Transforming Product Marketing Strategies with the Jobs-to-be-Done (JTBD)

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The job of a product marketer can be challenging. I would call it a bike ride on a road with everything on fire. And the bike is on fire, too. But you must pedal fast to get to the coveted oasis with water, put out the bike, quench your thirst, and move on into the flames. 😁 Why? When everything around you changes at lightning speed, and you must understand the mood of your target audience, your user, and your team and anticipate risks, your work is no longer a cakewalk. All you have to do is wear a fireproof suit and stay calm. 

Product marketers use many tools, frameworks, and techniques in their work. Today, we will discuss one such framework: Jobs-to-be-Done.

What is JBTD, and why do we choose it?

So, without further ado, let's get started. Marketing strategy development is traditionally based mostly on the approaches we are used to: User Persona, Buyer Persona, Customer Journey Map, etc.

Are these approaches wrong? Not. Are they useful? Of course! They are all mandatory and complement each other perfectly.

But is it possible to understand the user's exact needs using Persona? Not hypothetically, but in reality? I doubt it. 

Faced with such questions, we paid attention to the Jobs-to-be-done framework and realized it was exactly what we needed.

Jobs-to-be-Done (often abbreviated as JTBD) is a framework used in product development and marketing to understand customer needs and motivations. The basic idea behind JTBD is that people don't just buy products or services for their own sake but to get a specific job done.

That is, relatively speaking, if you need to hammer a nail into a wall, you can do it with anything - a hammer, a frying pan, a fist, a stone. The means of achieving the user's goal is not interesting; the result is important - the nail is hammered in.

This is ideal for product marketing. But it's also worth noting that the JBTD approach is comprehensive and should be used throughout the product development cycle. Of course, implementing it at all stages is challenging, so let's start with marketing first. 

Identifying Jobs

The most important thing is identifying the jobs users need for your product. They can be identified from: 

1. Support requests. It is necessary to re-read and analyze tickets from users literally. Group them by features and needs. Try to create a general puzzle for them. It will take a lot of time, but it will be beneficial.
2. Demo sessions. Talk to specialists who conduct demo sessions for potential buyers. Find out what questions they ask, what they are most interested in, and their expectations for your app.
3. User surveys. Use in-app survey forms to understand your customers' sentiments and needs.
4. Content on the Atlassian Community. Since we're talking about products on the Atlassian Marketplace, the Community is an inexhaustible source of jobs. Evaluate which content drove the most traffic to the app page (it's time to lament that you didn't use UTM tags everywhere, right? 🥲). Look for related user requests and review popular articles and discussions.

It will be long and hard work, but you will ultimately get a set of Jobs and a different perspective on your app. 

Of course, if you lack information due to your product's specifics, try formulating the Jobs hypothetically. This is not quite right, but sometimes, there are no other options.

Mapping Customer Actions for Success

After you've identified the jobs and discussed them with the product team, it's time to imagine the client's journey in general. There are many templates, and you can choose any of them. Let me share the one I use myself with you.

You can find this template at this link - Jobs-to-be-Done Template.

Let's take a closer look at its structure. In general, the map is divided into three stages:

Demand Creation 🔥

Here, you must formulate goals, including a brief outline of the users' problems. 

Next, try to outline the constraints. A limitation is something that prevents the user from achieving their goals. At this stage, you don't take your product into account. You try to imagine what obstacles the user faces. For example, one limitation may be that a certain action in Jira cannot be performed using its default functionality, etc.

Catalysts. What led the user to realize he needed to fulfill a specific goal? For example, John was promoted, started auditing the workflow, and realized that many things required automation, so John started looking for the right app on the Atlassian Marketplace. 

Desired Progress 🚀

First, identify the main customer groups and what they focus on. Try to use the catalysts from the previous step. Tell the story of your ideal customer.

Next, you're already forming the Jobs: Help me to ... so that I can...

This stage is completed with the formation of progress signals. How will the user understand that he is on the right track and has found the right tool to solve his Job? 

Hiring 🛒

The user has searched and is ready to hire the app. Therefore, add competitors and those solutions that he categorically refused because they are not convenient, etc.

Next, the solutions should be analyzed, and what inspires trust in the customer and vice versa should be identified.

Imaginary use: Abstract from the fact that you know your app very well and imagine what the customer expects from your app when making a decision to install it. Don't feel sorry for yourself or praise yourself here. Look at everything through the eyes of potential customers.

Then, using a similar method, imagine how users justify the app's value for themselves. 

And finally, describe what is new to them in your add-on and what sounds very familiar.

JTBD implementation

First of all, praise yourself. You have done a titanic job.

Now, it's time to ask how we implement all this. [We are currently talking only about marketing.] 

Here:

1. App listing page on the Atlassian Marketplace and a product page on your website. Show the value of your product there, not just a description of features. Users don't care if you have 1000 and 1 helpful feature. Most of them use 20% of the power of your add-on, and the rest is just a nice bonus.
2. Content on the Atlassian Community. JBTD is ideal for creating a content plan. Thanks to the framework, you will write more than one handy article.
3. Content for social media. 
4. Advertising materials.
5. Documentation. In simple and understandable language. 
6. A blog on your website.
7. And many more similar uses.

We can discuss the JTBD framework for a long time. For now, we've summarized all its aspects and nuances. 

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Here is your JTBD template so you can apply it to your products. Also, let me know in the comments if you liked this article; share your thoughts, and I will develop this topic further and share my experience with you. And also, please support me with a like, I will be very pleased. 🙂

[Celina Kuziemko - Appsvio]

Love the article! And template, too - thanks for that 😊Totally agree, and when it comes to buyer persona, user persona - it's quite tricky where you have managers, team members, admins who has to implement it, and end-users to think about within 220 characters in highlight on MAC 😆

[Dilara Erecek _Avisi Apps_]

Love this Iryna! I agree, it’s super easy to get overwhelmed. That’s exactly why I’m here reading the content 😄. On top of that, I like the Jobs-to-be-Done (JTBD) framework! Sometimes, I just free-write my ideas and then color-code the different jobs in the document. This way, I can easily refer back to them and see how they fit into the overall plan.