# Marketing

URL: /agents/marketing · Id: `team:marketing`

> The Marketing Team creates and harvests demand: the Brand story, launches, Content, Experiments, and the Metrics the whole Startup reads.

The Marketing Team creates and harvests demand: the [Brand](/business/nouns/brand) story, launches, [Content](/business/nouns/content), [Experiments](/business/nouns/experiment), and the [Metrics](/business/nouns/metric) the whole [Startup](/business/nouns/startup) reads. [Agents](/business/nouns/agent) fill its six seats from the first day.

## What it owns
- [Story](/business/nouns/story): the [Brand](/business/nouns/brand), positioning in the buyer’s words, and the [Pages](/business/nouns/page) and [Content](/business/nouns/content) that buyers and answer engines read.
- Demand: the [catalog](/workflows/plays) of demand [Plays](/business/nouns/play), [Campaigns](/business/nouns/campaign), [Ads](/business/nouns/ad), [Audiences](/business/nouns/audience), [Sequences](/business/nouns/sequence) and [creator partnerships](/workflows/marketing/creators).
- Measurement: [Events](/business/nouns/event), [Metrics](/business/nouns/metric), [Experiments](/business/nouns/experiment) and [Flags](/business/nouns/flag), with one definition per Metric.

## How it runs
Marketing seeds until compounding engines carry the Startup. Seed Plays buy the first [Customers](/business/nouns/customer) fast: launch sites, signal-led outbound, creator posts and small paid probes. Compounding Plays build assets that keep paying: cited Pages, listings, referrals and an owned list.

The [Marketing Lead](/agents/marketing/marketing-lead) picks the Plays that the [Motion](/business/nouns/motion) and the budget allow. A long-tail Startup runs at $0, on free Plays and the [Studio](/business/nouns/studio)’s shared accounts. When a founder funds a [Demand Budget](/business/nouns/demand-budget) ([how budgets work](/workflows/marketing/demand-budgets)), the Marketing Team composes the mix from each Play’s minimum effective budget.

Every Play runs as an [Experiment](/workflows/processes/experimentation): a [Hypothesis](/business/nouns/hypothesis), a Metric, a stop rule and a [Decision](/business/nouns/decision) at the end. The [Analyst](/agents/marketing/analyst) reads each one at its fixed sample. Before each [Weekly review](/workflows/processes/iteration/weekly-review), the Analyst hands the [Strategist](/agents/founding/strategist) the one number and the leakiest step.

Launches and spend raises wait the ad-spend delay window; pauses never wait. Every agent account says it is an agent, and every claim cites a fact from the record. Each [Person](/business/nouns/person) hears at most one promotional [Message](/business/nouns/message) a month from the whole [Portfolio](/business/nouns/portfolio).

The [playbook](/workflows/marketing/playbook) teaches the week in full.

## Roles
| Role | Definition |
| --- | --- |
| [Marketing Lead](/agents/marketing/marketing-lead) | The Marketing Lead owns demand and the story: positioning in the buyer’s words, launches, and the demand Plays each Startup runs. |
| [Analyst](/agents/marketing/analyst) | The Analyst owns the numbers: Event capture, the Metric catalog, the figures every Role review reads, and every Experiment readout. |
| [Content Lead](/agents/marketing/content-lead) | The Content Lead writes and publishes the Pages, answers, and data reports that search engines and answer engines cite. |
| [Paid Media Manager](/agents/marketing/paid-media-manager) | The Paid Media Manager runs paid Plays: bids and budgets per venue, creative rotation, ad policy, and conversions sent back to each venue. |
| [Video Producer](/agents/marketing/video-producer) | The Video Producer turns briefs into generated Videos cut for every venue format, with likeness consent and licences recorded. |
| [Communications Lead](/agents/marketing/communications-lead) | The Communications Lead answers the press, runs owned-account community engagement and events, and speaks for the Startup in a crisis. |

## Processes
| Process | Accountable | Workflows |
| --- | --- | --- |
| [Launches](/workflows/processes/launches) | [Marketing Lead](/agents/marketing/marketing-lead) | [Launch announcement](/workflows/processes/launches/launch-announcement), [Compile the demand kit](/workflows/processes/launches/compile-demand-kit) |
| [Experimentation](/workflows/processes/experimentation) | [Marketing Lead](/agents/marketing/marketing-lead) | [Run an experiment](/workflows/processes/experimentation/run-experiment) |
| [Content marketing](/workflows/processes/content-marketing) | [Marketing Lead](/agents/marketing/marketing-lead) | [Publish content](/workflows/processes/content-marketing/publish-content) |
| [Press inquiries](/workflows/processes/press-inquiries) | [Communications Lead](/agents/marketing/communications-lead) | Run by its Roles |

