How to Craft a Strategy
Every day, I sit next to one of the most gifted craftspeople currently working in advertising. That craftsperson’s name is Joel Holtby, co-Founder and co-CCO at Courage. I still remember, years before I started working with Joel, somebody showed me a deck he had designed. I couldn’t believe how stunning it was. I was at once filled with both awe and jealousy. The craft was staggering. Joel is, of course, also exceptional at coming up with and shaping ideas, but I’ve never worked with anyone as gifted as he is at the craft of bringing them to life.
In advertising, craft is mostly talked about in the context of creative. But craft is just as important to communicating strategy as it is to creating an ad. In fact, I would venture that strategy is two thirds content and one third craft.
The reason it’s so important? In the context of strategy, craft creates confidence.
A well crafted strategy signals to your audience that they are in good hands, that the work is considered. It ensures that your strategy will be both understood and engaging. In short, it gives your strategy the best chance of landing.
But sadly, for many strategists, craft is an afterthought if it’s considered at all.
What follows are 5 simple questions to ask yourself to ensure you are painting your ideas in their best light. You’ve put in the work, come up with your strategy, now it’s time to craft it.
What story am I telling?
At its core, the craft of strategy is storytelling. And the first step to storytelling is being really clear on what story you are telling. I know it sounds obvious, but I ask strategists what story they are telling constantly, and it’s shocking how often they struggle to answer it. Most strategies are simple, and you should be able to distill the main theme down to a sentence or two.
If your strategy isn’t clear, it’s probably because you’re doing too much. The fact is, there’s usually more than one answer to any strategic question, but a big part of our job is to pick a lane, and then craft your narrative around the story you’ve chosen to tell.
Am I hitting my key points hard enough?
This one is especially important if you’re writing a longer deck (vs. something shorter like a POV or a brief). Your strategy is most likely trying to land some overarching point, but there are typically some important points you need to make along the way. These are your ‘anchors’ and it is crucial that you find ways to give these slides more weight and gravitas in your storytelling.
Think of your strategy like taking your audience on a journey, these anchors make sure your audience doesn’t get lost in the wilderness along the way. When you’re hitting a key point, give it room to breathe to make sure that it lands. I typically achieve this in two ways. First, I’ll design these slides to look unique from the lead up slides that precede them. Doing this overtly communicates ‘this is something important so pay attention’. Second, I try to articulate the point in a short, declarative statement, usually with nothing else on the slide.
What does the deck look like?
There’s no reason why a strategy deck should be any less polished than a creative deck. Like anything else, this is something that simply takes practice. But here are some helpful tips. First, steal slides. You probably work with people who are a lot better at design than you. Every time I see a beautifully designed deck, I go through and ruthlessly steal templates, formatting, and background images. Some agencies have deck templates - if yours doesn’t, make your own.
Speaking of background images - try to match the tone of your deck with the background images you choose. All too often strategists choose goofy or cheesy background images and it reduces the impact of the words on top of them. Another simple trick is to throw some gifs in your deck. It not only adds some visual dynamism to your presentation, but also, people will be impressed that the strategist knows how to make their own gifs.
What can I take out?
Once you’re feeling like you’re just about done crafting your strategy, try to give it one last read with fresh eyes and ask yourself if there’s anything you can take out. Most strategies are overstuffed. We fall in love with our own words and our own ideas, and end up leaving things in that we probably should have taken out.
Go back to the first question, ‘what story am I telling?’, and then revisit your strategy and take out anything that isn’t in service of that story. Warning - when you’ve stripped out all the extraneous stuff, there’s a good chance you will look at your strategy and feel like you’ve written the most obvious strategy in the world and everyone is going to laugh at you. I have had this feeling a million times. It’s okay. The best strategies are simple, but compellingly told.
Am I ready to present this?
First rule - any strategy that you’ve spent a significant amount of time on should be presented, not emailed. And if possible, you should present it in person.
I’ve always been envious of super charismatic presenters who can light up a room as soon as they start talking. This has never been my style but through preparation and practice, I’ve been able to develop a style that is engaging (I hope), while still feeling like myself. One way or another, you need to convey that you are invested and believe in the words you are saying. If you don’t believe in them, why should anyone else?
Everyone has their own presentation style, you need to find yours. The first step is being prepared. Rehearse beforehand if it’s helpful, but at a minimum make sure you’re familiar enough with your content that you can speak to it without having to read it.
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I hope this helps. So much work goes into a strategy, you might as well put a little bit more work in to make sure it’s beautifully crafted. Please share any thoughts or important strategy crafting tips I’ve missed.
