marketing-strategy

What this skill does

# Marketing Strategy

## Workspace Context

Read bootstrap context before asking questions: `strategy/brand.md` for brand, audience, offer, channels, tools, constraints, and metrics; `about/me.md` for personal voice; `content/ideas.md` and `content/calendar.md` for content planning. Use legacy product-marketing context files only as fallback. Save generated drafts to `content/<platform>/drafts/YYYY-MM-DD_short-topic-slug.md`, and route durable learnings back to `strategy/brand.md`, `about/me.md`, or `content/ideas.md`.

## Operating Contract

This skill is self-contained for its frontmatter scope: use its local instructions, references, scripts, and assets as the playbook; ask only for missing task-specific inputs; hand off to adjacent skills instead of expanding scope; and return an actionable artifact, decision, plan, draft, or diagnostic.



Strategy and positioning layer for B2B SaaS — from product-market fit through competitive intelligence, sales enablement, and growth loops. For launch execution and channel strategy, see `go-to-market-strategy`.

---

## Product Strategy Stack

```
VISION      — Where are we going? (3–10 years)
STRATEGY    — How will we win? (1–3 years)
ROADMAP     — What are we building? (Quarters)
EXECUTION   — How are we building? (Sprints)
```

**Philosophy:** Start with the customer problem, not your solution. Make trade-offs explicit — strategy is choosing what NOT to do. Systems over tactics: growth loops compound; growth hacks don't.

---

## Product-Market Fit Spectrum

```
Level 0: Problem Fit    → Real problem worth solving
Level 1: Solution Fit   → Your solution addresses the problem
Level 2: PMF            → Customers pull the product from you
Level 3: Scale Fit      → Repeatable growth engine working
Level 4: Moat Fit       → Defensible competitive advantage established
```

**PMF validation signals:** 5+ ICP customers, below-median sales cycle, above-median LTV, <5% churn, NPS 9–10.

---

## Market Opportunity (TAM/SAM/SOM)

| Metric | What It Means | How to Calculate |
|--------|---------------|------------------|
| **TAM** | Everyone who could theoretically buy | Target customers × avg contract value |
| **SAM** | Those you can reach and serve | TAM × geographic/product constraints |
| **SOM** | Realistic near-term share | SAM × 1–5% penetration |

Validate top-down with bottom-up: (realistic customers × conversion rate × ACV). Gap >3x → revisit assumptions.

---

## ICP & Segmentation

**ICP Firmographics** (Series A sweet spot): 50–5,000 employees, SaaS/Tech/Professional Services, $5M–$500M revenue.

**Buyer Personas:**
- **Economic Buyer** (VP/Director): Cares about ROI, cost reduction → business outcomes + case studies
- **Technical Buyer** (Engineer): Cares about integration, security → architecture, uptime, SOC 2
- **Champion** (Manager): Cares about ease of use → UX, quick wins

**ICP Scoring** (HubSpot): A (perfect fit) → D (poor fit). Focus acquisition on A/B, disqualify D.

---

## Positioning (April Dunford Method)

1. **Competitive alternatives** — What would customers do without you? (competitors, spreadsheets, DIY, status quo)
2. **Unique attributes** — What do you have that alternatives don't?
3. **Value mapping** — `Attribute → Value → Outcome` (e.g., AI automation → eliminates manual entry → save 10 hrs/week)
4. **Best-fit customers** — Who values this most? Use win/loss data.
5. **Market category** — Head-to-head, niche ("CRM for agencies"), or new category
6. **Trend layer** — What macro trend makes now the right time to buy?

**Value proposition:** `[Product] helps [Target] [Achieve Goal] by [Unique Approach]`

**Positioning template:**
```
For [target customer]
Who [need/problem]
[Product] is a [category]
That [key benefit]
Unlike [competitors]
Our product [unique differentiator]
```

**Messaging hierarchy:** One-liner → 3–5 key benefits → feature/outcome pairs → proof points (logos, stats, case studies)

---

## Working Backwards (PR/FAQ)

Write an internal press release BEFORE building. If you can't write a compelling press release, you don't have a compelling product.

