Past
Marketers filled a content calendar by volume and gated the best assets behind forms.
ACADEMY · DRONICS · MAKE THE MARKET AND YOUR PARTNERS SELL YOU
Learn DRONICS-O: Owned content
Publish what a buyer can use and check, in your own name, on your own site.
Motion: Owned content (guides, research and tools you publish; this motion feeds FOUND) · Owner: your CMO and channel head
Four steps: read the letter, read the lenses, take the self-assessment, then pick one or two gaps. All learning paths.
Free. No sign-in. Nothing you answer is stored.
Start from positioning: say what we are for and for whom before choosing a format.
Become a publisher: show up with something useful on a regular rhythm.
Statements are from this letter's self-assessment. Nothing is pre-filled and nothing is stored.
PAST AND FUTURE
DRONICS-O: the story in two lines
Marketers will work differently with agents. This is what changes for this letter, and what stays with a person.
Present to future
A story spine of a few claims decides what is published. Assets are open, answer the buyer’s question first, carry their sources, and are spread where the audience already is.
What the agent does
Turns the spine into briefs and drafts marked draft, checks each claim against the claim register, and plans where each piece is distributed.
What the marketer or CMO decides
The spine, the point of view, the voice, and what is published.
Shifts used here: S4 From a content calendar to a story spine; S5 From gated assets to open assets; S10 From publish once to distribute where the audience already is. Read the full framework and sources.
1. What the agent does
Agents check, draft, map and record. A person approves anything that leaves the company.
- List the questions buyers ask and the answers the client can stand behind.
- Choose the few pieces worth making: a guide, a piece of research or a small tool.
- Draft each piece answer-first, with sources, a plain summary and a short list of questions and answers.
- Package a brief for the strategist: what to publish, where it goes, who reviews it.
- After human action, record what was published and what came back, and pass the piece to FOUND.
Where a person approves
- A person approves every piece before it is published, and any claim about the client.
- Research is published only with its method and limits stated.
- Named customers, quotes and figures appear only with written permission.
- Named companies are examples of a type only; never imply a relationship with them.
Maturity scale (DRONICS): Unaware, Reactive, Targeted, Orchestrated, Demand engine. Full letter page
2. The leader lens
How other well-regarded B2B marketing leaders would approach this letter, each named with a source. These are their opinions, not evidence about any company, and none of them has a relationship with Foundronics.
How to apply
- L16 (Frost, HubSpot): Put the exact answer to the exact buyer question in the first sentence, add an FAQ of the follow-up questions, and make each section stand on its own. This is a practitioner's playbook, read through HubSpot's recap.
- L12 (Simmonds): Plan how each piece will be spread across the channels where the audience already is. A piece that gets no response may need better distribution, not a rewrite.
- L15 (Bodnar, HubSpot): Write the content strategy in one sentence, and the voice and what we will not say, before making anything.
A person decides: the strategist approves which leader-lens suggestions are used; agents draft and check only.
Sources for this lens
- L16. Publish the exact answer to the exact buyer question, answer first, and earn mentions on sources that AI tools already cite. HubSpot’s recap of a talk; its result claims are not used. Source (from a third party’s summary; check before quoting)
- L12. Distribution is a discipline. Find where your audience is and spread each piece across those channels. Only the free chapters were read. Source
- L15. Write the strategy in one sentence, keep a documented voice and point of view, and value people and mentions over logos and backlinks. Source
3. The CMO lens
What a good B2B CMO would do for this letter. The lens follows the public writing of Dave Gerhardt. It is our reading, not his endorsement of Foundronics.
What a great CMO would do
- Start from positioning: say what we are for and for whom before choosing a format.
- Become a publisher: show up with something useful on a regular rhythm.
- Have a point of view; find the question competitors leave unanswered.
A weekly rhythm
- Mon: review buyer questions and the content plan.
- Tue: draft one piece (`draft`).
- Wed: check every claim against a source.
- Thu: strategist reviews and approves.
- Fri: record where it went and what came back.
An example
Hypothetical (a software vendor, illustration only): the agent drafts a plain guide on how a buyer should compare three kinds of product, with sources. The strategist reviews it and decides whether to publish it.
What to avoid
- Do not publish what cannot be checked.
- Do not copy a competitor's topics without a view of our own.
- Do not expect results in weeks; the work compounds over many months.
A person decides: What the company publishes in its own name and what it keeps back. Agents draft and check; the strategist decides.
Sources for this lens
- P1. Brand is reputation, and positioning comes first. Visuals and tone come after. Source
- P5. Founder brand has three levels: tell the story well, publish, and learn from the feedback loop. Used here for the company and strategist voice only. Source
- P6. Differentiate and have a point of view. Look for the attention gaps competitors leave. Source (from a third party’s summary; check before quoting)
4. Check yourself
A free self-assessment for DRONICS-O. It takes a few minutes and needs no sign-in.
Take the DRONICS-O self-assessment
The examples on this page are hypothetical illustrations. A named company is an example of a type, never a customer or partner of Foundronics.
Next: DRONICS-N Networks and alliances · All learning paths · Foundronics Certified (roadmap)
Know the letter? Now score your own company.
The FOUND Score is free and needs no login.