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?
As an example, here’s the Ice Nine Online Job To Be Done (JTBD):
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 the customer 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.
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