Articles
Communications strategies
by Jim Pritchitt
All organisations should have a communications strategy.
It might sound like something that’s difficult to develop, and that you’ll need professional assistancem, and obviously professional help can produce much more effective strategies.
But even without such help, it is still possible and worthwhile to produce a basic communications strategy. Indeed, it could be said that many large organisations who do use communications specialists still fall down in this one basic area – they don’t have a strategy, and therefore don't make best use of the opportunities created.
While there is a wide range of considerations, some basic elements are:
Objectives
The key element of a communications strategy is its objectives. Before starting off, be clear on what the plan is to achieve.
Target audience
Many organisations overlook who it is they are really trying to reach with their communications activities. It could be: intermediaries that distribute your products; those that influence attitudes and opinions; government and legislators; retailers that stock the products and can influence consumer buying patterns; consumers themselves; neighbours; potential and existing employees. It could be, to a greater or lesser extent, all of these.
There are a number of target audiences that can influence the success of your business and a realistic assessment of this, broken down into component audiences and what they will be interested in, should be undertaken. It is not enough to say ‘everyone’ or ‘all Australian households’ or ‘all businesses’. Dig down into the people most likely to influence the progress of your business.
Key messages
Without knowing what it is you want to say to people – or even better, what it is they need to know about you to influence decisions in a way that is favourable to you – communication activities are wasted money. A basic mistake that many organisations make is that they want to talk about the things that are important to them, but not important or relevant to their audiences. Different people are interested in different aspects.
Strategy
Once you’ve worked out who you want to communicate with, and how you want to be seen, the other elements of the strategy will more easily fall into place. The overall approach will clearly depend on a number of considerations, such as budget. But a strategy can then be developed that will take these into account. Decisions can be made whether it is to focus on particular audiences; use media relations; or undertake advertising.
Activities
This strategic plan should outline agreed activities. For example, if media relations is going to be a key part of the strategy, then a range of media relations activities can be brought together in a program. This could include development of media releases; contact with key journalists; development of by-lined articles for publications that reach target audiences; and the like.
However, all activities developed should be centred on delivering key messages to the target audiences. Having a strategy helps put in place the discipline to ensure that you stay on track. It also acts as a reminder of what you are trying to achieve, and the best methods for you to achieve this.
