Do you remember proofs? The step by step method for laying out your logic in geometry. I remember clearly the day I learned these for the first time. Some kids hated them, but I loved them. There was something so easy and so satisfying about laying out each if – then statement proving exactly which math rules showed the correct answer.
Dorky- I know.
Lucky for me, I use a lot of this same ideology in my work today. But instead of working forward and writing down each step that gets us to the the right answer, in strategic communications we work backward.
Strategy starts by laying out the ideal outcome. Then by working backward, identifying exactly what needs to be true (the “if”) in order for that ideal outcome (the “then”) to come to fruition. Accomplishing each of those truths becomes the thrusts of the strategy. Once we’ve identified each of these “if-then, therefore” thrusts, then it’s time to pick out the tools that will make them happen.
We see a lot of marketers forget the approach our geometry teachers taught us. They jump right to a specific tool instead of starting with the end goal in mind.
We encourage you to think about it strategically. Think about it backward.
This backward way of thinking can be difficult, but it’s our specialty. We work with clients all the time to identify which tactics will actually help them reach their goals. We want more than pretty, we want effective. And efficacy comes from strategy.
Interested in talking more about it? Let’s get coffee.