Three ways communications can deliver strategic value to your brand.
Your communications strategy
Let’s start simple. A communications strategy enables you to deliver messages, and measure the results these messages have.
Your audiences may include employees, competitors, investors; and the ways you send that message may include PR, social media, analyst relations and so on.
However, many brands are not using communications to help with their strategic business objectives. Are you?
Communications to support marketing
All too often, the communications functions are only used to deliver top-of-the-funnel, high-level brand awareness activities. In these cases, communications activities are for prospect engagement with marketing content further down the funnel. And it’s generally set up like this because it works.
But if you are only using communications to support your marketing efforts, you are missing out on ROI from your communications activities.
Here’s how communications can support your business objectives:
1: Gearing up for growth
If growth is a strategic objective for you, it’s likely to be enabled by funding – from seed funding to an IPO.
In all cases, your potential investors will look at your brand’s visibility during the pitch. Brands that actively use mature communication approaches to increase brand value, and credibility are more likely to win investment.
But it doesn’t stop there. It’s up to your brand to communicate with potential investors, and neglecting this can be costly. A strategic investor relations programme will strengthen stakeholder relationships and provide access to networks and ultimately confidence that leads to funding.
2: Talent attraction and retention
The number one driver of your brand’s success is the people working for you. You can’t attract high-potential talent if no one has heard of you. A strong EVP (Employee Value Proposition) enables prospective employees to understand why they want to work for your brand, what they are expected to give, and what they’ll receive in return.
Employees have more ways than ever before to research a potential employer, so make sure that your brand looks attractive when they do – from your social channels, to Glassdoor reviews, to your media presence.
After all the work to attract the best talent, it’s vital to retain them and maintain levels of engagement – and the two are intrinsically linked. Engaged employees are likely to work harder, be more invested in the success of your business and stay longer. By retaining employees, you keep their experience and skills.
An internal communications and engagement strategy can ensure you are making the best efforts to inform and engage your employees, and being part of a credible and visible brand is likely to fill employees with pride and make them want to stay
3: Managing reputation
Not least for the reasons listed above, it’s vital for your brand to proactively manage your reputation and navigate issues.
To manage reputation, it’s vital to be aware of various stakeholders’ sentiments about your brand. Many tools and practices can flag concerns early and overcome them with targeted messaging. Probably most important is monitoring owned social channels and listening to social discussions.
Issues will always occur, so you need a clear protocol for dealing with them. You can create plans in advance of a crisis to ensure a quick response and resolution.
Of course, managing your reputation will help build confidence in employers, investors, customers, and other stakeholders.
Make communications part of your toolkit
Do you have a communications programme? Is it driving strategic value to your business? If not, then Coach Communications can help.
Coach Communications will complete a communications function review and ensure it is driving value. In addition, you’ll receive a playbook with short-, medium-, and long-term recommendations to super-charge your efforts using your available resources.
