Welcome to Marketing Focused
Inspiration, innovation, and insights for growth-minded digital marketers.
Automate the Ordinary. Master the Sacred.
Let’s be real —
AI is here. It’s not slowing down.
Marketing is evolving faster than most teams can keep up.
And in 2025, digital leaders are under more pressure than ever to perform.
But here’s the truth:
AI can automate the ordinary. Mastery is still human.
The gap is widening —
Between marketers who push buttons and those who build systems.
Between surface-level content and strategic depth.
Between noise and clarity.
This newsletter exists for those of us trying to stay on the right side of that gap.
Who I Am
I’m Justin Cruz — Director of Digital Marketing at a fast-moving SaaS company undergoing a massive transformation.
When I joined, the model was breaking.
No playbook. No roadmap.
Just the pressure to rebuild, reimagine, and relaunch.
We redesigned our website from scratch.
We built a freemium growth engine.
We launched AI tools from the ground up.
We went from legacy content to product-led SaaS — fast.
It was chaotic. It was messy. It was real.
I had to get more focused, more strategic, and more creative than ever before.
Now I’m distilling those lessons — the frameworks, workflows, and mindset shifts — to help other marketers do the same.
What You’ll Get
Every week in Marketing Focused, you’ll get real signal in a world full of noise:
Frameworks you can apply
Reflections that sharpen focus
Systems that scale what works
Insights on AI, demand gen, and what actually drives growth
This isn’t hype. This is strategy with soul.
Who This Is For
Marketing leaders who want to scale without burning out
Founders and operators building lean growth engines
Creatives and strategists sharpening their edge in the AI era
If you’re tired of the hacks, trends, and template spam —
And you’re ready to lead with clarity,
You’re in the right place.