This document outlines activities for a marketing strategy workshop, including setting learning goals for target audiences, uncovering the organization's story, and understanding current marketing efforts. The workshop is meant to help teams align around priorities and discover, test, and iterate towards desired outcomes. Activities include identifying primary, secondary, and tertiary audiences; fleshing out audience profiles; exploring the organization's brand narrative; taking inventory of current marketing channels; and aligning tactics with business needs and metrics of success. The overall goal is for teams to gain clarity and agree on a way forward for their marketing strategy.

1. Marketing
Strategy
Workshop

2. This packet is intended to provide the foundation for creating a marketing strategy. But
beyond that, its goal is to spark open conversations between team members to reach a
shared understanding about where the organization is headed.
Broadly, the packet is divided into three activities:
1. Setting learning goals for target audiences
2. Uncovering the story the organization wants to tell
3. Understanding current marketing efforts
At the end, we’ll tie these activities together by setting priorities for your team.
In a resource-tight environments, understanding where to spend your time is paramount.
These activities are designed with that in mind, helping your team discover, test, learn, and
iterate towards desired outcomes.
Clarity comes from figuring out a way forward together, and in that spirit, let’s get started.
Introduction

4. Audience Data
To deliver the right message to the right audience,
it’s helpful to understand who you’re talking to before
investing resources into creating content.
Your audience could be:
• People who you want to start a crowdfunding
campaign
• Friends and family who are supporting a campaign
• Partners who can share and promote Pride Pocket
If you haven’t segmented your audience yet, let’s give
names to the groups of people you want to reach.
Each group should comprise of people who have
similar needs, goals, and behaviors. They may
even share similar life circumstances. Although you
may not know all the groups in advance, name the
ones you know now and use data to validate new
audiences later.
Directions:
1. List as many audience groups as you can think of.
Don’t worry about prioritizing them yet. If you are
using small sticky notes, write down the name one
group per note. Give a short description if you’re
stuck on choosing a name.
2. Using the diagram, categorize your groups into
primary, secondary, and tertiary audiences.
Although audience groups might change in priority
in the future, focus on the groups that are most
important to the organization right now.
3. Optional: Gather any data you have on your
audience segments. They’ll come in handy for the
next exercise.

5. Audience Data
PRIMARY SECONDARY TERTIARY

6. Audience Data
It’s hard to decide on the right strategy, much less test
which tactics are effective, without first understanding
what we need to learn.
The following activity helps get all team members on
the same page and externalize what they know. Let’s
take the time to write down your biggest questions,
worries, assumptions, and findings.
Directions:
1. On the table below, choose an audience that’s
important to the organization. Be as specific as
you can (i.e. LGBTQ-identifying partners who are
researching to conceive a child).
2. Fill out the row individually or with another
teammate. Start a new row for a new question.
3. After the table is filled, circle the make-or-break
assumptions for each audience. For example: value
proposition X appeals to Audience Y. Or: Audience
Y who are in scenario B are more likely to need
information on topic Z.
4. Rank your make-or-break assumptions across all
audiences you’ve completed a table for. What are
the most critical ones to validate?
5. Flesh out your audience profile. Sketch out what
he/she looks like and give your target a name. Fill
in the details. What aspects of the audience do you
still need to learn about?

7. Audience Data
We wonder... We care because... We assume... We know...
Audience:

8. Audience Data
Audience:
Name + Sketch Goals & Behaviors
Needs & Pain PointsScenarios
Goals & Behaviors
What do members of this audience want to
accomplish?
How do they currently do this?
Needs & Pain Points
What do they need to see, hear, or feel?
What obstacles are they facing right now?
What’s frustrating about their current experience?
Scenarios
What situations are they in?
Why are they looking for another way to
accomplish their goals?
How are their life constraints preventing them
from completing their tasks?

10. Brand Narrative
What is a story worth telling? If you don’t tell a compelling story about who you are, what
you do, and why you do it, someone else will tell it for you. A story creates a shared
emotional experience that bonds people together. I’m a fan of Pixar’s simple framework for
creating a compelling story.
Pixar’s framework describes change, and change is necessary for bringing people along
on an adventure worth going. But imagine someone who haven’t heard of Pride Pocket. It’s
not surprising if they naturally resist change. So instead of telling them that you are going
to change their lives, you need to get them on your side and share your vision of future
possibiltiies. We can do that with stories.
A good story tells the audience where you’re now, where you’ve been, and where you hope
to go in the future. It bridges the present, past, and future to let them know your deeper
motivations, creating an authentic story. People need to trust you before they leave the
comfort zone and follow you!
To connect your past, present, and future, we can visualize a typical story arc for a
character in a novel or movie, for example.
Once upon a time there was ______.
Everyday, ______. Then one day, ______.
Because of that, ______. Because of that,
______. Until finally, ______.