**Press Release structure (~1 page):**
1. Headline — product name + one-sentence customer benefit
2. Opening — who is the customer and what problem is solved
3. Problem paragraph — the current pain in detail
4. Solution paragraph — what the product does
5. Customer quote (fictional) — how it changes their life
6. Getting started + CTA

**FAQ (External + Internal):** External = questions real customers would ask. Internal = questions your skeptical colleagues would ask (the hard ones).

**Anti-patterns:** Writing the PR after building, solution-first thinking, vague customer definition ("everyone could use this"), skipping the hard internal FAQ, marketing hyperbole instead of specific measurable claims.

---

## Competitive Intelligence

**Tiers:** Direct competitors | Indirect/adjacent | Status quo (spreadsheets, DIY, do nothing)

**Intel sources:** Product trials, website monitoring, customer interviews, Gong/Chorus recordings, G2 reviews, competitor job postings, industry reports.

**Battlecard template (one per competitor):**
```
Competitor | Strengths | Weaknesses | Our advantages
When we win | When we lose
Talk tracks for top 3 objections
Proof points (case studies, review comparisons, win rate)
```
Update monthly. Distribute via Notion/Confluence to Sales, CS, Product.

**Win/Loss process:** Interview within 2 weeks of close. Track in HubSpot: reason, competitor, price factor, product gap. Share monthly insights report with product and sales.

**Competitive moat types:**

| Moat | Description | Examples |
|------|-------------|----------|
| **Network Effects** | Product improves as more users join | Slack, LinkedIn |
| **Switching Costs** | Painful to leave | Salesforce, Workday |
| **Data Advantages** | Proprietary data improves product | Google, Waze |
| **Scale Economies** | Cost advantages at scale | AWS, Stripe |
| **Brand** | Trust and recognition | Apple, Notion |

---

## Growth Loops & PLG

### Growth Loop Types

| Loop | Mechanism | Key Metric |
|------|-----------|------------|
| **Viral** | Users invite users | K-factor |
| **Content** | Users create discoverable content | Indexed pages |
| **Paid** | Revenue funds acquisition | CAC payback |
| **SEO** | Content ranks, drives traffic | Organic traffic |

### PLG Motion Types

| Motion | Best For | Key Lever |
|--------|----------|-----------|
| **Freemium** | Simple products, network effects | Free → paid conversion |
| **Free Trial** | Complex products | Trial conversion rate |
| **Reverse Trial** | High-value products | Premium feature discovery |
| **Usage-Based** | API/variable consumption | Usage expansion |

### North Star Metric

A good North Star measures value delivered, is a leading indicator of revenue, reflects product strategy, and is actionable by the product team. *Examples: Slack → DAU sending messages; Airbnb → Nights booked*

**AARRR Funnel:** Acquisition → Activation → Retention → Revenue → Referral. Fix activation before optimizing acquisition — don't fill a leaky bucket.

---

## Business Model Design

| Model | Pros | Cons |
|-------|------|------|
| **SaaS** | Predictable, high LTV | Long sales cycle |
| **Freemium** | Low CAC, viral | Free → paid conversion hard |
| **Usage-Based** | Scales with customer | Revenue unpredictability |
| **Marketplace** | Network effects | High volume needed |

**Unit economics:**
```
LTV = (Monthly Revenue × Gross Margin %) ÷ Monthly Churn Rate
Target: LTV > 3x CAC, CAC payback < 18 months
```

---

## Sales Enablement

**Core assets:** Sales deck (15 slides, visual-first) · One-pagers (product, competitive, case study, pricing) · Battlecards · Demo script (discover → show → Q&A → next step) · Email sequences · ROI calculator

**Enablement cadence:**
- Monthly: Competitive update call — product updates, battlecards, win/loss, best practices
- Quarterly: Half-day workshop — positioning refresh, ro