Building Marketing Products That Don't Exist Yet

I spent last month building a service offering that doesn't exist anywhere in our current product lineup.

Not tweaking an existing package. Not rebranding something we already do. Actually inventing something new from scratch.

And the process taught me something important about how to innovate on service offerings in a way that's both strategic and sustainable.

Most agencies approach new products backward. They think: "What can we deliver? What are we good at? Let's package that up and sell it."

But that's not innovation. That's just productizing your existing capabilities.

Real innovation starts somewhere completely different. It starts with outcomes.

Starting With What You Want to Accomplish

When I sat down to design what I ended up calling the Aurora package, I didn't start by listing our services or thinking about what we could bundle together.

I started by asking: What do I actually want content to do for people?

Not the tactical stuff—rankings, traffic, leads. Everyone wants that. But what's the bigger picture? What does successful content actually accomplish for a business beyond the metrics we usually track?

I kept coming back to three things:

You should own the conversation in your space. Not just rank for some keywords, but be the voice people turn to when they want to understand the landscape. The authority that shapes how people think about the problem you solve.

You should be able to re-engage people who've drifted away. Whether they've gone to a competitor, stopped thinking about the problem, or just fallen out of your orbit. Content should give you a mechanism to bring them back.

You should have the foundation to enter new markets. When you want to expand into adjacent spaces or launch new product lines, you shouldn't be starting from zero. Your content infrastructure should support that growth.

Those are outcomes. Those are the things that actually matter to businesses, even if they don't always articulate it that way.

Once I had clarity on those outcomes, I could work backward to figure out what deliverables would actually get clients there.

The Strategic Architecture First

The next step wasn't jumping to tactics. It was thinking through the strategic architecture that would support those outcomes.

If you want to own the conversation in your space, what does that require? It requires understanding your current share of voice versus competitors. It requires identifying the gaps in the conversation that you could fill. It requires a content strategy that goes beyond just your product to address the broader problem space.

If you want to re-engage people who've drifted, what infrastructure do you need? You need distribution channels you actually own and control—email, social media, some way to stay in front of people over time. You need content designed for repurposing and redistribution, not just one-and-done blog posts.

If you want to build foundations for market expansion, what has to be true? You need replicable systems and frameworks that can be adapted to new contexts. You need content that establishes expertise in the broader domain, not just your current niche. You need documentation of what works so you can replicate it.

This is where most agencies stop thinking strategically. They jump from "clients want content" straight to "let's write blog posts."

But there's this whole middle layer of strategic architecture that determines whether the content actually accomplishes anything meaningful.

Adding the Skill Development Layer

Here's where it got interesting: Once I had the strategic framework, I realized that just delivering the work wouldn't be enough.

Because the best client engagements aren't the ones where we do everything for them. They're the ones where we build their team's capabilities while we're executing.

So I started thinking about what skill development and training components should be part of this package.

If we're building informational architecture, we should probably offer a workshop or training module on how to think about IA, not just hand them a finished document. If we're creating AI agents trained on their brand voice, they should understand how those agents work and how to refine them over time.

This isn't just about delivering more value. It's strategic for us too.

When clients understand the strategic thinking behind what we're doing, they become better collaborators. They make better decisions. They're less likely to make changes that undermine the strategy.

And they're more likely to see us as strategic partners rather than just vendors executing tasks.

So the Aurora package evolved to include not just the deliverables (audits, strategies, content creation, AI agents) but also the knowledge transfer components (workshops, training modules, frameworks they can use independently).

Making It Modular

The other critical piece was designing this as a modular system rather than a single fixed package.

Because the reality is that different clients need different things. Some need the full soup-to-nuts engagement. Others already have pieces in place and just need help with specific components.

If I designed Aurora as one inflexible package, I'd either end up forcing clients to buy things they don't need, or I'd have to custom-scope every engagement from scratch.

Neither of those is scalable.

So instead, I thought about it in modules that could be combined different ways:

The foundational audit and discovery work that everyone needs. The strategic planning layer (IA, content strategy, competitive analysis) that most clients need. The execution options (SEO content, social media, email, lead gen) where clients can pick what makes sense for them. The AI and automation components that some clients want and others don't care about yet. The training and skill development add-ons that vary based on client sophistication.