11. Brand Narrative
• Exposition: You’re introduced to at least one character with a goal, shared motivation,
and conflict (internal & external). You’ve set the scene with just enough backstory to
understand how that character ended up in a particular place at a particular moment in
time. An incident then forces the character to spring into action.
• Rising Action: You witness the character(s) struggle and triumph against increasing
odds, risks, and stakes. It contains the Crisis (darkness before the dawn) and the Climax
(character is rescued or rescues him/herself). When you think the situation cannot get
any worse, it does. Then the character figures out how to resolve the core conflict.
• Resolution: Through all the setbacks and triumph, the character learns something and
he/she returns home changed. Loose ends are tied up in a short period of time.
Obstacles, tensions,
conflicts, dangers
Inciting incident
Crisis
Climax
Exposition Rising Action Resolution

12. Brand Narrative
Now it’s your turn. What’s Pride Pocket’s story? On the next page, experiment with the
stories you might want to tell. Even better, work with your team to uncover different stories
about the organization that each person is drawn to.
Tips:
• Make the audience members the hero. It’s tempting to talk about cool features or brag
about the hard work that went into it. Instead, focus on possibilities of how their life
could be different, for the better. Why would they care? What triggers them?
• Start at the climax. Traditional storytelling follow from problem to solution, but if people
are naturally resistant to change, they might not be receptive to your data or persuasion.
Describe how you’re re-thinking “life-before-Pride-Pocket” and how the world might
look after you re-imagined it. What actions could the person take once they’re fully
bought into the vision?
• Work backwards from the climax. To show you understand the obstacles and dilemmas
your audience is facing, zoom in on specific examples. Help the audience feel them
before showing how you’re going to solve the dilemma or remove the obstacle.

13. Brand Narrative

14. Brand Narrative
With respect to marketing, though, we are all swimming in stories – in the organization, in
social media, on the internet. The business challenge is, how do you make sense of it all,
much less get everyone aligned around a shared common story? That’s where a narrative
comes in.
Narrative, in contrast to a story, is much bigger; it’s a way of looking at the world. If stories
are each like a pearl, then narrative is the pearl necklace. A narrative frames a story and
connects the dots for people to understand a story’s significance. It gives meaning to a
broader vision of what’s possible and why people should head in that direction.
Sharing stories floating within an organization is a good start, but it’s not enough. Stories
are more effective as a marketing tool when they’re tied to a narrative frame. And that’s
what we are here to figure out next.

15. Brand Narrative
Emotional Journey
Humanize the problem you’re
solving by describing your
audience and their needs in a way
that everyone wants to root for
them.
• Are there conflicting desires or
a dilemma that’s contributing to
tensions in their life?
• Are there parts of people’s
experiences that are still
unreconciled?
• What experiences are giving
people the superhuman drive to
pursue this challenge?
Context for Change
Help people move from an old
story about the way things are to a
new story of how things could be.
• What has changed in the world
or industry that makes Pride
Pocket necessary and/or
relevant?
• What’s making the challenge
hard to solve? Why is that?
• What’s at stake if your team
doesn’t solve the challenge?
Evidence of Truth
Raise the stakes with data that
supports your hypotheses about
the problem space.
• What data and anecdotes gave
you the confidence to pursue
this idea?
• What struggles gave you the
wisdom and perspective to
come up with something
different or better?
A good narrative is an overarching concept that validates why all the
stories exist in the first place. It sets the scene for what’s changing in
the world, challenges preconceived ideas and simple dichotomies, and
provides proof that your vision of a better future is possible.
With your team, write down answers to the following questions. Compare
answers to see if a pattern emerges.

16. Brand Narrative
Once you’ve established why you are talking about Pride Pocket, help
the audience see where the organization headed. What would it feel like
to go on an adventure with you? Share what’s in it for them and show
how committed you are in solving their challenges. If you need help, be
clear about what you need, why you need it at this point in time, and
specific actions people can take (easily).
Like above, write down your answers and compare them with your team.
Personalize the Journey
Show how much you’re personally
invested in seeing Pride Pocket
through its challenges.
• What is the team doing behind
the scenes?
• What does “Built by queers. For
queers.” feel and sound like in
real life?
• What have you learned from
your experiences that you could
teach others?
Invite Others In
Place the opportunity in front of
people who want to help. Invite
them to be part of your mission.
• What do you want someone to
do after experiencing the story?
• Why should someone get
on board and be part of the
mission?
• What would someone get out of
participating?
Manage Expectations
Be truthful about where Pride
Pocket is. Maybe it’s not “there”
yet but reveal what’s ahead.
• What are some unanswered
questions and compelling
challenges ahead?
• How do you plan to uncover the
answer and what’s worthy of
pursuit?

17. Now with a working version of a brand narrative,
let’s plan how people will experience Pride Pocket’s
stories.
Take a look at the diagram below. On the left side is
marketing that progressively draws people toward the
product. On the right side is what people experience
after they start interacting with Pride Pocket.
The dotted lines represent the time progression
leading to Zero Hour, where “Zero Hour” is the
moment people land on the Pride Pocket platform.
Dotted lines also segment the time once people start
using the platform.
Brand Narrative
Directions:
1. Map answers about your narrative frame to
the timescale that makes sense right now. I
recommend using small sticky notes. You may
have multiple answers for a question so feel free to
place them on more than one timescale.
2. Using another color of sticky notes, write down
how you want people to feel at each timescale.
What feelings do you want to reinforce or amplify
in that moment?
3. Compare feelings at each timescale with your
placement of sticky notes from Step 1. Do they
match? If not, move them around!
4. For each answer from Step 1, what story ideas
could support your brand narrative? Write it down
on another color of sticky note and put it next to
your answer.
5. Optional: Prioritize your ideas. Which ones make
sense to work on right now? How much effort do
you need to invest?

