Most businesses just need a one page strategy, not a 50 page deck

9 November 2022

How many strategy presentations have you sat through that go on for what seems like an eternity? An endless slidefest on PowerPoint that never quite gets to the point.

During my career, like you I’ve sat through many of these strategy meetings and ended up thinking that what has just been presented should really have been just a handful of slides. Saving everyone from death by PowerPoint.

And even worse, when these presentations are done, the document rarely sees the light of day again, consigned to the cloud graveyard in the sky, along with other presentations of a similar length.

Don’t get me wrong, there are times when you need more than a handful of slides to communicate your big idea, but communicating with brevity and clarity is a learned skill.

There must be a better way

And there is. The goal of any creator of presentations should be the ability to summarise their content on a single slide, maximum two.

I’ve always been a big fan of strategy on a page concepts. Being able to distil your big strategy and tactics down to a single page has always made more sense.

  • It bring total clarity to what you’re trying to achieve
  • Explaining the strategy to others is far easier when it’s distilled into a page
  • You have a better chance of the document staying alive longer
  • It’s easier to tweak a one-page strategy document than edit a 30-page behemoth

Here’s what I believe should be included in your one-page strategy

  • The business vision
  • The brand promise
  • The brand story / messaging
  • Business objectives
  • Summary of tactics
  • Quarterly or half year themes
  • KPIs

That’s pretty much all that’s needed.

It summarises everything your leadership team and senior team will need to know in order for everyone to be on the same page.

Of course, the tactical plan will be a longer document that details your channel and brand strategy, but for everyone else, a one-page summary is usually more than adequate.

Some further reading for you

There are a few books that have helped me develop the concept of one page strategy further, hopefully these will be useful for you too…

  • The 1 Page Marketing Plan by Allan Dib
  • Marketing Made Simple by Donald Miller

So, your goal is to try and shorten your presentations and create a simple but effective one page strategy that everyone can follow.

Got a question about this article?

Want to discuss your business strategy in more detail?

We’d love to help. You can contact us at hello@yellowyoyo.co.uk or leave us a message here.

Steve

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