Now I can have a conversation with a prospect and say: "Here's the core package that everyone starts with. Based on what you're trying to accomplish, I'd recommend adding these specific modules. And these other pieces are optional depending on your priorities and budget."

It's strategic but flexible. Structured but customizable.

The Consulting Bolt-In Model

The other thing I realized while building this is that Aurora doesn't just work as a standalone content engagement.

It also works as a bolt-in to larger consulting projects.

When we're doing a comprehensive marketing assessment for a client and we identify that content is a weakness, we don't need to create a custom solution from scratch. We can say: "Your content strategy needs work. Here's the Aurora package that addresses exactly that. We'll run this initiative with your team as part of the broader engagement."

This is huge for scalability and profitability.

Instead of every engagement being completely custom—which is time-intensive and hard to price—we have these productized components we can pull off the shelf, customize as needed, and deliver efficiently.

It's the difference between being a fully custom consultancy (high value but hard to scale) and being a productized service business (scalable but often low-margin).

This approach gives you the best of both: strategic, high-value consulting work, but with repeatable components that don't require reinventing the wheel every time.

Testing the Market

Once I had the framework built out, the next step was testing whether it actually resonated with clients.

Not by trying to sell it immediately, but by talking about the concepts in client conversations and seeing what got traction.

When I explained the idea of content as strategic backbone rather than deliverable, did clients lean in or glaze over?

When I talked about building foundations for market expansion, did that connect with their growth goals?

When I showed them the modular structure, could they easily see which pieces they needed?

The feedback was overwhelmingly positive. Not just "that sounds nice" but "oh my god, when can we start?"

Because I'd designed it around outcomes that actually matter to businesses, not just around what we wanted to sell.

The Iteration Process

Here's the thing about building new products: The first version is never the final version.

After I presented the Aurora concept to my team, we identified additions and refinements:

What about a share of voice analysis component? That should probably be part of the competitive research module.

Should we include collateral creation as a prerequisite for clients who want AI implementation? Probably, because most companies don't have the documentation they need.

How do we price the skill development components—bundled in or separately? Depends on the engagement size and client sophistication.

This is the natural evolution of product development. You start with a strong strategic framework, test it in the market, and refine based on what you learn.

The key is having that solid foundation to iterate from rather than just making it up as you go.

Why This Matters

Most agencies don't innovate on their service offerings in any meaningful way.

They add a new tactic when it becomes trendy (AI content! Short-form video! Whatever's hot this quarter). They bundle existing services into new packages with new names. They copy what successful competitors are doing.

That's not innovation. That's just repackaging.

Real innovation means stepping back and asking: What outcomes do our clients actually need? What strategic architecture would deliver those outcomes? What capabilities would we need to build? How can we make this repeatable and scalable?

It's harder than just bundling your existing services. But it's also what creates differentiation and pricing power.

When you're selling something that genuinely doesn't exist elsewhere—because you built it from the ground up around real client needs—you're not competing on price. You're not easily replaced by cheaper alternatives.

You're selling something unique that delivers outcomes clients actually care about.

The Documentation Piece

One last thing that's critical: Document everything.

As you're building new service offerings, capture the strategic thinking behind them. Write down the frameworks and decision trees. Create templates for the deliverables. Build the training modules that will help your team deliver consistently.

Because if it only exists in your head, it's not really a product. It's just you doing custom work and calling it a product.

Real productization means other people on your team can deliver it. It means you can hire someone new and onboard them to it. It means the quality is consistent regardless of who's doing the work.

This is what allows you to scale. And it's what transforms your business from "we sell our time and expertise" to "we've built valuable intellectual property that solves specific problems."

That's the difference between being a freelancer or small agency and being a real business.

Start With Outcomes

If you want to build something new—whether it's a service offering, a product, or an entire business model—don't start with what you can do.

Start with what your clients need to accomplish.

Get specific about the outcomes that actually matter. Build the strategic architecture that would deliver those outcomes. Work backward to the deliverables and capabilities required. Make it modular so it's flexible but still structured. Test it in the market and iterate based on what you learn.

That's how you create offerings that clients actually want to buy, that you can deliver profitably, and that differentiate you in a crowded market.

It's harder than just packaging up your existing services. But it's also how you build something that actually matters.

Ready to transform your marketing approach with strategic, outcome-focused solutions? Winsome Marketing builds custom frameworks that deliver the results your business actually needs.