Strategic Communications: Make Meaningful Goals Part of Your Game Plan (Part 1 of 3)
“Strategic communications” — is that just a buzz word that your marketing manager uses at staff meetings? It may sound like a catch-all for marketing or public relations activities, but we at Breck think about strategic communications differently. To us, it’s the process of aligning all your external and internal communications activities to your corporate goals. It’s the integration of high-level strategic planning with daily operations.
A sound strategic communications plan is the successful foundation for all activities. It’s your playbook for communications operations, and it doesn’t only belong in the marketing department. It should guide the way an organization operates at all levels.
In the first of our three-part series, we’ll discuss how to identify the goals at the heart of your communications. In future posts we’ll cover audience and stakeholder understanding, as well as using messaging to address unmet needs.
Private Sector: Beyond Sales
To begin, what are the strategic goals for your business that your communications need to support? It’s important to remember that “do a marketing campaign” or “get more publicity” are not goals in themselves—they are tools for accomplishing your goals.
For the private sector, the goal might seem straightforward at first: “make more sales.” But “more sales” means extremely different things depending on your product, service, or sector. Is your company aimed toward business to consumer (B2C), business to business (B2B), or business to government (B2G)? It’s worth drilling down to the sub-goals that help you achieve that main sales goal:
- For a government contractor, it might mean establishing your reputation, building long-term relationships with decisionmakers, and exploring mutually beneficial partnerships.
- For a technical company selling Software as a Service (SAAS), the focus may be on getting users to download trials and renew subscriptions.
- A service-oriented IT consulting company may need to establish expertise and thought leadership in the field.
- A new company selling consumer products to parents needs to make busy families aware of its brand and inspire warm, positive feelings about it.
These sub-goals are the building blocks of your strategy to win more business, new sales, and increased growth.
Non-Profit and Government Sectors: Outreach and Engagement
Goals might also seem simple for a government agency or nonprofit with a mission to engage stakeholders or reach out to the public. As with sales, “outreach” by itself is not a goal. Instead, drill down to specific sub-goals:
- A healthcare nonprofit wants to educate the public on a public safety or health subject.
- A state agency might need to reach specialists with information they need to do their job correctly.
- A Federal agency may need to inform the public about its mission and work.
- A foundation needs to solicit donations or memberships.
- A Federal agency needs to recruit job seekers.
The specific tasks your organization needs to accomplish will define the rest of your strategy.
Pulling It Together
It’s not always easy to define and understand the sub-goals, especially if you’re a new company, a nonprofit with a redefined mission, or an agency undergoing a leadership change. Before engaging on a communications undertaking, carefully spelling out the detailed goals means, in the long term, that you can create better messaging. It also means that you can define metrics beyond sales such as more social media followers, increased job applications, an increased number of free trials, or a thousand other possibilities. Need help refining your goals from the beginning? A consulting company with private and public sector experience can help you take a step back and understand what you need out of your communications effort from the beginning.