Build marketing strategy that holds up under pressure

Strategy is the layer beneath everything else in marketing. Tactics change with platforms and trends; strategy is what determines whether those tactics add up to something coherent. Yet most marketing teams operate tactically by default, reacting to requests, chasing metrics, and building campaigns without a shared plan to anchor them. This hub is designed to fix that.

We start with the foundations: what a marketing plan actually is (and what it is not), how to allocate a budget using evidence-based principles like the 60/40 rule, and how the classic marketing funnel maps customer awareness to purchase decision. These three concepts form the backbone of virtually every marketing operation, whether you run a two-person startup or a mid-market team with multiple product lines.

From there, we move into planning frameworks. SOSTAC, RACE, and OKRs are not competing schools of thought; they answer different questions. SOSTAC gives you a structured way to diagnose your situation and build a plan document. RACE helps you organize channels and content around the customer journey. OKRs translate strategic intent into measurable team goals. Understanding when to use each, and how to combine them, is one of the highest-leverage skills a marketing leader can develop.

The third cluster covers the strategy work that precedes any campaign: going to market with a new product or into a new segment, defining a product position that is credible and differentiated, and building buyer personas that reflect real decision-maker behaviour rather than demographic guesswork. These disciplines require the most cross-functional collaboration and tend to have the longest shelf life. A strong positioning document, written carefully and tested with customers, can guide messaging for years.

Each guide in this hub is practical and self-contained. You can read them in order if you are starting from scratch, or jump to the one that matches your current challenge. Where relevant, the Hatch plan tool lets you apply these frameworks directly to your own marketing plan without rebuilding a spreadsheet from zero.