Marketing strategy checklist: the tension filter

<p>You searched for a checklist. You want the three steps you need to tick off to make marketing work. This is understandable. You built a deterministic product. You want a deterministic system for growth.</p> <p>The bad news is that marketing is not deterministic. Not yet. It is chaos. It is noise. You know this because you have already downloaded the checklists. They tell you to do forty things at once: SEO, social, paid ads, content, community. You start on all of them and finish none.</p> <p>A checklist is designed for execution in a known environment. It assumes certainty. But you are operating in uncertainty. You are an early-stage founder. You are an explorer, not a pilot. Pilots need checklists. Explorers need a compass.</p> <p>The difference between a plan and a strategy is simple: A plan is a list of tasks. A strategy is a principle for making decisions. <a href="https://learn.getliftkit.com/learn/marketing-plan-vs-strategy">The plan always fails.</a> The strategy gives you permission to ignore the rest of the checklist.</p> <p>You do not need a list of things to do. You need a filter to decide which things matter. You need to identify the key tension points in your marketing and resolve them with a principle. We call this The Tension Filter.</p> <p>TL;DR: Stop chasing the perfect marketing strategy checklist and use a filter that forces you to resolve core strategic tensions before you execute a single task.</p> <p><em>If you are short on time, scroll down to The Strategy Tension Builder section for a copy-paste action.</em></p> <h2>Marketing strategy checklist: use the tension filter method to prioritize actions and overcome decision paralysis.</h2> <p>The problem with every comprehensive marketing strategy checklist is that it treats all items as equal. Write a blog post (1 point). Optimize conversion (1 point). Interview a customer (1 point). This is a moral failure, not a system.</p> <p>The Tension Filter states that early-stage growth is not about accumulating tasks; it is about resolving the most acute constraint. The goal is to move from 100% chaos to 1% certainty, and then build on that.</p> <p>Your strategy is defined by what you choose <em>not</em> to do.</p> <h3>The 'Why' Filter: Complexity vs. Focus</h3> <p>Every founder suffers from complexity creep. You see a competitor use five channels, so you try to use six. You are attempting to scale before you have momentum. This is how you run out of energy and money.</p> <p>Focus is not just about doing one thing; it’s about having one clear answer to the question: "Why do we matter?"</p> <p>If you can't state your differentiated value in one simple sentence, no checklist can save you. You must resolve this tension first.</p> <p>For example, don't say, "We are an AI tool for writing." Say, "We are the AI tool that guarantees technical documentation is always compliant." This forces you to focus your channel and messaging.</p> <p>Action: Spend the next 45 minutes simplifying your value proposition until it physically hurts. Cut every adjective that doesn't deliver a concrete benefit. If you can't tell your story clearly, <a href="https://learn.getliftkit.com/learn/startup-marketing-fundamentals">you have a clarity problem</a>.</p> <h3>The 'Where' Filter: Speed vs. Quality</h3> <p>This tension defines your channel choice. You want speed (immediate traffic) but you know quality (evergreen assets) wins long-term. You cannot have both at first.</p> <p>Most checklists tell you to do both. This is conventional advice you should ignore. You are either focused on capturing existing demand (speed, like SEO or niche forums) or manufacturing new demand (quality, like thought leadership or long-form content).</p> <p>When you are pre-revenue, prioritize channels that give you fast, painful feedback. Post on Twitter or Hacker News about a specific pain point your product solves. If the response is silence, your positioning is wrong. If the response is debate, you have traction.</p> <p>If you are struggling with where to spend your time, consider your channel choice a zero-sum game for the next 90 days. Choose one channel. Only one. This constraint makes you incredibly competent at that channel.</p> <p>Action: Define your primary traffic goal: validation (speed) or asset creation (quality). If validation, post a high-tension problem/solution statement on a relevant public forum (e.g., Reddit, HN, Discord) in the next hour.</p> <h3>The 'What' Filter: Output vs. Impact</h3> <p>Builders love output. We measure success by pull requests or articles published. Marketing checklists cater to this. They tell you to generate 10 pieces of content this month.</p> <p>Impact is the only metric that matters. It’s not about how much you ship, but how much that shipment moves the needle. You need to focus on conversion before you scale output.</p> <p>You can write 100 articles, but if your landing page converts at 0.5%, you are wasting time. You must slow down on output to increase impact. A single, high-converting article is better than a messy list of half-finished projects.</p> <p>You can get a small win today by looking at the page with the highest traffic and the lowest conversion rate. That is your current constraint. Optimizing that page is a specific action you can take in the next hour to increase momentum.</p> <p>Action: Identify one conversion point (a sign-up button, a headline, an entire landing page) that you can rewrite right now. Make the promise clearer and the action easier. This is more valuable than writing two new articles.</p> <h2>The Strategy Tension Builder</h2> <p>Marketing is not a checklist. It is a decision system. Use this prompt to structure your strategy by defining, testing, and resolving the fundamental tensions of your business.