Strategic Intent
Decide where your business is headed over the next 12 months, so every later step has a direction to measure against.
Strategic intent is the broad direction your business is heading over the next 12 months across marketing, sales and operations. It sits above KPIs and tactics, and it answers the question of what you're actually trying to accomplish this year and who it's for.
Without it, every new idea looks equally important and teams end up busy without making real progress. A short list of strategic intents gives everyone a way to judge new projects, so you can say yes to the work that moves you forward and pass on the work that doesn't.
Each intent should tie to a persona and ladder up to one bigger goal, like stability, growth or a shift into a new market. Once those are set, the rest of the roadmap, from lifecycle design to content, has a direction to measure against.
Signs you need this
- Every new idea feels equally important
- Your goals read like a task list or a mission statement
- Your team is busy, but nobody can say what it's working toward
- There's been a big change: a new owner, a new revenue model or a big client won or lost
- It's been a year since anyone talked about direction
End results
- Three to five strategic intents, each tied to a persona
- One bigger goal that all of them ladder up to
- A priority order so you know what to work on first
- A one-page direction summary your whole team can refer back to
Common questions
What's the difference between strategic intent and goals?
Strategic intent is the direction, and goals are the measurable targets that show whether you're getting there. You set the intent first so your goals and KPIs measure the right things instead of whatever is easiest to track.
Is this the same as setting KPIs?
No, KPIs come later once you have baseline data to measure against. This step sets the direction those KPIs will track.
How many strategic intents should we have?
Three to five is plenty for a 12-month window. Once you go past that they stop helping you prioritize, because everything becomes a priority.
How specific should a strategic intent be?
It should be directional and testable. If it reads like a task it's too narrow, and if it reads like a mission statement it's too vague, so aim for something like growing ongoing support revenue from one specific persona.
Who should be involved in setting it?
The owner or leadership team, plus whoever leads marketing and sales. Input from sales and operations matters here, because an intent that marketing can't hand off to sales won't hold up.
