The Recipe vs. The Meal

Hi friend,

Lance here. Since Thanksgiving is this week, I want to give you something to chew on that has nothing to do with turkey prep and everything to do with better marketing messaging.

Which image has you more excited for Turkey day?

Here’s the idea:

A recipe card is useful, but it’s not why people gather around the table.

• They come for the meal.
• They come for the conversation.
• They come for the shared experience.

Your product works the same way. It’s the recipe card.

But the story your marketing tells needs to be about the meal.

🚨 The Problem

This is where most teams slip.

They obsess over the ingredients, the steps, the features. They forget the reason anyone wants those things in the first place: the outcome, the transformation, the moment that matters in someone else’s life or business.

Your customers aren’t buying your product.

They’re buying the experience it creates.

🏃 Activity

Use this AI prompt to help identify the real human story behind your product.

Copy, paste, and fill in the blanks:

“My product is the recipe card, but the real story is the meal. Act as a marketing strategist and help me identify what the ‘meal’ is for my customers. My product does: [describe what your product does]. My best customers are: [describe them]. Based on that, list the human moments, experiences, transformations, or gatherings my product makes possible. For each one, explain what the customer is trying to feel, avoid, fix, or accomplish, and why that moment matters to them.”

Run this once, then ask:

Which of these stories feels the truest to what my customers actually say?

📝 Output

Something to work with to help shift your marketing message to the outcome you can deliver on, not the product you sell.

📈 Outcome

• You’ll find it easier to create marketing messaging that connects.
• Your message shifts from ingredients to experience.
• Your customers see themselves as the hero and your product as the helpful guide.

That’s how you market the meal, not the recipe.

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