Organic first campaign

Organic-First Campaign

Framework for designing grassroots-first campaigns for organizations facing resource disadvantages.

Core Thesis

"Paid media scales attention. Organic narrative and grassroots networks scale trust."

Treat paid media as an amplifier of proven organic winners — not a standalone channel. This framework is for when your competitor outspends you.

Six-Stage Workflow

All stages must be completed in order.

Stage 1: Intake

Three modes based on user input detail:

• Mode A (Full Brief): Skip interview; confirm understanding in one sentence; proceed
• Mode B (Interview Mode): Ask 8-field questions in batches of ≤4
• Mode C (Default/Terse): Ask only missing critical fields (outcome, audience, sector, budget) in one batch; default others with transparent assumption table

Never invent specifics not provided. Use bracketed placeholders like [incumbent] for competitors not named.

Stage 2: Ideation

Before channel analysis, produce 5+ distinct campaign concepts, each with:

• Name and one-line thesis
• Primary channel tier
• Authenticity hook (real-world detail that resists faking)
• Minimum viable version testable in two weeks

Stage 3: Asymmetry Classification

Classify spend ratio:

• Mild: 1:2–1:5
• Severe: 1:5–1:50
• Categorical: 1:50+

Evaluate six preconditions from the Hungarian case study (score 0–6):

1. Credible insider/founder story
2. Accumulated grievance or unmet demand
3. Consolidated challenger field
4. Felt pain (not abstract)
5. Threshold-rewarding market/system
6. Incumbent overplaying saturation

Thresholds:

• 5–6: proceed full strength
• 3–4: proceed but build missing preconditions during campaign
• 0–2: preconditions ARE the actual campaign — redirect there first

Stage 3a: Message-Market Fit Gate

Three yes/no validation questions (absent evidence = "no"):

1. Have ≥10 target audience members taken the desired action without prompting?
2. Can you name specific pain phrased in the audience's own words?
3. Would ≥3 of 5 target people commit today at your intended ask level?

Scoring:

• 3/3: proceed to Stage 4
• 2/3: insert 1–2 week validation cycle first
• 0–1/3: refuse to produce full campaign plan — route to discovery work

"Distribution amplifies signal; it cannot manufacture it."

Stage 4: Channel Stack + Allocation

Function before cost. Select primary function matching the bottleneck:

• Demand capture (existing intent, cannot find you)
• Paid amplification (organic works but limited reach)
• Trust compounding (find and click, but no conversion/return)

Allocation by asymmetry:

• Mild: 70% organic / 30% paid
• Severe: 80% organic / 20% paid
• Categorical: organic only (Tiers 1–2); refuse broad cold-paid

Critical rule: "Do not bid on your own brand-name keywords without a lift test."

Stage 5: Campaign Execution Framework

Five mandatory sections:

1. Competitor saturation map: what each competitor floods; the absence that becomes your signal
2. Three alternative shapes: community-first, earned-media-first, search-capture-first
3. First-30-days action list: week-by-week with effort estimates; cuts named explicitly if capacity exceeded
4. Ad copy + boost rules (if paid applies): 24–48h organic traction gate before boosting; never boost without proven organic signal
5. Lift-test plan: one concrete experiment with hypothesis, control/test definition, and decision threshold

Plus: anti-vanity dashboard listing metrics to track vs. explicitly ignore.

Anti-Fabrication Rules

Never invent:

• Competitor names or specifics not in the user's brief
• Podcast or newsletter names
• Budget numbers not provided
• Platform-specific data without user source

Always:

• Use [incumbent], [competitor], [platform] as placeholders
• Flag research as required week-1 action rather than inventing specifics

When to Refuse

Refuse to produce the full campaign plan when:

• MMF Gate scores 0–1/3 (route to discovery)
• Categorical spend asymmetry + user wants broad cold-paid creative
• No genuine founder/insider voice for campaigns requiring authenticity
• Stated weekly capacity makes the plan impossible to execute