By When teams say, “We’ll build first and figure out marketing later,” they’ve already made their launch harder.
That’s not a dunk; it’s an observation. Every time we separate “product” from “marketing,” we guarantee that one will limp behind the other.
I was reminded of this when Rand said in a recent interview with Jacob Cook (for his students at Harvard Business School):
“Product and marketing are not two different things.”
He was talking about the development of a video game he’s building — a game set in a small, 1960’s Italian town in which you, an emotionally-closed-off chef, run a restaurant. His team at Snackbar Studio isn’t just building a fun experience; they’re designing something that journalists, creators, and gamers will want to talk about. The recipes are traditional Italian dishes. The characters draw on post-war history. The story and setting are as relevant to travel writers, cultural influencers, and history aficionados as it is to gaming streamers.
None of that happened by accident. It was built with amplifiers in mind.
Amplifiers vs. Buyers
When most teams say “target audience,” they’re thinking about buyers, the people who’ll swipe the card.
But before buyers buy, amplifiers spread. These are the reviewers, journalists, creators, influencers, and communities your buyers already trust. The folks who can’t wait to tell your story for you. That is, so long as you give them something worth amplifying.
This is the difference between building for users and building for distribution. Snackbar’s Italian setting? A hook for travel writers (and players). The authentic recipes? Perfect for foodies to argue over. The emotional (and not-so-subtly political) storyline? Catnip for streamers, critics, and gamers who crave narrative depth and relevant conflict. Even the studio’s funding structure is designed for analysts and games journalists to cover.
The result? A launch story that (hopefully) will market itself.
The Attention Bottleneck
We’re all fighting algorithmic gravity. Organic reach is shrinking. Paid budgets don’t go as far. Even PR has become a game of who-you-know and what-makes-a-good-clip. So if you want traction at launch, you can’t depend on “we’ll post about it” or “we’ll run some ads.” You need people who are willing and able to open new doors to new people.
Amplifiers give you distribution that money can’t buy.
At SparkToro, we think about this constantly. When we built our SparkTogether conference, we didn’t just line up speakers we liked. We thought about who would amplify that story: the creators, writers, and marketing leaders whose audiences and whose storytelling chops reflect the kind of people we wanted in the room.
Our audience didn’t just show up because of a speaker list; they showed up because their favorite marketers were already talking about it.
That’s the power of designing marketing into your product or event.
How to Build With Amplifiers in Mind
Here’s a framework to make this practical:
1. Identify your amplifiers early. Use audience research tools (like SparkToro 😉) to find the websites, podcasts, YouTube channels, and communities your buyers already follow. That’s your amplifier shortlist.
2. Study what they talk about. What do they celebrate? What trends or values keep showing up? You’re looking for the overlap between what matters to them and what your product can authentically claim.
3. Design hooks that fit their world. If your amplifiers love data stories, build a product feature that generates interesting data. If they love culture, build something that reflects a cultural moment.
4. Test your story early. Before you build your full launch campaign, ask: Would this community care? Would they share this story even if they weren’t paid to? Post content on social media, like 100-word think pieces, to test themes or story angles.
5. Make it easy to share. Give amplifiers what they need: visuals, short clips, quotable insights, access. Remove friction between “I like this” and “I can post this.”
What Happens When You Design for Enthusiasm
You can’t buy genuine enthusiasm. But you can design for it.
When you build with amplifiers in mind, your launch feels less like shouting into the void and more like handing a gift to people who can’t wait to show others.
When I think about enthusiasm — genuine, passionate enthusiasm for a product and its purpose — it’s hard not to think of our good friend Scott Heimendinger, and his work at Seattle Ultrasonics inventing the world’s first ultrasonic chef’s knife for home cooks. Scott primed his existing network for years about his knife’s development, which led to all the coverage from influencers and traditional media. Seattle Ultrasonics’ YouTube video racked up a quarter-million views in roughly a week, and they sold out in 60 days thanks to following these principles!
That’s how distribution compounds. One amplifier introduces you to another. One tweet becomes an article. One article becomes a conference talk… or a podcast appearance.
This is the kind of marketing that lasts beyond a campaign, because it starts with empathy for who spreads the word, not just who buys the product.
Next Step: Find Your Amplifiers
If you want to design your next launch with amplifiers in mind, start here:
Run a free SparkToro search to see which websites, podcasts, and YouTube channels your audience already pays attention to. Then ask yourself:
- How can I build something those people want to talk about?
- What part of my product or story could make their content more interesting?
- What features should I build (or add) that would make amplification more likely?
- How do I position the product in a conversation that’s hot/sexy/high-conflict/worth-covering right now?
- Who, among these potential amplifiers, can I start a conversation with now to validate that the launch is heading in the right direction?
- How can I tease the launch and test the waters, hopefully for months, before the actual launch day (because there’s nothing like a high-anticipation launch that thousands of people are already waiting for)?
That’s how you stop “figuring out marketing later” — and start baking it in from day one.