Long-term Strategic Planning 
Planning for the future begins with an analysis of a company’s current situation. This is commonly referred to as a SWOT Analysis, and can be easily constructed by an interactive agency.

The basics of SWOT
The acronym “SWOT” stands for Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats. The SWOT Analysis is also referred to as an Internal-External Analysis because Strengths and Weaknesses are internal determinants of success, and Opportunities and Threats are external measures of success. When conducting a SWOT analysis, you must be completely honest and subjective, focus on key issues, and be careful to analyze the company as it is today instead of what they wish the company will become. An interactive agency will ask such questions as:

• What aspects of business does your company excel in over others? (strength)
• What section of the company needs to be worked on the most? (weakness)
• Where is there room to grow? (opportunity)
• What are competitors doing? (threat)

After answering questions such as these, you can use the gathered information to create a solution cube that capitalizes on strengths, eliminates weaknesses, uncovers opportunities, or protects against threats. An interactive agency will then apply the SWOT analysis to competitors to see where the client’s company stands in relation. By comparing the client’s company to other companies in the same industry, an interactive agency may determine that perceived strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, or threats are not really what they seem. The SWOT Analysis helps everyone involved to take time to reflect and uncover opportunities that could be overlooked. You may uncover new opportunities that can lead to creating profitable industry niches. The SWOT can be circumvented with other analyses by an interactive agency in order to determine marketing objectives.

Beyond the SWOT
After an interactive agency conducts a SWOT Analysis, the revelations that come from assessing the current situation can have profound effects on the long-term plan of a company. The results of the SWOT can be quantified so that an interactive firm can create strategies that most efficiently meet business objectives. An interactive agency can easily expand the SWOT to incorporate new planes of analysis.