Fun, Fluff & Fundamentals: How to Balance Marketing That Pays vs. Marketing That Plays

There’s a lot of energy in tech marketing right now.

New tools, new trends, new channels. Everyone’s chasing the next viral moment, experimenting with podcast sponsorships, shipping out branded socks, and jumping on LinkedIn audio or short-form video - because it’s fun. And marketing should be fun.

But our years of expertise in Technology and IT marketing has taught us one thing: fun doesn’t always equal effectiveness.

As we start a new financial year, there’s a question every marketing leader and business owner should be asking: Are we investing in what actually drives sustainable growth - or just chasing activity that looks good but leads nowhere?

Tech and IT marketing is the balancing act between creativity and commercial outcomes. Between being seen, and being sold. Here’s how to find that balance. 

The Unspoken Truth: Too Much Fun Marketing Is Entertaining, Not Effective.

There’s a lot of marketing out there that looks great but does very little. It gets engagement, it gets applause, but when you peel back the layers and ask, “Did it move a deal forward?” or “Did we generate qualified interest?” - the answer is often silence.

In tech, it’s especially common. Teams are full of smart, creative people who love to experiment. But in the absence of a clear strategy or system, those ideas turn into:

• Campaigns built around a visual concept, not a commercial objective

• Swag boxes that get a smile but no follow-up

• Social posts with thousands of views and zero leads

• Podcasts that sound slick but have no defined listener journey

• Webinars that feel like a win because people showed up, but not the right people, and with no next steps

We get it. These things are fun. They create motion. But motion isn’t momentum, and it’s definitely not pipeline.

Because they’re fun to work on, these kinds of campaigns often eat up disproportionate time and energy from the team. When the campaign is over and the dust settles, you’re left with the same challenge you started with: no consistent system for generating qualified leads, nurturing interest, or supporting sales.

That’s when marketing starts to feel reactive. Busy, but not effective.

The risk? You burn out your team, waste budget, and start to doubt marketing entirely - when the real problem was never creativity, but the lack of foundation behind it.

So What Marketing Activity Actually Drives Growth?

Since working with fast-growing tech companies and MSPs across Australia and New Zealand, we know it’s not about having the coolest campaign. It’s about having the right foundations.

We group these into five core areas that fuel sustainable growth:

1. Lead Generation & Demand Creation

It’s not enough to generate awareness. You need a repeatable way to bring in high-fit prospects - through outbound, inbound, or a blend of both.

2. Digital & Brand Presence

Your website, messaging, and online visibility should work for you. They should qualify leads, build trust, and reinforce why you’re the right choice.

3. Content Marketing

Great content isn’t just filler. It shapes buying decisions, answers objections, and positions you as an expert when it’s tied to your audience’s real questions and needs.

4. Email & Lead Nurturing

If you’re not staying front of mind, you’re getting forgotten. Automated but thoughtful nurture sequences can bridge the gap between first touch and closed deal (and no, email isn’t dead).

5. Sales & Marketing Alignment

The handoff matters. Your best campaigns won’t deliver if leads go cold after they land in the CRM. Tighten the loop between marketing and sales, and magic happens.

When these five areas are working together, your marketing engine becomes more than the sum of its parts. You can still try bold ideas - but you’ll know how to measure them, follow them up, and use them to move real deals forward.

Enter: The Fun Bucket

We’re not here to kill fun. We’re just saying it needs to be intentional. 

At TechTent, we refer to it as your “Fun Bucket” - the portion of your marketing efforts (and yes, budget) reserved for creative risks, team morale boosters, and bold branding moves.

These are the things that make marketing energising. That help your brand stand out. That your team loves to work on. The key is, they only work if the fundamentals are in place. Otherwise, it’s just noise.

The best marketing teams don’t avoid fun, they earn it.They build systems that deliver leads, convert customers, and support sales.Then, they carve out space to play and try something bold and unexpected. 

So ask yourself:

• Is your “fun bucket” lifting your brand, or replacing real strategy?

• Do you have the fundamentals in place to support your biggest ideas?

• Is this the year you build a system that works?

  
  

If the answer’s no (or not yet), we’d love to help.

We’ve built a quick self-assessment tool to help you understand how your marketing stacks up across those five fundamental pillars.

It takes just a few minutes and gives you tailored insight into what’s working, what’s missing, and where to focus next.

Take the TechTent Marketing Maturity Quiz

It’s not a vanity score. It’s a practical checkpoint - especially if you’re serious about making FY25 your most strategic year yet.