Strategy First!

by Frank L. Williams

In the past, I’ve occasionally gotten strange looks from clients when I ask about their big-picture business or organizational goals. One even seemed a bit defensive and asked me why I wanted to know.

The reason is simple: EVERY communication program or activity should be designed to move you toward your overall business goals. If it doesn’t, why are you doing it? If you don’t know WHY you’re engaging in a specific communication activity, you may be wasting time and money.

Your COMMUNICATION strategy must be aligned with your BUSINESS strategy.

For further context, a few years ago I had a brief conversation about strategy with a digital marketing professional. No matter how I tried to direct the conversation, all they wanted to talk about was CONTENT strategy. They were unable to articulate the importance of connecting day-to-day communication activities with your overall business strategy.

Again, your COMMUNICATION strategy must be aligned with your BUSINESS strategy. If you have a content strategy, or any other plan focused on a specific tactic, it is important to understand that it is a piece in a larger puzzle.

This is why we strive to adopt a “Strategy First” approach in our work at Pioneer Strategies. “Strategy First” means that we seek to connect every communication activity to a larger business goal, which in turn means that we need to know where you want to take your business or organization. In order to help you realize your vision and fulfill your mission, we must know what they are and why they matter to you. Whether you’re engaging us to manage your entire marketing communication program or to design a simple brochure, we need to know how it fits into the big picture.

So how does our “Strategy First” approach translate into your experience working with us? It begins with us asking questions and doing research to develop an understanding of your situation, vision, mission, goals and culture. We have a detailed list of questions we’ll cover – in fact, our team is currently reviewing that list to ensure it covers all of the important bases. We’ll review your existing communication activities and study the competition. If available, we’ll review your online analytics.

Once we have a clear understanding of your situation, vision, mission, goals and culture, we’ll develop an internal strategic brief that guides our work. The strategic brief provides our team with a framework to ensure that everything we do is aligned with your overall business strategy. If an idea isn’t aligned with your strategy, we’ll tell you.

“Strategy First” helps ensure that EVERY communication program or activity moves you toward your overall business goals.

Need help putting strategy first in your marketing communication program? Drop us a line!