I’d come across this lovely quote by Henry Mintzberg, a writer and a professor of management, and ended up in a brief research interlude into his work discussing emergent strategies, which is very interesting.
But my focus on this quote is the idea of a “pattern” in decisions, which to me suggests a degree of internal consistency.
If I’m creating a social media strategy for a business or an individual, I’m first interested in the essential elements of their product or service.
- What is it?
- Who is offering it?
- Where is it available?
- Why is it valuable?
From there, I want to build out more secondary messaging, with either repetition or internal adherence to the original elements.
- Who might find it useful?
- What are some secondary aspects of its value?
- What are some additional reasons it might be valuable?
These secondary messages shouldn’t contradict the business’ identity or its more essential qualities and messages. For instance, if we want to imply that the quality of a restaurant’s food is worth its slightly higher price point, we don’t want to also emphasize its affordability or accessibility.
We can also express this “pattern” of decision making in the consistency of our brand’s written and visual language. We should use similar images, rhetoric, and and language throughout our platforms and campaigns.
Precision Strategy Marketing 