Most marketers think they have a channel problem, a messaging problem, or a pipeline problem. According to David Schnepp, they usually have something more fundamental: a market understanding problem.
“The number one thing marketers need to do to connect to the market is know the market.” - David Schnepp
It sounds obvious. That may be exactly why so many teams skip it.
Knowing the Market Isn’t a Line Item
Schnepp, a B2B SaaS marketing leader and VP of Marketing at Virdee, argues that “knowing your market” isn’t a box you check during onboarding.
It’s a continuous practice.
Marketing teams often prioritize hiring specialists; PPC experts, SEO managers, growth tacticians, without asking a deeper question: Do we actually understand the industry we serve?
That gap doesn’t just affect marketing. It shows up in product decisions, sales conversations, customer success, and leadership choices. When assumptions go unchallenged, teams end up optimizing for a market that no longer exists.
“You have to become a nerd,” Schnepp says.
An absolute nerd about your industry, your buyers, and your users.
Expertise Starts With Curiosity
True market understanding doesn’t come from a single report or survey. It comes from repeated exposure.
Schnepp describes visiting hotels simply to observe how things work. Staying curious about how guests interact with systems. Paying attention to how check-in experiences differ between boutique hotels and large brands.
The point isn’t perfection. It’s proximity.
Markets evolve. Buyer expectations shift. Assumptions that were true four years ago may quietly break while teams stay busy executing yesterday’s strategy.
That’s why Schnepp believes leaders must intentionally carve out time to step back and re-learn the industry again and again.
The Leadership Mandate
This kind of learning can’t be optional or personal-only. It has to be cultural.
Schnepp is clear that market understanding must start at the top. If leadership doesn’t protect time for learning, curiosity gets squeezed out by urgency.
When organizations run at full utilization, learning feels like a luxury. In reality, it’s an investment.
Products improve. Marketing sharpens. Customer conversations become more natural. Teams stop guessing.
“If you don’t understand the market,” Schnepp warns, “you may not fail immediately. But others will pass you.”
Why Short-Term Pressure Breaks Long-Term Strategy
One of the most damaging dynamics Schnepp sees is the expectation that new marketing leaders deliver results immediately.
Thirty-day turnarounds. Sixty-day transformations. Ninety-day miracles.
Without time to understand the nuances of the business and the market, leaders are forced to guess. They rely on what worked somewhere else, in a different industry, with different buyers.
That’s why so many marketing leaders cycle in and out. Not because they lack skill, but because they’re asked to perform without context.
Learning Happens Everywhere
Market learning doesn’t only happen through formal research.
Schnepp studies kiosks at airports, coffee ordering flows, and restaurant policies. He notices when experiences work and when they fail.
Case in point, one of his favorite sports bars recently implemented a new rule where every area of the restaurant has to have the sound on for a football game… or not at all. For 15 years, Schnepp and fellow University of Michigan alumni had met at this bar to watch football games, with a small outdoor area reserved for them, with the sound on. They were the only patrons there early on a Saturday morning, and the bar staff couldn’t explain the justification for the new rule. As a result, the group left the bar and will find a new location from now on. The restaurant lost out on loyal customers due to a cut-and-paste policy.
For Schnepp, those moments are lessons.
“What not to do” can be as powerful as best practices.
Conferences, Contrarian Ideas, and Signals
Schnepp values trade shows not just for sessions, but for observing patterns.
What are vendors selling?
What ideas are gaining traction?
What tactics feel new or newly relevant?
One example that stood out: modern direct mail.
Not flyers. Thoughtful, industry-relevant packages tied to account-based marketing. Physical experiences designed to break through digital fatigue.
Whether or not every idea works, the signal matters. Markets speak through behavior.
Learning Is a Team Sport
A leader’s job isn’t to be the smartest person in the room.
Schnepp believes leaders should synthesize insights, share what they learn, and empower specialists to deepen their expertise.
That requires trust, time, and consistency. Saying “learning matters” without giving people space to do it creates friction instead of growth.
Culture isn’t what you say. It’s what you make possible.
A Career Built on Curiosity
From growing up between Austria and the U.S. to working across industries and continents, Schnepp credits curiosity for shaping his leadership style.
Early in his career, he admits, he lacked emotional intelligence. He was direct, confident, and often wrong about how his ideas landed.
That changed when he learned to listen more, observe more, and question his own assumptions.
Leadership, like market understanding, is learned not inherited.
The Core Lesson
Marketing doesn’t start with campaigns.
It starts with care.
Care enough to watch.
Care enough to ask.
Care enough to admit what you don’t know.
When marketers stop being students of their market, they don’t just lose relevance, they lose direction.
And as Schnepp reminds us, the market is always teaching.
You just have to be paying attention.
Key Takeaways for Marketing Leaders
Market knowledge is not a phase. It’s a habit.
Assumptions expire faster than strategies.
Learning must be modeled and protected by leadership.
Short-term pressure creates long-term blind spots.
The world is a classroom… if you’re curious enough to notice.
Final Thought
You don’t connect to the market by speaking louder.
You connect by listening longer.
And the marketers who win won’t be the loudest, they’ll be the most curious.
 | A guest post by
|