Building Your Strategic Foundation: Getting a Seat at the Table (Part 3 of 4)
- Jesse Krinsky
- Jan 8
- 4 min read
In Parts 1 and 2 of this series, we explored why video teams need strategic influence and how to break free from purely tactical roles. Now it's time to build the foundation that will establish your credibility as a strategic leader. This means developing new skills and perspectives that might feel unfamiliar, but are essential for strategic influence.
Speaking the Language of Business
The first step in building strategic influence is learning to communicate in terms that resonate with organizational leaders. While we might get excited about creative approaches or technical solutions, executives focus on business outcomes. Here's how to bridge that gap:
Key Metrics That Matter
Revenue impact
Employee engagement scores
Customer acquisition costs
Brand awareness metrics
Operational efficiency
Instead of discussing video views or completion rates in isolation, connect these metrics to business outcomes. For example, "Our internal training videos helped reduce onboarding time by 27%, saving approximately $50,000 per quarter in training costs."
Building Your Business Case
Strategic leaders don't just execute projects, they justify investments and demonstrate value. Here's how to build compelling business cases for video initiatives:
Quantifying Value
Direct cost savings (e.g., reduced travel for training)
Brand value enhancement
Revenue generation (sales enablement, customer education)
Efficiency gains (faster onboarding, clearer communication)
Risk mitigation (compliance training, safety communications)
Creating Meaningful ROI Frameworks
Develop simple but effective ways to measure video's impact:
Before/after metrics for specific initiatives
Comparison studies with non-video approaches
Long-term tracking of key performance indicators
Customer/employee feedback metrics
Strategic Relationship Building
Influence comes through relationships, and building the right connections requires both strategy and authenticity. Success depends not just on who you know, but on how well you understand and support their objectives.
Identifying Key Stakeholders
Start by creating a detailed stakeholder map of your organization. Identify not just the obvious decision-makers, but also the influencers who shape opinions and drive change. Study their priorities, challenges, and what success looks like from their perspective. For example, while the CFO might focus on cost efficiency, the Chief Marketing Officer may prioritize brand consistency and market impact.
Look for potential champions who already understand video's strategic value. These allies can advocate for your initiatives and provide valuable insights into organizational dynamics. Additionally, seek out mentors, either within your organization or industry, who have successfully made the transition from tactical to strategic leadership.
Building Cross-Functional Partnerships
Strong partnerships across departments are essential for strategic influence. Schedule regular check-ins with department heads to understand their challenges and explore how video can support their objectives. These shouldn't be pitch meetings—instead, focus on listening and learning about their priorities.
Make yourself visible in strategic planning sessions, even when video isn't explicitly on the agenda. Your perspective on communication strategy can add value to discussions about employee engagement, customer experience, or market expansion. Don't wait to be invited; request to participate and come prepared with relevant insights.
Informal relationship building is equally important. Create opportunities for casual conversations through coffee meetings, lunch discussions, or cross-departmental social events. These informal connections often lead to the most valuable strategic partnerships.
Take the initiative to lead cross-departmental projects whenever possible. This positions you as a business leader who happens to specialize in video, rather than just a video specialist. When leading these initiatives, focus on business outcomes first, with video strategy serving the larger objective.
Data-Driven Decision Making
In the strategic realm, gut feelings aren't enough. You need data to support your recommendations:
Essential Analytics
Content performance metrics
Audience engagement patterns
Cost-benefit analyses
Competitive benchmarking
Industry trends
Effective Data Presentation
The way you present data can be just as important as the data itself. Your goal is to transform complex information into compelling stories that drive decision-making. Here's how to make your data presentations more impactful:
Start with the "so what?" before diving into the numbers. Lead with key insights that matter to your audience, then support those insights with relevant data. For example, instead of opening with view counts, start with: "Our employee training videos are driving a 40% reduction in onboarding time, translating to significant cost savings."
Use visual storytelling to make your data memorable. Create clear, simple visualizations that highlight key trends or comparisons. Avoid cluttered charts or overwhelming spreadsheets. When possible, use before/after comparisons or trend lines to illustrate progress and impact.
Structure your presentations in three layers:
Headlines that state the key insight
Supporting data that proves your point
Detailed backup data available on request
Always connect your data to specific business objectives. If you're sharing engagement metrics, explicitly tie them to relevant business goals like employee retention, customer satisfaction, or revenue growth. Make these connections explicit; don't assume your audience will make them on their own.
End with clear, actionable conclusions. What should be done based on this data? What opportunities or risks does it reveal? Provide specific recommendations that your stakeholders can act on.
Putting It All Together
Here's a practical example of these principles in action:
Instead of: "We need $50,000 for new equipment to produce higher quality videos."
Try: "Investing $50,000 in production capabilities will enable us to bring 70% of our video production in-house, reducing our annual external production costs by $200,000 while increasing our ability to respond quickly to market opportunities."
Action Steps
Create a simple dashboard connecting video metrics to business outcomes
Schedule coffee meetings with three stakeholders outside your usual circle
Develop one business case for a strategic video initiative
Start collecting relevant data for future proposals
Remember, building a strategic foundation isn't about abandoning your creative expertise; it's about adding new tools to your toolkit. The goal is to become a leader who can bridge the gap between creative execution and business strategy.
Watch for our final installment, Part 4, where we'll explore how to maintain and expand your team’s strategic influence once you've gained it.
Building a strong strategic foundation is crucial for long-term success, but you don't have to figure it out alone. At In Focus Consulting, we work with you to develop practical approaches for measuring impact, communicating value, and building strategic influence within your organization.
Let's have a conversation about where you are now and where you want to go. Book a complimentary strategy session and we'll identify specific opportunities to increase your strategic impact!