## Plays
| Play | Runs as | Definition |
| --- | --- | --- |
| [Smoke test](/workflows/plays/smoke-test) | [Experimentation](/workflows/processes/experimentation) | Smoke test puts an Offer up at its real Price before it delivers and counts who tries to accept it. |
| [Answer engine optimization](/workflows/plays/aeo) | [Content marketing](/workflows/processes/content-marketing) | Answer engine optimization makes a Startup the cited source when answer engines respond to a Customer’s question, with a dated fact on every Page. |
| [Programmatic SEO](/workflows/plays/programmatic-seo) | [Content marketing](/workflows/processes/content-marketing) | Programmatic SEO generates one Page per entity, place, comparison or question from structured data, and indexes only Pages that carry a unique fact. |
| [Editorial SEO](/workflows/plays/editorial-seo) | [Content marketing](/workflows/processes/content-marketing) | Editorial SEO publishes guides, comparisons and alternative Pages that rank for searches a market already makes, refreshed on a fixed cadence or pruned. |
| [Paid search](/workflows/plays/paid-search) | [Experimentation](/workflows/processes/experimentation) | Paid search bids on Keywords that state intent and runs only while the first transaction’s margin exceeds its cost per first transaction. |
| [Paid social](/workflows/plays/paid-social) | [Experimentation](/workflows/processes/experimentation) | Paid social runs Ads targeted by Audience instead of query, first as a pooled test and at scale only for messages that already won. |
| [Retargeting](/workflows/plays/retargeting) | [Experimentation](/workflows/processes/experimentation) | Retargeting shows Ads only to an owned Audience of past Visitors, capped at three impressions per Person per day. |
| [Sponsorships](/workflows/plays/sponsorships) | [Experimentation](/workflows/processes/experimentation) | Sponsorships buy one placement in a newsletter, podcast or channel the ICP already reads, with a coded link, rebooked only on measured payback. |
| [Organic social](/workflows/plays/organic-social) | [Content marketing](/workflows/processes/content-marketing) | Organic social turns facts and artifacts a Startup already has into posts from its disclosed agent accounts and the Studio’s shared accounts. |
| [Community answers](/workflows/plays/community-answers) | [Content marketing](/workflows/processes/content-marketing) | Community answers solve questions where Customers already ask them, disclose affiliation, and post as an Agent only where the community allows Agents. |
| [Cold email](/workflows/plays/cold-email) | [Outbound](/workflows/processes/outbound) | Cold email sends short Sequences to Prospects chosen by a dated signal, from secondary Domains, and pauses when complaints pass 0.1 percent. |
| [LinkedIn outbound](/workflows/plays/linkedin-outbound) | [Outbound](/workflows/processes/outbound) | LinkedIn outbound sends connection requests and Messages from a Human’s own LinkedIn profile under a Mandate, with Agents researching and drafting. |
| [Outbound calling](/workflows/plays/outbound-calling) | [Outbound](/workflows/processes/outbound) | Outbound calling phones local and small Organizations, using a voice Agent only where Consent is recorded and a Human where law requires one. |
| [Integration partners](/workflows/plays/integration-partners) | [Launches](/workflows/processes/launches) | Integration partners ship an integration with a product the Customer already uses, then list it and share Leads under a referral Agreement. |
| [Marketplace listings](/workflows/plays/marketplace-listings) | [Launches](/workflows/processes/launches) | Marketplace listings put a Product in app stores and cloud marketplaces and request reviews only after a Customer’s first success. |
| [Agent registries](/workflows/plays/agent-registries) | [Launches](/workflows/processes/launches) | Agent registries list every Startup’s tools where Agents and developers search, with tool descriptions tested against agent tool search. |
| [Directory listings](/workflows/plays/directory-listings) | [Launches](/workflows/processes/launches) | Directory listings keep a Startup listed and accurate on review sites, business profiles and vertical directories, free from the day it is Live. |
| [Category hubs](/workflows/plays/category-hubs) | [Content marketing](/workflows/processes/content-marketing) | Category hubs are owned directories that rank every product in a category by one published rule and route each Visitor to the best fit. |
| [Launch sites](/workflows/plays/launch-sites) | [Launches](/workflows/processes/launches) | Launch sites post a one-day launch that buys a dated record and a backlink, by default as one collection launch per template. |
| [Customer referrals](/workflows/plays/customer-referrals) | [Retention](/workflows/processes/retention) | Customer referrals invite a Customer’s peers after a delivered outcome and pay the reward only on the peer’s paid, unrefunded Order. |
| [Commission partners](/workflows/plays/commission-partners) | [Outbound](/workflows/processes/outbound) | Commission partners pay publishers, creators and Agents a share of the collected, net-of-refund revenue they bring, after the refund window. |
| [Data stories](/workflows/plays/data-stories) | [Content marketing](/workflows/processes/content-marketing) | Data stories pitch original data to journalists and researchers, scored by mentions on the domains answer engines cite. |
| [Events and webinars](/workflows/plays/events-and-webinars) | [Content marketing](/workflows/processes/content-marketing) | Events and webinars host sessions for mid-market and enterprise Customers, turn each into on-demand content, and enroll attendees in a Sequence within a day. |
| [Owned newsletter](/workflows/plays/owned-newsletter) | [Content marketing](/workflows/processes/content-marketing) | Owned newsletter grows a subscribed list with one fact and one Offer per issue, and suppresses subscribers silent for 90 days. |
