Guide 12 of 15 in Level 1: Get set up

Get a marketing strategy for your small business

Blackbox (blackbox.plus) drafts a marketing strategy for your small business from your website, your competitors, your connected accounts and the numbers you give it, and you approve it in the Inbox. Click Inbox in the left menu and open your brand: the Strategy draft card sits at the top of Recommendations. Read If you approve, which says where to play, how to win, your budget, the most you would pay per customer and the worst case, and Not known yet, which says what is measured and what is still assumed. Open Why this strategy · the 5 checks to see your figures beside measured ones and where you stand against your competitors. To fix a number or a competitor, or add a note, click Change something, then Save and redraft; a new version arrives in about 10 minutes. When it reads right, click Use this strategy. Only an admin can approve it, nothing is posted or spent, and your 3-month plan is drafted next.

You'll need
Time
About 5 minutes 7 steps Updated
You'll end with
An approved strategy for your brand, with its 3-month plan on the way
Do it in Blackbox Open the Inbox, after you sign in
Example
A strategy drafted from your website, competitors and numbers, approved in the Inbox

How to get a marketing strategy for your small business in Blackbox

  1. Step 1:Open the Inbox

    Click Inbox in the left menu and open your brand.

    You'll see: The Strategy draft card at the top of Recommendations.

    Open this in Blackbox

  2. Step 2:Read what approving means

    Read If you approve: where to play, how to win, your numbers and the worst case.

    You'll see: Not known yet under it: what is measured so far, and what is still assumed.

  3. Step 3:Check why

    Click Why this strategy · the 5 checks.

    You'll see: You said beside Measured, Your position against your competitors, and the five checks.

  4. Step 4:Change what’s wrong

    Click Change something. Fix your numbers or competitors, or write a note, then click Save and redraft.

    You'll see: A new version arrives in about 10 minutes, with What changed at the top.

  5. Step 5:Approve it

    Click Use this strategy.

    You'll see: The card marked Your strategy, live since today.

  6. Step 6:See it on the Strategy tab

    Click the Strategy tab, then Details.

    You'll see: Who we sell to, Why they pick us, Up against and How we’ll know.

  7. Step 7:Approve your 3-month plan

    When the plan card arrives in Recommendations, read it and click Approve the plan.

    You'll see: The plan’s first phase on the Strategy tab’s Now view.

Good to know

  • The first draft arrives about 10 minutes after setup finds your competitors and saves your answers. Questions you skipped wait next to it in Recommendations.
  • Use this strategy records your choice. Nothing is posted, and nothing is spent on any account.
  • Each line is marked Measured (from your connected accounts), Assumed (from you or your website) or Proposal (a figure Blackbox suggests, which you can change).
  • Once a strategy is approved, the answers behind it are locked. New campaigns, ad ideas and the brand chat work from it.
  • Only an admin approves. Teammates see the same card with “An admin approves the strategy.” under it.
  • In the Change something panel, Not sure? Talk it through with AI opens the brand chat, which can suggest a change for you to add.
  • For the cards that follow, see Act on the Inbox’s suggestions.

If something doesn't work

There’s no strategy draft in my Inbox

It arrives about 10 minutes after your competitors are found or your answers are saved. If the Strategy tab says Not set up yet, click Set up your strategy.

I can’t click Use this strategy

Only an admin can approve it. Teammates see “An admin approves the strategy.” under the card instead of the buttons, so ask an admin.

I saved a change and the card didn’t update

A redraft takes about 10 minutes. The new version replaces the card, with What changed since version 1 at the top.

A competitor on the map is wrong

Click Change something and remove it with the × on its name, or click Add for the right one. That saves straight away, and a new version follows.

I clicked Not now by mistake

The draft is put aside and leaves your Inbox. Answering a question or reviewing your competitors brings a new draft.

Almost everything says Assumed

Assumed lines come from you or your website. They turn Measured once your ads show the numbers — see Connect your Meta ad account to Blackbox.

Stuck at any step? Send us a message and we'll do it with you on a call. All of Level 1: Get set up