# Get a marketing strategy for your small business URL: https://blackbox.plus/guides/approve-your-strategy Level 1: Get set up (https://blackbox.plus/guides/get-set-up) Updated: 2026-11-05 Time: about 6 minutes You'll end with: An approved one-page strategy, with its moves on your calendar and a deck to share Do it in Blackbox: https://blackbox.plus/app/plan?tab=strategy > A one-page marketing plan, written by Blackbox: what you sell, why you, where you show up, three moves and day-90 targets. Answer what you know, then approve. ## Short answer Blackbox (blackbox.plus) writes a marketing strategy for your small business on one page, and you approve it in Plan. Click Plan in the left menu, pick your brand and open the Strategy tab. The page holds five answers: what we sell, to whom and what it is worth; why us; where we show up; the three moves this quarter; and how we will know by day 90. Blackbox drafts them from your website, your competitors, your connected accounts and what you tell it. A card marked Needs you asks what only you know, such as a typical sale or the monthly ad budget: type it and click Save. Click Change on a card to redraft a block with a note, then keep the old or the new text. Download gives the pitch deck as PowerPoint or PDF. Approve this plan puts the moves on your calendar as dated campaigns and posts; nothing is launched or published until you do it, and only an admin can approve. ## You'll need - **A brand with its website read.** The first answers are written from your website and your competitors. Find competitors on the Strategy tab starts it. (Guide: https://blackbox.plus/guides/get-started) - **An admin login.** Only an admin can answer, change or approve. Teammates can read the page. ## How to get a marketing strategy for your small business in Blackbox 1. **Open the Strategy tab.** Click **Plan** in the left menu, pick your brand, then click **Strategy**. You'll see: **The plan for your brand, on one page**, five numbered answers, and **N of 5 ready** above them. Starts at: https://blackbox.plus/app/plan?tab=strategy ![The Strategy tab for Daybreak Coffee Co., ringed: The plan for Daybreak Coffee Co., on one page, with 4 of 5 ready and 1 needs an answer from you above the five answers](https://blackbox.plus/guides/approve-your-strategy/01-strategy-tab.png) 2. **Answer what only you know.** On a card marked **Needs you**, type the answer, for example to **How much can we spend on ads each month?**, and click **Save**. You'll see: **Drafting from your sources…** on the card, then **Ready**, and one fewer answer waiting above. ![The first answer, What we sell, to whom, and what it is worth, marked Needs you, with the monthly ad budget typed and Save ringed](https://blackbox.plus/guides/approve-your-strategy/02-answer.png) 3. **Read the five answers.** Read **What we sell, to whom, and what it is worth**, **Why us**, **Where we show up**, **The three moves this quarter** and **How we will know by day 90**. You'll see: **Ready** on each card, the **Sources:** line above, and **Still missing:** under a card that is thin. ![Why us and Where we show up marked Ready: the positioning line in the shop’s voice, and the channel table with each channel’s role and budget](https://blackbox.plus/guides/approve-your-strategy/03-blocks.png) 4. **Change what’s wrong.** Click **Change** on a card, then **Redraft with input** on the block behind it. Say what should change and click **Redraft**. You'll see: **Old** beside **New** once the redraft is ready, with **Keep old** and **Keep new**. ![The Change dialog for Why us: the block behind it with Redraft with input open, a note typed in the owner’s words and Redraft ringed](https://blackbox.plus/guides/approve-your-strategy/04-change.png) 5. **Download the deck.** Click **Download**, then **PowerPoint** or **PDF** under **Pitch deck**. You'll see: A file named after your brand, ending in pitch.pptx or pitch.pdf. ![The Download menu: Pitch deck and Full strategy, each with PDF and PowerPoint, with PowerPoint under Pitch deck ringed](https://blackbox.plus/guides/approve-your-strategy/05-download.png) 6. **Approve the plan.** Click **Approve this plan** at the bottom of the page, read what changes in Plan, then click **Approve**. You'll see: **Approved.** on the bar, the moves on your calendar as dated campaigns and posts, and your CMO’s first suggestions. ![The Approve Order ahead for commuters dialog: three phases added to the calendar and two Studio drafts, with Approve ringed](https://blackbox.plus/guides/approve-your-strategy/06-approve.png) 7. **Find older versions.** Open **Decision memo, versions and downloads** under the page, then **More** and **Versions**. You'll see: Each version with **Open**, and **Go back to this version** inside one. ![Decision memo, versions and downloads open under the page, ringed, with the More menu’s Versions, Download PowerPoint, Download PDF and Decision memo](https://blackbox.plus/guides/approve-your-strategy/07-versions.png) ## Good to know - Opening the tab starts the writing: the status line reads Blackbox is writing… N of M blocks while the answers fill in. Nothing is spent or posted by drafting. - Why us offers a few lines under Pick the one that sounds like you. Click Use this on the one that fits; the deck and the ads are written in that voice. - Every figure on the page is marked where it came from inside Change: Measured from your accounts, Stated by client, Assumed, or a Proposal you can change. - A card marked Dates need you is waiting for a start date for one of the moves; How we will know by day 90 reads Ready, targets follow your answers until the budget is answered. - Research behind this page, under the answers, holds the market analysis, the competitor analysis, the social audit, local moments and the readiness audit. It is read-only; competitors are edited on the Competitors tab. - When only the brand is drafted and no market plan yet, the bar reads Review and approve and opens the decision memo card instead. Each market you add gets its own page: see [How to plan a go-to-market strategy for a new market](https://blackbox.plus/guides/launch-in-a-new-market). - Approving a new version replaces the earlier one, which keeps running until you do. For the cards that follow, see [Act on Blackbox’s suggestions](https://blackbox.plus/guides/act-on-inbox-suggestions). ## Questions people ask **The page says Nothing is drafted yet** Blackbox needs your competitors first. Under the message, click Find competitors; the five answers fill in as each block is written, usually within a few minutes. **A card says Could not write** The sources were too thin for that block. Click Change, add a note, a link or a file under Redraft with input, or connect an account, then click Redraft. If it keeps failing, click Report. **I can’t click Save, Change or Approve this plan** Only an admin can answer, change or approve the strategy. Teammates read An admin can answer instead. Ask an admin, or have them change your role in Settings under Team. **It says N questions above still wait for you** You can approve now and answer later. Each answer you save afterwards redrafts its card and becomes a new version for you to approve in turn. **Download says Some blocks are not ready** A thin or missing block gives a shorter deck. Fix the blocks it names first, or click Download anyway and send the shorter deck. **The bar says Review and approve, not Approve this plan** Only the brand is drafted so far, with no market plan. Review and approve opens the decision memo card, where the brand strategy is approved; the market plan follows.