Many marketing projects start with a list of activities: three posts a week, two campaigns, and a monthly newsletter.
It’s a reassuring way to get started, because it feels tangible right from day one.
However, that list answers a question that no one has asked yet: where should this company focus its efforts right now?
Without that response, the activities remain correct but disconnected, and after six months, it becomes impossible to tell which one worked.
FARO starts there. In the following paragraphs, you’ll find the four phases, along with what happens in each one and what you get in the end.
Every company that contacts us has a different question.
Some want to be found on Google, others have a new product to launch, and still others feel that their messaging no longer reflects who they’ve become.
The starting point is always different; the way to approach it remains the same.
Factory Communication uses a four-phase method called FARO.
It stems from a simple yet challenging belief: technology and expertise are meant to free up time and attention for the work that truly matters, rather than to multiply the number of tasks.
This is how we put an ethical approach to business into practice.
From this page, you can explore our consulting areas, the sectors in which we operate, and the projects we’ve already completed. The method is the same everywhere; only the subject matter changes.
Let’s decide together where to focus our efforts.
Let’s analyze the data the company already has—sales, research, contacts, customer behavior—and use it to arrive at a decision, rather than a report.
Here, the company has to give something up, and that’s the hardest part.
Let’s turn this choice into a project.
Channels, content, timelines, responsibilities, and measurement criteria are organized into a structure that stands the test of time, with explicit dependencies between each element.
We get the job done. Content, campaigns, technology implementations, and training for the people in the company who will be working with these tools.
Knowledge transfer is part of the process from the very beginning, so the company remains self-sufficient in its own areas of responsibility.
We measure what happened, make adjustments, and scale up what worked.
Each initiative goes through a six-week window before being evaluated, because before that period ends, the numbers reflect more noise than results.
A focus is effective when a company can clearly identify who it is leaving out. If the answer to the question “Who is your customer?” includes everyone, then there is no focus.
The opposite signal is just as clear: the company’s employees describe the offering in the same words, and customers repeat it spontaneously.
Designing, implementing, and scaling create value in proportion to the quality of the initial decision.
An excellent plan that’s headed in the wrong direction is still an excellent plan—and a wasted investment.
That is why Phase F is given more time than most projects allow for it.
Focusing means choosing, and choosing means letting go of something: an audience that isn’t really your own, a product line that demands attention without giving any in return, or a channel you maintain out of habit.
The decision ultimately rests with the entrepreneur, because no one knows the company better than the person who leads it; our contribution is the methodology, the data, and the right questions.
This approach leads to a consequence that we prefer to state up front.
When a course of action yields less than it costs, we say so.
And when a project requires expertise that falls outside our scope, we state this just as clearly: we prefer a well-reasoned “no” to a “yes” given just to be nice.
We make this clear during the first meeting, before making any proposals. We assess whether the required skills fall within our scope and whether the company is in a position to achieve the desired results.
When the answer is no, we explain why and, where possible, indicate who to contact.
Yes, and that’s where it’s most effective. In a company with between twenty and one hundred employees, marketing decisions still land on the leader’s desk, so a decision to narrow the focus has a rapid impact on the entire organization. The four phases remain the same; what changes is the depth of each one.
Phase F typically takes place during the first few weeks and concludes with a joint decision. The design phase requires a amount of time proportional to the scope of the project. The implementation phase is the longest and proceeds in successive releases. The optimization phase begins six weeks after the first release and continues at regular intervals.
At each stage, there is a clear deliverable: a map of opportunities with priorities, a plan with metrics, published assets and training for your team, and a comparison of expectations and actual results. All documents remain the property of the company.
Phase O exists precisely for this reason. The six-week window serves to distinguish between a result that is taking shape and a direction that needs to be corrected, and the fixed-basket comparison shows what has actually changed. When a correction is necessary, we return to Phase A, using the data collected in the meantime.
The first meeting is already part of Phase F: we’ll review the situation together and tell you frankly whether we can be of help to you.
No obligations, no presentations to listen to.
