What does a strategist do?

Solving important problems in a beautiful way - what’s not to love?

When I interviewed at LINK, I wondered what exactly the role of “strategist” entailed. I come from a military background where “strategy” is used a lot - and has lost its clear meaning. What I’ve found so far is that such a broad term fits well for the multi-faceted work that I do for our clients on a daily basis.

Above all, strategists analyze and clarify. In the projects I’ve led so far - creating artifacts about topics such as artificial intelligence, hyperconverged infrastructure, digital transformation, and so on - I have had to apply journalistic standards of research and iterate constantly to convey the right information to our clients’ audiences.

The work is inherently creative, and I’ve loved collaborating with the LINK designers to tell our clients’ stories in a visual way. From the very first kickoff meeting, I begin to think about the ways we might visually represent the complex topics our clients are wrestling with. After our initial meeting, I dive into the research and learn more about our client, their audience, and the issue at hand. Sometimes this process leads me to sketch an initial diagram on a whiteboard or post-it note that I will share with the designer. While I am learning, I will also meet with the designer to hear how they are visualizing the topic. We will bounce ideas off of one another and iterate until we have reached a basic wireframe. There is so much research and creative effort that goes into that initial wireframe!

The work that we do meets the clients needs, so sometimes that takes the form of an infographic, but other times it takes the shape of a more strategic level marketing plan or visuals for a presentation. We also facilitate workshops, and these are especially helpful for our clients in the early stages of innovation. While the end product we create has a compelling visual component, the work to get there (focus groups, road maps, workshops, and interviews) can take many different forms. I love that we are able to partner with our clients from the very early inception of their ideas all the way through to execution and evaluation.

"Above all, strategists analyze and clarify."

The final core component of a strategist’s work is a strong sense of project management. Our clients are busy, and the responsibility to see a project through to execution often falls to the lead strategist. We make sure that we understand our clients’ expectations regarding deadlines and develop a plan to meet those needs.

Looking to the future, LINK will continue to evolve how we evaluate the success of our projects. We are an outcome-driven organization, and the products we create are no different. As a strategist, I will work with our partners to ensure products are distributed through the correct channels and continue to refine how we measure product success. For example, a project I recently worked on aimed to educate an internal workforce and inspire action. At the bottom of an infographic we created was a join code to become a part of a community of interest. We can work with our partners to assess the use of that join code and attempt to correlate membership numbers with our product’s effectiveness. This is just one example of ensuring our compelling visuals inspire action and drive change. These metrics of success change for every project, but are top of mind to a strategist.

Overall, the work I have done as a strategist at LINK has been incredibly rewarding. Our partnerships with technologists and engineers stretch my knowledge and often have a large impact on important organizations like the U.S. Navy. It’s always fulfilling to hear feedback that our products improved our clients' operations in some way!

If you’re interested in learning more about the role of a strategist, you can send your resume to jobs@useinktothink.com. A member of our team will get back to you as soon as we are able!

This post was written by Mallory Martinez, Strategist at LINK. You can connect with Mallory here.