Why are there so many strategists in the room?

(And why do you need a Comms Strategist?)

Brand Strategy | Creative Strategy | Channel Strategy | Communications Strategy | Experience Strategy | PR Strategy | Digital Strategy | Social Strategy | Media Strategy | Content Strategy | Engagement Strategy | Data Strategy | Measurement Strategy | CRM Strategy | and more….

In my agency history, it was a common question from our clients: “Why do we have so many strategists?” I get it, though, we’re not a cheap bunch. But the onus is on our Client Team and the Strategy leadership team to make sure the client understands what they’re getting and why – and of course that we’re scoped for maximum efficiency.

So, who’s in the room?

No matter the title, there are four major areas of strategy – and many titles roll up to one of those four:

Brand Strategists (sometimes Creative Strategists) set the vision and set the direction for all the teams. They are responsible for brand and product positioning, brand architecture, voice of customer/consumer during creative development, and they are the key connector between the brand/client and the creative team.

Channel Strategists (think specific channels like Media, PR, Social, Commerce, UX, Tech Stack, CRM) bring deep expertise in their field. No campaign can come to life without their specific knowledge of how audiences engage with those channels and, of course, all the tactical specifics (ad sizes and types, measurement capabilities, tone, costs, vendors, etc.)

Data, Research & Measurement Strategists: This is oftentimes your data scientists, your analysts, or your reporting teams, but can also be your deep research team, or your optimization team (test and learn starts here). They should stay involved with a campaign from start to finish in various capacities.

And then you have the Comms Strategists. We are different than specific channel strategists, but we do channel planning at the onset of a creative project. We are responsible (with inputs from all over) for the customer journey, how they engage with channels, what barriers and opportunities exist, the comms tasks or jobs to be done, which channels best align, and how the messaging flows through the journey stages and customer experience.

How do you keep from overwhelming the client?

I hear you saying (or maybe it’s echoes of campaigns past), “Comms Strategists smell a lot like other strategists.” True. But we’re a secret weapon on successful client teams that keep your costs down, your campaigns more efficient, and your clients much happier. And, let me tell you why.

When you bring a Comms Strategist on at the beginning of a project, we can help simplify the campaign development from creative ideation to go-to-market execution and reduce the number of the bodies in the room.

Creative/Channel Alignment: Too often we hear that the channel teams aren’t briefed until after the creative is baked and the media team just has to find placements for that creative. Other times we hear that media has made an efficient media buy and the creative teams are scrambling to convert their creative into less-than-ideal assets, watering down their original creative ideas. Comms Strategy, a vital part of an integrated strategy team, sparks innovative alignment between channel opportunities and creative inspiration. We contribute to audience insights and drive impactful engagement across campaigns, always-on initiatives, and evergreen touchpoints. We can help push the creative product to break through and go to innovative places. A good Comms Strategist should be able to speak some level of creative strategy and have a general knowledge of all media channels with specific expertise in more than one across full funnel.

Agency Team Integrator: When trying to cut costs, Client/Account teams will try to limit when the channel strategists get involved and wind up with silos. Then the social team has no idea what the web team is doing, and the CRM team is on an island (you get the picture) and creative comes out the other end in chaos and without a cohesive experience. Whether there are multiple agencies involved, or different teams within the agency, the Comms Strategist is positioned ideally to play an integration role, eliminating the need to have everyone on every call, but also avoiding siloes. Comms Strat sets processes in motion, creates journeys (with CX and BX), aligning the channels, messaging and desired outcomes, and making channel briefs or contributing to them so each team is executing against a common understanding of campaign goals, creative, and how everything works together.

First Round Creative Reviewer: As the holder of the comms plan, Comms Strategy excels in first line reviews. Does the asset do the job it needs to do? Is it optimized for where it will live in the campaign ecosystem and the channel/platform? Is the CTA appropriate for the buyer’s stage of the journey? Where does the asset drive to? This can happen during the regular first round Internal Review and means we can avoid sending creative to client approvers or to channel teams. Shortening the review process and eliminating errors should be everyone’s goal.

So, if you don’t have a Comms Strategist as part of your campaign team, why not? Ask your agency or look at your own structure and see if you see an opportunity.