PR corner with Prosper Delali AYAYEE: Developing your communications strategy

One cannot work without any plan or strategy in place. So it is with the communications industry we find ourselves in. There are a plethora of benefits one derives from having a well written communications plan.

When it is formally written down, it means everyone must follow it. A strategy is carefully followed inorder to arrive at an agreed destination; goal. One needs a solid communications strategy to ensure the messaging is consistent. The strategy will undoubtedly set the tone and direction for all public relations activities.

Basically, one can look at strategy as the big picture, longer-term view or simply a way of achieving your set goals or objectives. In effect it is your summary of tactics you intend to adopt as a public relations practitioner.

One notable expert; Mintzberg, in what is widely known as the Mintzberg’s 5Ps of strategy, he talks about:

• Plan-your unified, comprehensive, integrated plan designed to ensure objectives are achieved
• Ploy – a tactic to attack or threaten to attack a competitor that is threatening to enter a market space, cut prices and so on.
• Pattern- this is the summary of a series of actions to be taken
• Position- Here he talks about the organisation, or what the brand wants to be seen in the industry or market and whether it wants to be a leader or just an add on follower
• Perspectives -This has to do with the corporate culture of the organisation especially how all employees feel as a part of the overall strategy

There are three major reasons every organisation needs a communications strategy. First, it helps the organisation to work in unison towards a clear, common goal. Second, it also helps to understand your key target audience and lastly, to help organise how to execute individual tactics and the overall plan of the organisation.

In developing your communication strategy, you need to consider the following:

Assessing Your Current Situation

Communication plays a key role especially in developing a strategy that will guide your overall organisation. It is imperative to know that communication is not just about disseminating information. It is crucial to assess your current situation to know where you are failing, what is working and what is not working.

It is equally significant to understand that communication plays a pivotal role in influencing understanding and inspiring action. You must understand your operating environment, the strengths and weaknesses, competitors, among others. Two major things l have learnt from my professional life and that of seniors whose mentorship have shaped my professional life that are important in assessing your current situation are; a SWOT analysis and a competitor analysis.

In the end, after a careful analysis of your situation, your communications strategy should address questions such as: What do we want to achieve? Who are we trying to reach? What do we want them to think, feel, or do? Answers to

these basics lay the foundation for success.

Know Your Communication Goals

An important aspect of your communication strategy after assessing your current situation is to clearly define your communication objectives. These objectives should be in sync with your brand’s vision and main goals for establishment. After knowing what exactly your communication goals are, you then devise means and ways to let your communication help you deliver these objectives.

Are your communication objectives for your organisation mainly to create awareness about your brand’s products and services, change behaviour or increase revenue? These and many others are what your strategy should answer with regard to your communication objectives. Finally, your communication objectives must be Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant and Timebound (SMART).

Know Your Target Audiences

Successful communications strategy hinges on knowing who your target audiences are. Are they taxpayers, mobile subscribers, bank customers/clients, politicians, students, the general public, parents just to mention a few. It is important to tailor your communications strategy to meet your target audiences. Tactical communication starts with a profound comprehension of your target audience.

Audiences do not behave the same and they all have different needs and expectations; thus, it is prudent to carefully design your communications strategy to meet them exactly how it ought to. You cannot have a one-size-fits-all approach in dealing with target audiences. The approach you will use in engaging high net worth clients will not be the same when dealing with clients a little below the ladder. Researching into your audience demographics and segmentation will help you come out with messages that are specific and on point.

Crafting Clear and Consistent Messages

Now that you know who your target audiences are, the next is to be able to translate your communication goals/objectives in a way that best resonates with your target audiences. Every audience and the media platforms they listen to and can be reached through. Forexample your high net worth bank clients who are top directors and CEOs of multinational organisations will not be listening to Obonu fm, or watching Oyerepa tv so you definitely will not want to engage them through those platforms.  Your interest will be to craft messages that are in English that resonate with their language and media platform of choice. Your messages must be appropriate to these audiences. Your communication strategy must be strong and apt in guiding communication around its products and services as well as the impact it is making.

Consistency of messaging is an important aspect of your communication strategy apart of from serving as the backbone of credibility. Your messages must be clear, coherent, and aligned across all platforms. An inconsistent messaging weakens a brand’s credibility and trust.

Choose the Right Channels

Choosing media channels and means by which your audiences can be reached is crucial in strengthening the brand. Today, there are so many channels available to organisations to maximise. Notable among these channels are: Newsletter, workshops, townhall meetings, community engagements, social media, email, websites, traditional media, face-to-face engagement and so on. What PR practitioners often face is the right channel to adopt.

As PR practitioners, you must prioritise channels based on where your audiences are most active and how they prefer to receive information. For example, when engaging the community, face-to-face, radio and billboards channels are powerful to consider.

Make Use of Data and Evaluation

Your communications strategy must make great use of data not mere assumption. The strategy must make use of metrics such as engagement rates, audience reach, feedback, and behavioural changes that provide insights into what is working and what needs improvement. The strategy must equally indicate the tools that will be used to assess or evaluate the various aspects of your communication. Tools such as Hootsuite can be used for social media. Your organisation can also engage the services of a research organisation to help your brand measure things like knowledge, awareness or attitude towards customers.

Consistent evaluation enables your organisation to adjust its strategies to ensure continuous improvement.

Preparing for Crisis Communication

Crises will come whether you caused it or not. It is better for your organisation to have in its communications strategy how to use strategic communication to mitigate the impact of any unforseen crisis. The strategy should include elements such as: clear protocols, designated spokespersons, and timely, transparent messaging.

Some organisations have become stronger than ever before due to the existence of effective crisis communication in their communications strategy.

In sum, developing a communications strategy is should be intentional and should be a continuous process. Clarity of purpose, understanding of audiences, consistency in messaging, and a commitment to listening and learning are critical in developing a communications strategy.

The author is a communications strategist with extensive years of work experience spanning sectors such as: PR consultancy, Banking & Finance, Government/Public sector, Telecom, Academia, Health/NGO etc

For contributions & comments, you can reach him via: [email protected] or 0246748481

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