| [Product-led growth](/workflows/plays/product-led) | [Onboarding](/workflows/processes/onboarding) | Product-led growth gives away a metered slice of a digital Product, a free tool or templates, and prompts the upgrade on a usage event. |
| [Open source](/workflows/plays/open-source) | [Content marketing](/workflows/processes/content-marketing) | Open source publishes the SDK and integration layer as open repositories, keeps the hosted Product paid, and answers every issue within 48 hours. |
| [Developer relations](/workflows/plays/developer-relations) | [Content marketing](/workflows/processes/content-marketing) | Developer relations publishes examples, docs and answers that get a developer or Agent to a first successful call within five minutes. |
| [Agent-to-agent selling](/workflows/plays/agent-to-agent) | [Onboarding](/workflows/processes/onboarding) | Agent-to-agent selling lets an unknown Agent discover a Startup, get a quote and pay per call, with no signup and a spend Limit. |
| [House ads](/workflows/plays/house-ads) | [Launches](/workflows/processes/launches) | House ads show sibling Startups on the Portfolio’s own Sites, docs and receipts when relevance beats the host Page’s own conversion value. |
| [Portfolio cross-sell](/workflows/plays/cross-sell) | [Retention](/workflows/processes/retention) | Portfolio cross-sell offers sibling Startups inside the Product and the bill, and routes each misfit Lead, with Consent, to the sibling that fits. |
| [Engagement bridge](/workflows/plays/engagement-bridge) | [Outbound](/workflows/processes/outbound) | Engagement bridge answers public questions from disclosed agent accounts and sends a direct Message only to a Person who engaged, quoting that act. |
| [Video ladder](/workflows/plays/video-ladder) | [Experimentation](/workflows/processes/experimentation) | Video ladder renders fact-bound video in every format, screens each cut on organic posts, and promotes only winners to paid Ads. |
| [Promote winners](/workflows/plays/promote-winners) | [Experimentation](/workflows/processes/experimentation) | Promote winners moves a message that won on free placements to a paid Ad with a Hypothesis, a stop rule and the minimum budget. |
| [Reserve drop](/workflows/plays/reserve-drop) | [Experimentation](/workflows/processes/experimentation) | Reserve drop opens refundable deposits for 72 hours after one creator post and moves the Startup to Building only if deposits cross the entry check. |
| [Creator probe](/workflows/plays/creator-probe) | [Experimentation](/workflows/processes/experimentation) | Creator probe pays five to ten small creators $50 to $500 each for one post, each post a pre-registered arm of one Experiment. |
| [Creator partnership](/workflows/plays/creator-partnership) | [Outbound](/workflows/processes/outbound) | Creator partnership signs creators on one ladder, from referral terms to paid post, co-branded Offer and cofounder, each paid on attributed collected revenue. |
| [Creator ads](/workflows/plays/creator-ads) | [Experimentation](/workflows/processes/experimentation) | Creator ads promote a creator’s winning post as a paid Ad under partnership rights, at or above the minimum effective budget. |
| [Owned following](/workflows/plays/owned-following) | [Content marketing](/workflows/processes/content-marketing) | Owned following grows a niche newsletter, community and shared accounts in a Studio media Startup and lends its slots to siblings by expected value. |
| [Free tools](/workflows/plays/free-tools) | [Content marketing](/workflows/processes/content-marketing) | Free tools ship every read-only Verb with a one-field input as a no-signup tool, a citable Page and a free MCP tool. |
| [Lead nurture](/workflows/plays/lead-nurture) | [Inbound sales](/workflows/processes/inbound-sales) | Lead nurture enrolls each Lead who has not bought in a Sequence keyed to what they do, ending at purchase, reply or 90 silent days. |
| [Made with](/workflows/plays/made-with) | [Retention](/workflows/processes/retention) | Made with puts a disclosed, coded line naming the Startup’s Brand on every output a Customer sends to someone who is not one. |
| [Review requests](/workflows/plays/review-requests) | [Retention](/workflows/processes/retention) | Review requests ask each Customer for a review at a delivered outcome, on the venue the Startup most needs, and show consented reviews. |
| [Switch kit](/workflows/plays/switch-kit) | [Content marketing](/workflows/processes/content-marketing) | Switch kit wins a named rival’s Customers with versus Pages, an importer, a switching Offer, rival-term Ads and outbound to its users. |
| [Buying committee](/workflows/plays/buying-committee) | [Outbound](/workflows/processes/outbound) | Buying committee reaches every member of a named Organization’s buying committee through company-grain Ads, outbound and the Sales Team. |
| [Category kit](/workflows/plays/category-kit) | [Content marketing](/workflows/processes/content-marketing) | Category kit names the Problem a market does not search for yet, defines it for answer engines, and launches it on one dated day. |
| [Founder voice](/workflows/plays/founder-voice) | [Content marketing](/workflows/processes/content-marketing) | Founder voice posts on a human founder’s own LinkedIn and X under a posting Mandate, each post drafted from the record and approved. |
| [Launch week](/workflows/plays/launch-week) | [Launches](/workflows/processes/launches) | Launch week batches a quarter’s tier 1 and tier 2 Changes into five dated days of posts, Pages, listing refreshes and newsletters. |
| [Positioning tournament](/workflows/plays/positioning-tournament) | [Strategy](/workflows/processes/strategy) | Positioning tournament tests head-to-head, subcategory and new-category positionings as arms of one Experiment and writes the winner to the Story. |

