Customer, offer and choice give marketing activity a purpose.
A strategy explains which customers the business will serve, why the offer fits and which work supports that choice. This gives the team a reason to approve, change or stop a marketing activity.
Start with the offer and the customer’s decision. Then choose a few actions your team can deliver, check and maintain.
- Choose the people you can serve well.
- Explain the problem your offer solves.
- Use proof you can support.
- Name the next action and review date.
Separate the decision from the activity.
Give the plan a reason to exist.
A channel list might say you will publish posts, send emails and run ads. It does not explain who the work serves or why that person should care.
Seth Godin distinguishes goals, strategy and tactics by their roles in creating change. Use that distinction to ask what each proposed action is meant to help achieve.
The SBA’s marketing guidance connects a target market, competitive advantage, sales plan, actions and budget. These headings can become a short working brief.
- Goal: the business change you seek.
- Strategy: the choices that make that change plausible.
- Actions: the work that puts those choices into practice.
A plan with a clear line of reasoning.
Customer
Who needs this offer, and in what situation?
Choice
Why is it a useful fit compared with other options?
Action
What helps that person take the next step?
A buying situation is more useful than a broad audience label.
Describe the buying situation.
“Small businesses” is broad. A clearer starting point might be owner-led service firms whose website no longer explains the work they want to sell.
That description gives you a situation to investigate. It does not prove how many people need help or how much they will spend.
“Stake out the smallest market you can imagine.”
Godin’s minimum viable audience idea encourages focus on a group you can serve well. Your own choice still needs evidence from conversations and real business constraints.
Check the assumption with real questions.
Look at recent inquiries, sales conversations and support questions. Ask customers what they were trying to decide and which details made that choice harder.
- What changed before they looked for help?
- Which options did they compare?
- What did they need to know before contacting you?
Audience reports and search questions can suggest patterns to investigate. They are clues, rather than a complete picture of a buyer or proof of purchase intent.
Make the promise easy to understand.
Explain the work and its boundaries.
Describe what the customer receives, what they need to provide and what happens next. A clear limit can make the offer easier to assess.
Use only proof you can support. A process example explains how you work; it should not be presented as a measured customer outcome.
Google’s people-first content guidance asks whether content helps its intended audience. Apply that question to the page explaining your offer, not just future blog posts.
- State the problem and useful outcome.
- Explain the scope and responsibilities.
- Show relevant, cleared evidence.
- Give a clear next step.
Keep the promise consistent after contact.
The first response should match the offer on the page. If the owner must explain a different service each time, review the message before adding promotion.
A fictional repair firm chooses one useful path.
Imagine Birch Repair, a fictional service business taking on planned maintenance work. Its website still focuses on emergency call-outs, so new inquiries often expect urgent appointments.
The owner first clarifies the maintenance offer and which customers it fits. The team updates the service page, including timing, scope and how to request a discussion.
Choose actions that support the same decision.
Birch creates a short preparation checklist and gives staff a consistent explanation. It waits to add a new channel until the existing handoff is clear.
A strategy expressed in daily work.
Promise
Help customers plan maintenance with clear expectations.
Page
Explain the scope, timing and first conversation.
Handoff
Ask the right questions and confirm the next step.
The team can now review a specific question: are people understanding the offer? That is more useful than judging success by how many posts they published.
Use the review to test the offer and handoff.
Choose measures that match the question.
A page view shows that a page loaded. An inquiry records contact. Neither alone tells you whether the person fits the service or whether the sale was profitable.
Google’s Analytics event documentation explains the recording of interactions. Define the relevant action before using event totals to assess your strategy.
- Ask whether readers understand the offer.
- Review relevant inquiries and their next steps.
- Record reasons a project does not fit.
- Check the time and cost of delivering the plan.
Review the assumption, not only the channel.
If the work is completed but the offer stays unclear, posting more may not address the problem. Revisit the audience, promise or handoff before widening the plan.
Keep a review date and a short decision note. Retain what is useful, improve what is weak and stop work that no longer serves the agreed goal.
Your takeaway is a brief that joins customer, offer, proof, action and review. Use it to assess new ideas before they become another standing commitment.
Frequently asked questions.
We already have a posting calendar. What strategy could still be missing?
The calendar records activity. It may leave out whom the work serves, which customer decision matters and why the offer fits. Agree those choices before expanding the schedule.
Our team can maintain only one channel. How should we choose it?
Choose a channel that fits the customer’s decision and the team’s capacity. Explain its job and how you will review it; a larger channel list does not resolve an unclear offer.
The planned work is finished, but inquiries still ask for the wrong service. What next?
Review the audience and offer explanation before adding promotion. The work may be reaching people while setting the wrong expectation, so more distribution could repeat the same confusion.
Glossary.
- Audience
- The group of people whose situation your offer is designed to serve.
- Tactic
- A specific action used to put a strategy into practice.
- Proof
- Evidence that supports a claim about the offer or the work.
- Marketing strategy
- The choices connecting a business goal, intended customers and a reason to choose the offer.
- Marketing plan
- The actions, responsibilities, timing and budget used to put a marketing strategy into practice.
Sources and method.
These sources support the methods and definitions used here. The examples and planning models are original illustrations, not client results.
About Jake Tripp.
Jake Tripp is the owner of Still Matter. He helps businesses connect brand strategy, identity, websites, content and practical marketing systems.
He works on his own brands and client projects. His focus is clearer decisions and work that is easier to manage.
Here, he writes about useful websites and content your team can maintain.
Learn more about the author