Understanding Your Company’s “Job to be Done”

In my current University of Chicago digital marketing course, we’re learning about the concept of the “job to be done” and how it relates to innovation within a company.

The “job” is shorthand for what a customer really seeks to accomplish in a given circumstance.

A good company will identify the true customer “job to be done” that their organization can address.

Exceptional innovations solve problems that formerly had only inadequate solutions—or no solution.

For a company of any size, a great exercise is to put yourself in your customer’s shoes and identify the precise “job to be done” that your company can address in the form of a first-person statement from your target customer. Then, match that up to what you offer as a company.

The goal is to identify whether or not your company is fulfilling your customer’s “job to be done.” If you’re not, what can you provide to ensure that you have a solution for the job to be done?

Here are a few examples of the “job to be done” exercise. Here’s an example for the job to be done for Ice Nine Online:

Ice Nine Online Customer JTBD:

“Help me to understand how to reach my target audience online and then ensure that we reach them effectively.”

How Ice Nine Online Supports to JTBD:

Market research included in digital projects, training of client team members, digital marketing campaigns and projects rooted in research, analytics to support the efficacy of campaigns and projects.

About the Author

Matt Chiera

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Matt Chiera is the Founder and CEO of Ice Nine Online. Since forming the company in 2014, he’s helped Ice Nine Online’s small and mid-size clients generate millions of dollars in sales from digital marketing. Matt taught digital marketing strategy and tactics at the Tribeca School’s Digital Professional Institute. Matt’s book “Digital Marketers Sound Off” has been ranked as the #1 book in the Web Marketing category on Amazon.