## Metrics
| Metric | Definition |
| --- | --- |
| Qualified visitors | Human and Agent Visitors per week who reach a pricing Page, a docs Page, or a priced call. |
| Signup conversion | Share of qualified Visitors who accept an Offer at any Price. |
| Answer share | Share of tracked Keywords for which answer engines cite the Startup. |
| <a id="play-sourced-customers"></a>Play-sourced Customers | Play-sourced Customers counts distinct outside paying Customers who arrived through a Play, not through the founder’s own network. Owner: [Marketing Lead](/agents/marketing/marketing-lead). |
| <a id="cac-fully-loaded"></a>Fully loaded acquisition cost | Fully loaded acquisition cost is every Cost a Play posts, agent and shared Cost included, divided by the outside Customers it acquires. Owner: [Marketing Lead](/agents/marketing/marketing-lead). |
| <a id="organic-share"></a>Organic share | Organic share is the share of new outside Customers whose first touch was not paid. Owner: [Marketing Lead](/agents/marketing/marketing-lead). |
| <a id="referral-share"></a>Referral share | Referral share is the share of new outside Customers who arrived through a Referral. Owner: [Marketing Lead](/agents/marketing/marketing-lead). |
| <a id="spam-rate"></a>Spam rate | Spam rate is the share of delivered Messages from a Domain that recipients report as spam, as mailbox providers report it. Owner: [Marketing Lead](/agents/marketing/marketing-lead). |
| <a id="play-payback"></a>Play payback | Play payback is the days a Play takes for its Customers’ collected outside revenue to cover its spend and Worker cost. Owner: [Marketing Lead](/agents/marketing/marketing-lead). |
| <a id="organic-visits"></a>Organic visits | Organic visits counts the Visits a Startup’s Pages get each week from unpaid search and answer engines. Owner: [Content Lead](/agents/marketing/content-lead). |
| <a id="metric-freshness"></a>Metric freshness | Metric freshness is the share of Metrics whose latest value is less than one day old. Owner: [Analyst](/agents/marketing/analyst). |
| <a id="earned-mentions"></a>Earned mentions | Earned mentions counts the articles, Posts and podcasts each month that name the Startup without being paid. Owner: [Communications Lead](/agents/marketing/communications-lead). |
| <a id="return-on-ad-spend"></a>Return on ad spend | Return on ad spend is the revenue from paid Campaigns divided by their spend. Owner: [Paid Media Manager](/agents/marketing/paid-media-manager). |
| <a id="video-completion-rate"></a>Video completion rate | Video completion rate is the share of Video views watched to the end. Owner: [Video Producer](/agents/marketing/video-producer). |

## Works with
- [Finance Team](/agents/finance)
- [Product Team](/agents/product)
- [Sales Team](/agents/sales)