One-Page How-to-Win Strategy
Replace activity inventories with a focused theory of how marketing wins
- Difficulty
- Moderate
- Time to result
- ~weeks to results
- Steps
- 5
- Confidence
- 98%
The framework separates strategy from activity. Rather than allocating percentages across PR, brand, influencer marketing, social media, and content because a standard recipe recommends them, the team defines what winning in its market would mean and why its chosen approach can produce that outcome. The resulting strategy must fit on one page and contain only a few mutually reinforcing choices. Output counts such as publishing eighteen posts are excluded unless the team can explain how those posts create distinctive thought leadership or another competitive advantage. The team then removes lower-value initiatives so its strongest choices can be executed at a high level. The output is a compact theory of advantage that guides channel decisions, resource allocation, and measurement without pretending that copying another company's recipe will reproduce its success.
Origin
Katie Burke offered the one-page standard while answering how companies should divide finite resources among PR, brand, and influencer marketing.
Core principles
- 01A list of activities is not a strategy
- 02Quality and differentiation beat channel quantity
- 03Every selected initiative must explain how it contributes to winning
- 04Focus requires deliberately removing plausible work
How to run it
- 1
Define winning
Describe the market position, audience response, or business advantage the marketing strategy must create.
Pro tip Use an outcome that would meaningfully distinguish the company.
Watch out Do not define winning as merely completing activities.
- 2
Form the advantage thesis
Explain the few mechanisms through which the company can outperform alternatives in reaching that outcome.
Pro tip Tie each mechanism to a real capability or insight.
Watch out Copying a competitor's recipe does not establish an advantage.
- 3
Select reinforcing choices
Choose only the channels and initiatives that strengthen the central theory of winning.
Pro tip Favor combinations that compound one another.
Watch out Do not include a channel solely because most companies use it.
- 4
Compress to one page
Express the audience, advantage, choices, and outcomes concisely enough that the team can use them in decisions.
Pro tip If an item does not help explain how the company wins, remove it.
Watch out Compression should clarify strategy, not hide unresolved disagreement.
- 5
Cross off distractions
Stop or defer activities that divide attention without materially advancing the strategy.
Pro tip Redirect saved resources into making the chosen work exceptional.
Watch out Doing fewer things only helps when the remaining things are executed well.
In the wild
A team might present a plan to publish eighteen posts, run social campaigns, pursue PR, and hire influencers. Under this framework, those outputs are rejected as insufficient until the team explains how it will win in thought leadership, which audience it will influence, and why its chosen content can be distinct. Lower-leverage activities are then removed.
→ The team gains a focused strategy rather than a longer production checklist.
Common mistakes
Copying someone else's recipe
A standard channel allocation ignores differences in audience, capability, timing, and competitive position.
Confusing volume with strategy
Publishing more assets does not explain why the market will prefer or remember the company.
Keeping every plausible initiative
An expansive list spreads resources too thinly to create excellent or differentiated execution.
Is it for you?
Best for
It is best for teams with limited resources and too many plausible marketing activities.
Not ideal for
It is not ideal for operational production schedules, which still need detailed execution plans beneath the strategy.
From the transcript
“if you replicate everyone else's recipe, you're gonna fall short.”
“Those are just things you're gonna do, not how you're gonna win.”
“for most companies, your marketing strategies should fit on a single page and they should be all about how you're going to win.”
From the episode
Live from INBOUND: Does PR Still Matter? With Katie Burke and Kipp Bodnar
Katie Burke