Fix Multi-Audience Marketplace Briefs using Get Who To By
Marketplace briefs are usually where strategy goes to die. You're trying to juggle supply and demand while your boss breathes down your neck about 'synergy,' and the result is a schizophrenic mess that tries to please everyone and resonates with no one. The Get Who To By framework is your filter. It forces you to stop pretending you can solve every marketplace friction point in one slide and actually pick a fight you can win. One side of the market at a time, or you're just burning cash.
The TL;DR
Stop making marketplace briefs that read like a directory of everyone you've ever met. Use Get Who To By to isolate the bottleneck side of your market (GET), find the friction point (WHO), give them a clear command (TO), and build the bridge to get them there (BY). If you can't summarize your marketplace play in one sentence, you don't have a play.
Why This Beats Your Current Mess
Most marketplace strategies fail because they try to talk to buyers and sellers in the same breath. This framework stops that nonsense.
The Four Steps
GET
Which side of the market is the bottleneck?
Pick a side. Supply or Demand. Then go deeper. Not 'Sellers,' but 'High-volume vintage sellers who are annoyed with eBay's fees.' The smaller the target, the more likely they are to actually listen.
WHO
What is the specific behavior or hang-up stopping them?
Why are they ghosting your platform? Is it fear of getting scammed, high fees, or just a crappy interface? This is the insight that proves you actually understand their miserable lives.
TO
What is the one thing they need to do right now?
Don't ask them to 'explore the ecosystem.' Tell them to 'list your first item in 30 seconds' or 'book a vetted plumber.' If it’s more than one action, you’ve failed.
BY
How are you physically making this happen?
This is the mechanism. Is it a 0% fee for 30 days? A 'Verified' badge? An automated import tool? This is the 'how' that makes the 'to' actually believable.
Marketplace Brief Disasters
(Try not to do these, please)
- ×Targeting 'The Marketplace' as a whole instead of a specific side
- ×Writing a 'WHO' that is just a list of job titles
- ×Confusing features for insights
- ×Using 'synergy' or 'ecosystem' in the message
- ×Giving the audience three different things to do at once
- ×Ignoring the chicken-and-egg problem in the mechanism
- ×Thinking a better UI is a strategy (it's not)
- ×Vague calls to action that sound like corporate poetry
If your brief looks like a Venn diagram where the middle is just 'hope,' start over.
Real Examples
Service Marketplace (Supply Side)
Fixing a shortage of reliable handymen on a local service app.
GET
Independent handymen who are tired of paying for 'leads' that never convert.
WHO
They feel cheated by platforms that charge them just to talk to a customer who might not even hire them.
TO
Stop paying for leads and start getting paid for work.
BY
Switching from a 'pay-per-lead' model to a 'pay-per-booked-job' model for the first month.
B2B SaaS Marketplace (Demand Side)
Getting procurement officers to use a new vendor marketplace.
GET
Mid-market procurement managers buried in manual spreadsheets.
WHO
They hate the risk of unvetted vendors but don't have time to run a full RFP for every small purchase.
TO
Hire a pre-vetted vendor in five minutes, not five weeks.
BY
A 'One-Click Compliance' report that generates a PDF for their boss automatically.
Luxury Resale (Trust Building)
Increasing buyer confidence in a high-end fashion marketplace.
GET
First-time luxury buyers who are terrified of buying a fake bag.
WHO
They spend hours zooming in on stitching photos because they don't trust the 'Authenticity Guaranteed' fluff.
TO
Buy the bag, let the experts handle the magnifying glass.
BY
A mandatory third-party physical inspection for every item over $500, with a 200% money-back guarantee.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I target both buyers and sellers in one brief?
No. You have two hands, but you can only punch one problem at a time. Write two separate briefs or accept that your campaign will be mediocre.
What if my 'WHO' insight applies to everyone?
Then it's not an insight, it's a platitude. Go deeper until you find a friction point that is specific to your target's current behavior.
Is the 'BY' just the CTA?
No. The 'BY' is the reason the CTA is possible. It’s the tool, the offer, or the feature that removes the friction you identified in the 'WHO'.
How do I know if my 'TO' is clear enough?
Read it to someone who doesn't work in marketing. If they have to ask a follow-up question to understand what to do, it's garbage.
Why isn't there a 'Strategy' box?
Because the framework IS the strategy. If you fill these four boxes correctly, the strategy is inherent. We don't need a fifth box for you to hide buzzwords in.
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