‘I’m a strategist.’ But are you? — A practical brief on evidence-driven communication strategy

The useful part

Upgrade your browser today or install Google Chrome Frame to better experience this site. 28, 2026 SHARE Listen to this article · 5:49 min Learn more Johna Burke is CEO and global managing director at AMEC Measurement and Evaluation. Too often, the answer is, "We don't have the budget." I understand the constraint.

How it works

• Teams can become so immersed in the work that assumptions begin to feel like facts.
• Imagine reaching the end of a major launch with no objective way to determine whether the strategy worked.
• Not every organization can commission original research or invest in sophisticated intelligence platforms.
• Most organizations already have useful evidence: website behavior, search patterns, customer inquiries, sales data, employee feedback, previous campaign performance and existing audience research.
• Research can also mean talking to customers, asking sales what objections they hear or asking leadership what would need to change for communication to be considered successful.

What to take from it

Did it influence behavior, strengthen reputation, build trust, generate demand, reduce risk or advance an organizational objective? One reports that coverage increased 22%, website traffic rose 14% and engagement increased 31%. Strategy will always involve hypotheses and informed bets, but measurement and evaluation help determine whether we were right, wrong or simply lucky.

Example or evidence

• Where are research, measurement and evaluation in your strategy?
• You can be an exceptional consultant with decades of experience, terrific instincts and deep knowledge of an organization or industry.
• It requires evidence to understand where we are, deliberate choices about where we want to go and measurement and evaluation to understand what happened, why and what we should do next.
• A strategist should challenge what others may not, including their own assumptions, and say when the evidence doesn't support the preferred narrative.

Details worth keeping

Showcase your sports activations and marketing campaigns! 23 ] The word "strategist" creates an expectation. When a CEO or client invests in one, whether internal or external, there is a reasonable assumption that person can ask better questions, interrogate evidence, challenge assumptions and turn information into insights that improve decisions and drive outcomes.

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