18. 1st
minute
1st
hour
1st
day
1st
month
1st
year
“First Contact” Zero Hour Product Experience
Brand Narrative
Diagram adapted from Matt Jones

20. Marketing Channels
How have you been engaging with your audience?
How do people currently find out about Pride Pocket?
What actions are valuable to the business and to the
audience member?
Let’s take a moment to gather all the ways people are
interacting with Pride Pocket right now. This activity
is designed to help you gain a broad outlook on your
marketing ecosystem so you can decide on cost-
effective ways to spend time with your audience.
How do we do that? By testing which channels help
Pride Pocket get noticed and draw people in.
Directions:
1. Take a look at the bulls-eye diagram below if you
need to reference all the ways people might be
coming in contact with Pride Pocket.
2. On the blank bulls-eye diagram, write down current
channels you are using to interact with your target
audience. You don’t need to fill out all the empty
slots.
3. Fill out the table for each channel you wrote down.
If you are investing in a lot of channels, choose the
ones that seem to be performing well. Record any
data you are collecting for the channel. Write down
actions that are currently providing value to the
business (i.e. creating an account). List actions that
the target audience is taking to fulfill a need.
4. Compare the list of actions on the business side
and the audience side. Which ones overlap? Is
there a lot of discrepancy between the two?

21. Marketing Channels
Pride Pocket
Social Platforms
Other Mediums
Owned Properties
Website
Blog
Email newsletter
Printed brand materials
Earned Media
Facebook, Instagram, etc.
Forums (i.e. Reddit)
Other sites (cross-posting, PR)
SEO/SEM
Paid Media
Display ads
Promoted/sponsored content
Paid influencers/brand ambassadors
Events

22. Marketing Channels
Finding
Gathering
Offering
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.9.
6.8.
7.
Finding
How do the target audience find out about Pride
Pocket? These are the less-likely, long-shot ways
that people are using to find and contact the
organization.
Gathering
Where do the target audience congregate
online? Offline? What would they like to do
there? These are other possible ways your
audience are interacting with Pride Pocket.
Offering
What are your main channels for delivering on
the value proposition? What’s in it for the target
audience when they land on Pride Pocket’s
website, newsletter, etc.? These should be your
highest-potential channels.

23. Marketing Channels
Channel Objective Measurement
Valuable actions for the business Valuable actions for the audience member

25. Organizational Priorities
Now that we’ve took inventory of what you know
about your audience, started creating your brand
narrative, and picked a few marketing channels to
test, let’s come up for air. It’s time to see the forest
and understand how your marketing efforts connect
with business priorities.
Being aligned on company priorities means everyone
is running to the same finish line. This activity helps
you see whether your objectives are connected to
the critical assumptions that need to be tested and
learnings that you need to pursue in the short term.
Directions:
1. For each column, start by aligning the team around
a business need. This is a high-level goal that the
company is looking to achieve within 3-6 months.
2. Generate ideas around tactics and programs that
would help you achieve that goal. Include current
tactics/programs that are contributing to the
business need.
3. Ask yourself how each tactic or program would
benefit the audience. Activity 1 may have revealed
multiple audience segments so be specific. If
you’ve done some audience research, use the data
to make a case for your plan.
4. Gather requirements and resources that you’ll
need to invest into a tactic/program. Consider the
time, people, technology, budget, etc. that will be
availble to your team.
5. Outline the indicators you will use to measure
progress towards your goal. What Key Performance
Indicators (KPIs) will your team aim for, and which
metrics best describe success?
6. Create additional columns for each business need.
When you’re done, prioritize the columns. Which
one will make an immediate impact that your team
can implement right now?

26. Theme Name Theme Name Theme Name Theme Name
Organizational Priorities
BUSINESS
NEED
TACTICS+
PROGRAMS
USERGOAL+
MOTIVATION
REQUIRED
RESOURCES
METRICSOF
SUCCESS

27. Next Steps
The intent of this workshop is to provide a framework to guide your marketing strategy, and
I hope it has accomplished that. Your team might have done enough work to start executing
on a plan or it might need follow-up conversations to gain more clarity. There are a few
tasks I left out here that you might tackle next:
• Creating a message architecture and key messages
• Defining brand personality or attributes
• Creating a voice and tone guide for your team
• Doing a competitive analysis to differentiate your messaging
• Mapping out your marketing & sales funnel
• Developing a content strategy and editorial plan
While the workshop ends here, you don’t have to stop. I’d encourage you to refer back to
the completed worksheets to guide your future planning as well as look back at all your
team have achieved.
If you have any questions about the workshop or need help on next steps, feel free to email
me at auyeung.csp@gmail.com.