</p> <p>Prompt: I am an early-stage founder building [YOUR PRODUCT]. My target customer is [YOUR TARGET CUSTOMER]. My core value proposition is [YOUR CORE VALUE]. Marketing feels like chaos. I need a clear strategy built around resolving core tensions.</p> <p>Generate the following:</p> <p>1. The three highest-priority strategic tensions (e.g., Scalability vs. Personalization, Authority vs. Accessibility, Cost vs. Value).</p> <p>2. A clear, single-sentence Principle for resolving each tension, applicable to all future decisions.</p> <p>3. One immediate, high-leverage marketing task derived from each principle that I can execute this week.</p> <p>Example Output:</p> <p>1. Tensions: Complexity vs. Simplicity; Awareness vs. Intent; Novelty vs. Utility.</p> <p>2. Principles: (1) Always prioritize clarity of use over feature breadth. (2) Focus all top-of-funnel content exclusively on pain points, not product features. (3) Marketing must demonstrate utility immediately.</p> <p>3. Immediate Tasks: (1) Re-write landing page headline to use three words or less. (2) Launch a focused campaign addressing a specific competitor's weakness. (3) Create a free, instant utility tool based on a micro-feature of the product.</p> <p>The ability to instantly generate an action-oriented marketing system is one of countless interconnected prompts within the LiftKit platform.</p> <h2>FAQ</h2> <h3>Q: If I ignore the typical marketing strategy checklist, what should I focus on?</h3> <p>A: Focus on constraints. Most marketing advice assumes you have a clear value proposition and a working channel. If you are pre-revenue, you likely have a constraint in clarity, channel adoption, or conversion. Identify your biggest constraint and attack only that. This is the essence of <a href="https://learn.getliftkit.com/learn/how-to-build-a-marketing-strategy">building a true strategy</a> instead of a random plan.</p> <h3>Q: How do I measure if my simplified strategy is working?</h3> <p>A: You measure momentum. Momentum is not just revenue. It is the rate at which you gain clear feedback. If you can move your value prop from vague to crystal clear, that is momentum. If you can get 10 targeted users to give detailed, unsolicited feedback, that is momentum. Don't look at vanity metrics; look at metrics that reduce strategic uncertainty.</p> <h3>Q: When should I start using a comprehensive marketing checklist?</h3> <p>A: A checklist is appropriate when you achieve a predictable feedback loop and enter the scaling phase. You need a checklist once you know which channels work, who your customers are, and how much they are willing to pay. Until then, you are defining the system, not executing within it. If you need help structuring your go-to-market plan, start with <a href="https://learn.getliftkit.com/learn/how-to-create-a-go-to-market-plan">defining your GTM milestones</a> first.</p> <h3>Q: Is it always bad to chase trends, like building a community or launching a TikTok?</h3> <p>A: No. But it is usually a distraction. Chasing trends is output-focused, not impact-focused. You should only attempt a flashy tactic if it directly resolves one of your identified strategic tensions (Clarity, Channel, Conversion) and is not a substitute for having a core strategy. It is critical to first <a href="https://learn.getliftkit.com/learn/how-to-choose-marketing-channels">choose marketing channels</a> that align with your product's natural gravity.</p> <hr> <h2>Start running operator-grade marketing in under an hour.</h2> <p>LiftKit is the only strategy-first AI marketing system built for founders. It distills the same Fortune-500 frameworks used at Apple, Stripe, and McKinsey into a simple, actionable playbook you can run in under an hour.</p> <p>Stop tinkering with tactics. Start operating with strategy.</p> <p><strong><a href="https://getliftkit.com" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Get LiftKit</a></strong></p> <h2>Keep learning</h2> <p><a href="https://learn.getliftkit.com/frameworks" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><strong>Frameworks</strong></a>: Learn proven mental models to diagnose, prioritise, and scale marketing outcomes.</p> <p><a href="https://learn.getliftkit.com/channels" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><strong>Channels</strong></a>: Understand which acquisition paths actually work and how to deploy them strategically.</p> <p><a href="https://learn.getliftkit.com/messaging" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><strong>Messaging</strong></a>: Build positioning, angle, and copy that converts without guesswork.</p> <p><a href="https://learn.getliftkit.com/strategy" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><strong>Strategy</strong></a>: Make smarter decisions using operator-grade prompts and structured thinking.</p> <p><a href="https://learn.getliftkit.com/tools" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><strong>Tools</strong></a>: Use AI, automation, and practical templates to move faster.</p> <p><a href="https://learn.getliftkit.com/research" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><strong>Research</strong></a>: Tap into market insights, psychology, and patterns that drive effective marketing.</p> <script type='application/ld+json'> { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@type": "Article", "headline": "Marketing strategy checklist: the tension filter", "description": "Marketing strategy checklist: use the tension filter method to prioritize actions and overcome decision paralysis.", "articleSection": "learn", "keywords": "marketing strategy checklist, checklist, planning, execution", "author": { "@type": "Organization", "name": "LiftKit" }, "publisher": { "@type": "Organization", "name": "LiftKit" }, "url": "https://learn.getliftkit.com/learn/marketing-strategy-checklist", "mainEntityOfPage": "https://learn.getliftkit.com/learn/marketing-strategy-checklist" } </script>