more information on the fractional marketing team model and how you can do less talking and more marketing in 2026.