Marketplace Template Creation

This drill walks through the end-to-end process of creating a free template or tool and publishing it to template marketplaces as a lead-magnet. The template is designed to attract your ICP, demonstrate your product's value, and drive them to your product via embedded CTAs.

Input

• ICP definition (output from icp-definition drill) -- who your buyers are and what workflows they care about
• Your product's core value proposition -- what problem it solves
• A list of 2-3 target marketplaces (e.g., Notion Marketplace, Gumroad, Figma Community, Airtable Universe)

Steps

1. Research high-demand template topics

Use Clay with the clay-claygent fundamental to identify what template topics your ICP searches for:

Claygent prompt:

For a {your_category} product targeting {your_ICP}, research the top template marketplaces (Notion, Figma, Airtable, Gumroad, Canva). For each marketplace:
1. What are the top 10 most-downloaded free templates in the {your_category} or adjacent categories?
2. What keywords do users search when looking for templates in this space?
3. What gaps exist -- popular search terms with few quality results?
Return a ranked list of template ideas with: topic, target marketplace, estimated demand (high/medium/low), and competition level (high/medium/low).

Prioritize: high demand + low competition topics. These represent underserved search terms where your template can rank quickly.

2. Design the template

Create a template that delivers standalone value while naturally leading users to your product:

Template structure:

• Core utility: The template must solve a real workflow problem on its own. A template that only works with your product is not a lead magnet -- it is a feature demo.
• Embedded product context: Include sections, comments, or notes that reference how your product extends or automates what the template does manually.
• CTA placement: Add 1-2 CTAs (not more) linking to your product with UTM parameters. Place them: (a) in the template's README/About section, and (b) at a natural "what's next" point in the workflow.
• Sample data: Populate with realistic sample data. Templates with sample data get 3-5x more downloads than empty ones.

Template quality checklist:

• [ ] Solves a specific workflow problem for the ICP
• [ ] Works standalone without requiring your product
• [ ] Includes sample data showing the template in action
• [ ] Has 1-2 CTAs with UTM-tracked links to your product
• [ ] Includes a brief "About" or "How to use" section
• [ ] Is visually clean and well-organized

3. Publish to the primary marketplace

Based on your ICP's preferred platform, publish to the best-fit marketplace first:

• Notion users (PMs, ops, founders): Use notion-template-publish
• Design-oriented users (designers, marketers): Use figma-community-publish
• Data-oriented users (ops, analysts): Use airtable-universe-publish
• General audience or mixed: Use gumroad-product-publish (supports any file type)

Follow the relevant fundamental for full publishing instructions. Key metadata for all:

• Title with primary keyword
• Description leading with the outcome the template delivers
• 3-5 tags matching search terms
• Cover image showing the template populated with sample data

4. Cross-publish to secondary marketplaces

Adapt the template for 1-2 additional marketplaces:

• If primary is Notion, create a simplified version for Gumroad (export as PDF + Notion link)
• If primary is Figma, create an Airtable version of any data/tracker components
• Gumroad can host any file type as a universal fallback

Adjust UTM parameters per marketplace: utm_source={marketplace_name}.

5. Log listings in CRM

Using the attio-contacts fundamental, create a campaign record in Attio for each marketplace listing:

Fields: template_name, marketplace, listing_url, date_published, status (pending_review / live / rejected), downloads_at_publish (0).

6. Promote the template

After publication, amplify initial downloads:

• Share the listing URL on your social channels (LinkedIn, Twitter/X) with a brief post explaining what the template does
• Post in relevant communities (Reddit, Slack groups, Discord servers) where your ICP gathers
• Add the template link to your product's resources page
• Include a mention in your next email newsletter

Output

• 1 template published on 2-3 marketplaces
• All listings have UTM-tracked CTAs pointing to your product
• CRM records for each listing
• Initial promotion executed to drive early downloads

Triggers

• Run once at Smoke level for the first template
• Run again at Scalable level when expanding the template portfolio
• Re-run when creating templates for new use cases or audiences