Why Strategy Is So Important!

I have worked on a lot of client accounts over the past 12 years of being in business. What I’ve learned is that some clients plan and others fail to plan. While I’ve heard the truism that those that plan, succeed, and those that don’t succeed, fail to plan, a million times – nothing could be closer to the truth.

In the beginning stages of our existence as a website design company, we built websites that looked good. They were literally pretty pictures with some brochure type text treatment that provided nothing more than a presence on the Internet. These good-looking websites were good for nothing.

It wasn’t until we began to think differently about websites, in terms of what they could accomplish for a client, that strategy first entered the design process. We began to realize that through a strategic approach, we could produce not just a website but an experience that would engage a viewer and ultimately result in some level of conversion.

This was a major turning point in our evolvement as a website design company, and a metamorphic change took place - we became an Interactive Marketing Company. What we learned time and time again was that by applying discovery, critical thinking and brand elements to a solution, we had much greater success of achieving client goals and objectives. Furthermore we were able to understand what was working, what wasn’t and why. This greatly enhanced our ability to perform for a client rather than simply design for a client.

Ultimately what I’m attempting to communicate in this article is that a strategic plan really works. I’ve seen it, our clients have seen it, and their customers have proven it. Each time a viewer hits one of our client’s websites, they become involved with a carefully planned experience that immerses them in our client’s world. Here they interact with messaging, graphics, animations, video and brand elements that have been specifically created and presented to evoke response.

If we have planned and implemented well, we get the viewer response that we wanted – i.e., the viewer places an order, or completes an online form or picks up the phone and calls for more information. This is what we call conversion - getting a viewer to take a planned action that results in sales or generates a lead. This is what we work for. And we achieve it by employing a strategic plan that clearly states what we want a viewer to do and how we will get the viewer to do it.

Strategy is the foundation, and the website is the execution. Without strategy you get pretty pictures, which does not effectively communicate with your audience. If you really want to succeed, you need a strategy, and you need to hire a company that can help you develop a strategy that is right for your company.

For more information about strategy, please contact us today!