I’ve spent a lot of time developing frameworks, strategies, and systems for marketing. And after all of it, I keep coming back to one question that simplifies almost every marketing decision.
The question is: who specifically are we trying to move, from where specifically, to where specifically?
Let me show you how this question works in practice.
When someone asks me whether they should be on LinkedIn or Instagram, the answer isn’t about which platform is better. The answer is: who specifically are you trying to move? Where are they? That’s where you should be.
When someone asks whether they should lead with the price or the transformation in their marketing, the answer isn’t a universal rule. The answer is: where specifically is your ideal client right now? If they’re price-sensitive and comparing options, lead with value first. If they’re transformation-hungry and money isn’t the primary concern, lead with the dream outcome.
When someone asks how long their email should be, the answer is: long enough to move the specific person you’re writing to, from the specific place they currently are, to the specific place you need them to be to click. No more. No less.
The reason this question is so clarifying is that it forces specificity about three things simultaneously: the audience, the current state, and the desired state. Most marketing failures can be traced to a lack of specificity about at least one of these three things.
Unspecific audience: you’re writing to everyone, which means you’re resonating with no one.
Unspecific current state: you’re writing to people where you want them to be rather than where they actually are, which means your message doesn’t meet them.
Unspecific desired state: you don’t know what action you want them to take, so the call to action is muddy or absent.
The question forces all three into focus. Who specifically? From where? To where?
Apply it to your next landing page. Apply it to your next email. Apply it to your next ad. The specificity it demands will make the execution cleaner and the result better.
Who are you trying to move? From where? To where? Answer those three questions before you write anything and the rest gets significantly easier.