Handbook
Marketing
Reusable, project-agnostic blueprint for Marketing — the discipline of acquiring, engaging, and retaining users for digital products through positioning, channels, growth systems, and measurable go-to-market execution.
Marketing answers "how do we acquire, engage, and retain users?" — a question that is PDLC-heavy (especially P3 Plan & Commit, P4 Launch, P5 Grow) and depends on SDLC for instrumentation, SEO implementation, and experiment infrastructure.
| Document | Purpose |
|---|---|
| Marketing body of knowledge | Principles, digital channels, growth engineering, positioning, analytics, GTM, content, pricing, competencies, references |
| Marketing ↔ SDLC ↔ PDLC bridge | How Marketing maps across SDLC phases A–F and PDLC phases P1–P6 — emphasis on P3–P5 and Build/Frontend/DevOps touchpoints |
| channels/ | Index for channel-specific guides (SEO, SEM, content, email, social, referral/affiliate, developer relations) |
| growth/ | Index for growth engineering guides (funnel optimization, A/B infrastructure, referrals, retention, activation) |
Relationship to other packages
| Package | How Marketing relates |
|---|---|
| Product development lifecycle (PDLC) | Lifecycle context — P3 positioning and GTM strategy; P4 launch, comms, and channel readiness; P5 growth loops, retention, and monetization experiments. |
| Software delivery | Build implements analytics events and consent; Frontend ships SEO, structured data, and landing experiences; Verify can include marketing-site and tracking QA. |
| UX / UI Design | UX shapes what Marketing promotes — messaging must match the actual product experience; onboarding and activation are a shared funnel. |
| Business analysis (BA) | BA clarifies stakeholder and market needs; value propositions and ICP definitions should align with requirements and capability language. |
| Data science & machine learning | Segmentation, propensity models, uplift measurement, and attribution analysis depend on data science and analytics engineering. |
| Frontend / Web Engineering | Technical SEO, Core Web Vitals, SSR/SSG choices, and tag manager / analytics integration are Frontend concerns with Marketing requirements. |
| DevOps | Feature flags, experiment assignment services, and reliable event pipelines often need DevOps and platform patterns at scale. |
| Security / Cybersecurity | Constrains data collection, cookies, identity resolution, and third-party scripts — Marketing must design for privacy-by-design and least privilege. |
| Compliance frameworks (redirect) | GDPR, ePrivacy, CAN-SPAM, CASL, and sector rules govern consent, email, and profiling — GTM and martech must be compliant by design. |
blueprints/BRIDGES.md |
Index of discipline ↔ SDLC ↔ PDLC bridge documents across the blueprint set. |
Scope
This package covers Marketing as a discipline for digital products — not a single channel checklist. It includes:
- Strategic foundations — product–market fit as a prerequisite, segmentation–targeting–positioning (STP), funnel thinking (e.g. AARRR), product-led vs sales-led motion
- Digital channels — organic and paid acquisition, content, email, social, referrals, ASO — with metrics and fit
- Growth engineering — experimentation, funnel optimization, retention and cohort analysis, referral and viral mechanics
- Positioning and messaging — canvases, value propositions, competitive framing, hierarchy, brand voice
- Analytics and attribution — stack design, models, UTM discipline, conversion tracking, marketing mix modeling (MMM)
- Go-to-market execution — launches, betas, PR/analyst relations, community
- Content and developer relations — pillars, editorial rhythm, docs-as-marketing, DevRel as a channel
- Pricing and packaging — models, psychology, tiers, and monetization experiments
Reference bodies of knowledge: AMA (American Marketing Association) professional standards; CIM (Chartered Institute of Marketing) frameworks; Google Digital Marketing & Analytics courses; HubSpot Academy (inbound, email, CRM-aligned marketing); Reforge Growth Series (retention, monetization, growth loops).
Keep project-specific marketing plans in docs/product/marketing/ and GTM documents in docs/product/, not in this file.