Free playbook · 16 pages · PDF and Excel
Marketing Decision Map Playbook
AI already shapes which accounts get targeted, which claims go out and where the budget lands. This playbook shows a security marketing team how to name those decisions, decide how much AI may do in each one, and put the rules in place in 90 days.
The Marketing Decision Map Playbook is a free 16-page guide by Christine Castro for security marketing leaders who need to govern the decisions AI now influences. It walks through listing those decisions, scoring each on business value, risk and frequency (priority equals value times risk plus frequency, out of 30), and giving each one of three AI roles: human decides, AI recommends for approval, or AI acts within guardrails. The top five get a written decision card with an owner, an approval gate and a line nobody crosses, and the whole set rolls out over 90 days using Observe / Analyze / Execute. A blank Excel workbook with live scoring formulas comes with it. No signup.
Download the playbook and the workbook
Both are free, with no form. Read the playbook first, then score your own decisions in the workbook or in the online tool.
PDF · 16 pages · 280 KB
The playbook
The method, the reasoning behind it, 24 pre-scored decisions, two worked decision cards, a readiness check, the 90-day rollout and six mistakes to avoid. Written to be read in one sitting and shared with a CEO.
Download the playbookExcel · 10 tabs · live formulas
The blank workbook
Score each decision and the shortlist reorders itself. Includes a card library with a draft card for every decision, your top five cards, the shared context checklist and the rollout plan.
Download the workbookOnline tool · free
Run it in the browser
The Marketing Decision Map does the scoring, plots every decision on value and risk, drafts the top five cards and exports a branded Excel file and PDF of your results.
Open the Marketing Decision MapWhat is inside
Twelve short chapters, each one page or two, in the order a team would work through them.
- 01Why this matters: AI is already making marketing decisions
- 02The three AI roles and how to choose between them
- 03How to score value, risk and frequency
- 0424 decisions security marketing teams make, pre-scored
- 05Where the decisions sit on the value and risk map
- 06Decision cards, with two worked examples
- 07Shared context: what people and AI decide from
- 08Readiness check: where your team starts
- 09The 90-day rollout on Observe / Analyze / Execute
- 10Keeping a decision log and a review rhythm
- 11Six mistakes that undo the work
- 12What the playbook cannot do on its own
Who it is for
Written for security companies, where a wrong claim, a leaked customer name or a misread threat report costs more than it would in most markets. The method works for any B2B team.
How to use it
- Read it with your leadership team. One sitting, before anyone scores anything, so everyone uses the same three AI roles and the same scale.
- Score the decisions together. Use the workbook or the online tool with the people who make each call. Add the decisions your team makes that the list misses, and switch off the ones that do not apply.
- Write and sign the top five cards. Each card names an owner, the inputs, what AI may do, what stays human, the approval gate and the line nobody crosses.
- Run the 90-day rollout and keep the log. Observe, then Analyze, then Execute. Review the log on the rhythm the playbook sets, and move a decision to a higher or lower AI role only on the evidence in it.
Questions about the playbook
What is the Marketing Decision Map Playbook?
A free 16-page PDF by Christine Castro for security marketing leaders. It shows how to list the marketing decisions AI now influences, score each on business value, risk and frequency, give each one of three AI roles, write a decision card for the five that matter most, and roll the rules out over 90 days.
Who is the playbook for?
CMOs, VPs and heads of marketing at cybersecurity and other B2B technology companies, plus the marketing operations and RevOps people who wire AI into the tools. It is also useful for a CEO or board member who wants to know who is accountable when AI shapes a marketing call.
What are the three AI roles?
Human decides: AI can gather and summarize, but a named person makes the call. AI recommends for approval: AI drafts the option and a named person approves it before anything happens. AI acts within guardrails: AI makes the call inside written limits, logs every decision, and a named owner reviews a sample on a set schedule.
How is each decision scored?
Each decision gets a score of 1 to 5 for business value, risk and frequency. Priority equals value times risk plus frequency, out of 30. A score of 22 or more means govern first, 14 to 21 means govern next, and anything lower gets a periodic spot-check.
What is in the blank workbook?
An Excel workbook with live formulas. It has a readiness check, an inventory of 24 decisions to score, a shortlist that reorders itself as you rescore, a card library with a draft card for every decision, decision cards for your top five, a shared context checklist and a 90-day rollout plan.
Do I need to sign up to download it?
No. The PDF and the workbook are free downloads with no form and no email gate.
How is the playbook different from the online Marketing Decision Map?
The online tool does the scoring, plotting and card writing for you and exports a branded Excel and PDF of your own results. The playbook explains the method, the reasoning behind each choice and the mistakes to avoid, so a team can run the exercise in a working session or share it with a CEO.
Want this run with your team?
I run the working session that scores your decisions with the people who make them, write and sign the top five cards, and set up the shared context and approval gates in the tools your team already uses.
Sources: ClickZ with Gartner, April 2026; Gartner, CMO AI literacy, 2026; Gartner 2026 CMO Spend Survey. Published October 2026 by Christine Castro.