Marketing Strategist

Marketing Strategist

Purpose

Full-stack marketing strategy covering funnel architecture, go-to-market planning, conversion copywriting, email sequences, landing page strategy, and growth modeling. Combines proven direct-response frameworks with modern SaaS and product-led growth tactics.

When to Use

• Designing a marketing funnel from scratch or restructuring an existing one
• Planning a product launch or go-to-market strategy
• Building email sequences (onboarding, nurture, sales, re-engagement)
• Developing a growth model with acquisition channels and conversion targets
• Creating a quarterly marketing plan with prioritized initiatives
• Evaluating marketing spend allocation across channels
• Crafting offer positioning and pricing strategy

Before You Start

1. Understand the business — Look for product briefs, AGENTS.md, or company context. What does the product do? Who is it for?
2. Identify the business model — SaaS, e-commerce, lead gen, marketplace, etc. This shapes every recommendation.
3. Current metrics — If available, get current traffic, conversion rates, CAC, LTV, churn, MRR
4. Competitive landscape — Who are the top 3 competitors? What channels do they use?
5. Budget and resources — What is the marketing budget? How many people on the team?
6. Timeline — What is the urgency? Launch in 2 weeks vs 6-month plan?

Core Frameworks

The Value Equation (Hormozi)

Every offer must maximize perceived value:

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Value = (Dream Outcome x Perceived Likelihood of Achievement) / (Time Delay x Effort & Sacrifice)

To increase value:

• Increase dream outcome — Make the end result more desirable
• Increase perceived likelihood — Add proof, guarantees, specificity
• Decrease time delay — Show faster results, quick wins
• Decrease effort — Make it easier, done-for-you, automated

Levels of Market Awareness (Schwartz)

Match your messaging to where your audience is:

Most B2B SaaS audiences are Level 2-3. Most consumer audiences are Level 1-2.

The Funnel Architecture

Every marketing system follows this skeleton:

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TRAFFIC → CAPTURE → NURTURE → CONVERT → DELIVER → RETAIN → EXPAND

Traffic: Where do qualified prospects come from?

• Organic: SEO, content, social, community
• Paid: Ads, sponsorships, partnerships
• Earned: PR, word-of-mouth, referrals

Capture: How do you get permission to follow up?

• Lead magnet, free tool, newsletter, free trial, freemium

Nurture: How do you build trust and demonstrate value?

• Email sequences, content, webinars, case studies, retargeting

Convert: What is the conversion mechanism?

• Self-serve checkout, sales call, demo, consultation

Deliver: How do you deliver the promised outcome?

• Onboarding, activation, customer success

Retain: How do you keep customers?

• Product value, community, ongoing communication

Expand: How do you grow revenue from existing customers?

• Upsells, cross-sells, referrals, annual plans

The GTM Engine

For any launch or channel, define:

1. ICP (Ideal Customer Profile) — Demographics, firmographics, psychographics, behaviors
2. Problem Stack — The 3-5 problems your ICP faces, ranked by pain intensity
3. Offer Stack — Core offer + bonuses + guarantee + urgency/scarcity
4. Channel Strategy — Where your ICP spends time and attention
5. Message-Market Match — Copy that speaks directly to the ICP's language and pain
6. Conversion Mechanism — The specific path from first touch to purchase
7. Unit Economics — CAC, LTV, payback period, break-even timeline

Email Sequence Frameworks

Onboarding Sequence (7-14 days):

1. Welcome + quick win (immediate value)
2. Setup/activation guide (reduce friction)
3. Feature highlight tied to their goal
4. Social proof / case study
5. Check-in + offer help
6. Advanced use case
7. Upgrade nudge or commitment ask

Nurture Sequence (for leads not ready to buy):

1. Deliver the lead magnet / promised value
2. Problem agitation — deepen the pain
3. Teaching email — share a framework
4. Case study — show someone like them succeeding
5. Objection handling — address the top concern
6. Soft CTA — invite to trial or demo
7. Direct CTA — clear offer with deadline

Re-engagement Sequence (for churned or dormant):

1. "We noticed you've been away" — what's new
2. Value reminder — what they're missing
3. Win-back offer — discount or extended trial
4. Final email — last chance, then reduce send frequency

The Kennedy Direct Response Principles

1. There must be an offer — Every piece of marketing must ask for something specific
2. There must be a reason to respond now — Urgency, scarcity, or deadline
3. There must be clear instructions — Tell them exactly what to do next
4. There must be tracking and measurement — If you can't measure it, don't run it
5. There must be follow-up — The money is in the follow-up, not the first touch

Growth Model Template

Note: MRR/revenue/CAC/LTV come from a billing source (Stripe/ChartMogul), not Humblytics — Humblytics returns revenue=0 unless a revenue connector is attached.

Build a simple growth model:

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Monthly visitors: [X]
  x Signup rate: [Y%]
  = New signups: [Z]
  x Activation rate: [A%]
  = Activated users: [B]
  x Conversion rate: [C%]
  = Paying customers: [D]
  x ARPU: [$E]
  = New MRR: [$F]
  + Expansion MRR: [$G]
  - Churned MRR: [$H]
  = Net New MRR: [$I]

Identify the single biggest lever — which metric, if improved by 20%, would have the largest impact on revenue?

Channel Selection Framework

For B2B SaaS (< $100/mo)

Primary: Content SEO, Product-led growth, Community Secondary: Paid search (branded + competitor), LinkedIn organic Tertiary: Partnerships, integrations marketplace, AppSumo (for launch)

For B2B SaaS ($100-500/mo)

Primary: Content SEO, Outbound email, LinkedIn Secondary: Paid search, Webinars, Partnerships Tertiary: Events, PR, ABM

For B2B SaaS ($500+/mo)

Primary: Outbound sales, ABM, Events Secondary: Content SEO, Partnerships, Webinars Tertiary: Paid search, LinkedIn ads

For E-commerce

Primary: Paid social (Meta, TikTok), Email marketing, SEO Secondary: Influencer, Affiliates, Google Shopping Tertiary: Content, Community, PR

Output Expectations

When asked for a marketing strategy, deliver:

1. Situation Analysis — Current state, metrics, competitive position
2. Strategic Recommendations — Prioritized list of 3-5 initiatives
3. Funnel Architecture — Specific funnel design with conversion targets
4. Channel Plan — Where to invest time and budget, with expected ROI
5. 90-Day Roadmap — Week-by-week execution plan
6. Metrics Dashboard — KPIs to track with targets
7. Quick Wins — 3 things to do this week for immediate impact

Related Skills

• cro-optimizer — Optimize the conversion funnel with data
• ad-expert — Execute paid advertising campaigns
• content-strategist — Build the content engine
• copywriting — Write the copy for landing pages, emails, and ads
• funnel-reporter — Track funnel performance and revenue metrics