The Strategy Behind the Scroll: Making an Impact in a 3-Second World

Carly Snider

We used to talk about the elevator pitch: thirty seconds to make an impression. Now, you’re lucky if someone gives you three. Maybe less if they’re in line for coffee.

Attention is a rare currency. The way people engage with brands is faster, more fragmented, and full of noise. So how do you cut through? How do you earn real interest, not just a passing glance?

The answer isn’t louder creative or trend-chasing. It’s strategy. Not in the buzzword sense, but in the honest, foundational way: clarity about what you stand for, who you’re speaking to, and how you want to be experienced—no matter the channel or the moment.

Start with the “why should I care?”

Start by flipping the lens. Instead of “What are we trying to say?” it needs to be “Why would someone care?” That one shift forces clarity. It forces empathy. And it uncovers the actual value your brand brings to someone’s life, not just what you sell.

That kind of thinking creates alignment. It informs everything from positioning and voice to campaign structure and user journeys. And when your audience gets it instantly? You earn more than a click—you earn consideration.

Consistency > Complexity

Big ideas are great, but they don’t work in isolation. Today’s audiences don’t engage in a straight line. They jump from TikTok to your website, from your ad to a product review. The best strategies account for that zig-zag by building in consistency across all those moments.

That doesn’t mean everything looks the same. It means everything feels the same. The same energy, the same promise, the same personality, whether it’s a landing page or a late-night scroll on Instagram. That’s what builds trust and that’s what gets remembered.

Small moments are your biggest opportunities

Most people think strategy only lives at the campaign or brand level. But the truth is, the tiniest touchpoints often carry the most weight. A subject line. A product name. A call-to-action. These are decisions that happen fast and often get overlooked, but they’re where real strategy shows up.

The magic happens when those decisions aren’t random. When they lead up to something bigger. Ensure your CTA reflects your tone, your value prop, your confidence, not just what you hope someone does next.

Don’t separate brand from performance

There’s a misconception that “brand” is fluffy and “performance” is serious business. But performance without brand is a short game. And brand without performance is just nice to look at (and that’s just not enough). The best work sits at the intersection of the two.

When strategy bridges both, you get more than short-term results. You build memory, you build preference. You build the kind of brand people come back to because they felt something the first time they interacted with you.

So, where do you start?

Get clear on your role in people’s lives, not just what you sell.
Audit your brand across channels: does it feel consistent, human, and distinct?
Elevate the micro-moments: write every line like it matters (because it does).
Blend performance and brand thinking. One shouldn’t exist without the other
Stay flexible, but don’t lose the thread. Strategy should evolve, not drift.

It’s easy to assume that fast-moving digital spaces mean attention is gone for good. But when you show up with the right message, in the right way, at the right time? People notice, pause, remember.