Doing the simple things right can be the most effective way to see results from your communications efforts. It can also be the most difficult thing to accomplish.
There’s a common myth in the communications industry, and it’s one that drives practitioners crazy. That myth is to see meaningful results or show value you need to have the latest and great idea, and those ideas need to come more frequently that most of us are capable of.
Agency practitioners are looked to by clients for new ideas every month to break through the noise. In-house teams hear demands from executives to find something new and exciting. And of course, we all want to come up with these ideas to show our value and deliver results.
We spend hours and days in groups, researching ideas, and coming up with the next big thing. Teams put creative decks together to present to clients or executives. We find partners, engage audiences, pull teams together, and dedicate tons of resources to executing these campaigns.
And to be sure, those big ideas and new campaigns are important. Part of the value we bring is that we keep brands, products, and services top-of-mind with key audiences and stakeholders. We are creative types after all, and coming up with new ideas is what we do.
Before putting all of those resources into the big ideas, there are some basic things that practitioners need to remember. And these basics can show real value and deliver meaningful results.
I grew up playing baseball, so I’ll take it back to my roots for a minute. As young players, we’re taught that we need to learn the fundamentals before anything else. There’s a specific way to throw a ball, swing a bat, and run the bases. There’s a science behind fielding a groundball or the way you drop step when running after a deep fly ball.
We’re taught these things because they create the foundation for everything else. They set the stage for building on those fundamentals so we can do even greater things. The same is true in just about all areas of our lives and careers, including for communications pros. We have to do get back to basics before we can build bigger programs.
I’ve seen new practitioners, as well as seasoned experts, fall victim to these demands. We get tied up in delivering these ideas and forget to do the basics and set the foundation for success. Assumptions are made that the foundation is there, or it’s simply overlooked, and inevitably we don’t see the results we want or expect.
Strategic communications campaigns can get complicated, and I mean really complicated. Sometimes there are dozens of audiences, or reputational issues to manage, or complicated messaging, or any number of other factors.
But even that shouldn’t stop you from doing the simple things right. As we’ve outlined, you need a solid foundation before you can dive into more complicated scenarios and planning.
Regardless of which channels you’re focused on, there are basics for every channel that everyone can learn from, and some general advice for everyone to consider:
One of the biggest mistakes a communicator can make is to make their message difficult to understand. It doesn’t matter if it’s a press release, employee alert, social media post, blog, or executive video, if your audiences can’t understand what you’re trying to say, then you’ve just wasted your time and resources.
Look at your messaging and put yourself in your audience’s shoes. Will they understand what you’re trying to say, and will the know why it’s important? If you don’t think they will, revise your messaging accordingly.
I see this happen time and time again. There’s a compelling message that resonates with the audience, but there’s no way for the audience to act. While it’s nice to think that brands are communicating just because they want to, the reality is that they need their audiences to do something. Maybe visit a website, share a message, fill out a form, or just acknowledge that they’re interested.
If you don’t give them that call to action (CTA), then they won’t know what to do, and you’ve just lost an opportunity. While your audiences don’t want to be beaten over the head with a CTA, you should always include an appropriate CTA as part of your plans and messaging.
Stay active across your channels
Whatever channels you use, make sure you don’t go silent. A big mistake I see people make is trying to have a presence on too many channels and not having the resources to execute properly.
The worst thing would be to have an engaged consumer visit one of your channels and not be able to get what they need. So whatever channels you do have a brand presence on, make sure you’re consistently engaging your audiences on them and answering their questions.
The very nature of social media is that people want to engage with other people, and sometimes brands, but they don’t want to be sold to on an hourly basis. One of the biggest pieces of advice I give clients (when possible) is to have fun with their content, assuming that’s part of their brand.
Even funeral homes and insurance companies have fun with their social media content, so you can, too! Again, don’t stray from your brand, but if you want to engage your audiences don’t forget that the foundation of social media is to have fun and interact with other “people”.
We’ve all heard the phrases “quick win” or “low-hanging fruit”. As much as I despise cliches like that, there’s a lesson that everyone should learn, and that is to use what you have. In an episode of The Office, a young Ryan asks the all-knowing Michael if it costs more to acquire a new client or keep an existing one.
I won’t reveal Michael’s answer in case you’ve never seen that episode (and if you haven’t, umm, how?), but the accurate answer is just like with your communications campaigns. It costs WAY more to bring on a new client than it does to keep an existing one. It also costs WAY more resources to find new channels than using what you have.
Whether it’s an existing fan base, employees, approved imagery, repurposing video, or other resource-saving activity, use the tools at your disposal to lessen the cost of putting good content out and engaging audiences.
Here are some recent posts to help as you create your Strategic Communications campaigns, including the importance of having a strategic communications plan:
– Do I Really Need A Strategic Communications Plan?
– Tips For Managing Unethical Communications Requests
– A Meaningful Message, Or Pandering Without Purpose
– Pitching Media Like The Pros
– Don’t Let Perfect Be The Enemy Of Effective
– Wake Up. Kick Ass. Repeat.
– How to Create Content That Engages Audiences and Builds Brand Trust Quickly
I’ve also been discussing how you can find success following the Coronavirus crisis through the RADD approach, which is Recognize, Adapt, Develop, and Deploy. Check out our previous posts to see how you can succeed with the RADD process:
– Get RADD And Plan For Success Following Coronavirus Crisis
– Prepare for Success and Get RADD, Part 1: Recognize
– Finding Success By Getting RADD, Part 2: Adapt
– Get RADD, Part 3: Develop Plans For Success
– Deploying Your RADD Communications Plan
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