Push forward your org's impact
Here is a robust & engaging strategy that serves your entire org
👋 WELCOME TO EDITION NO. 5!
In the last newsletter, we talked about the importance of building a cohesive comms plan. We know many of you had questions, so now, let’s outline & define exactly what this plan should entail. Here we go!👇
💡 ROBUST AND ENGAGING: DEVELOPING A DIGITAL COMMS STRATEGY TO SERVE YOUR ENTIRE ORG
Developing a strong communications strategy is imperative to push forward your organization’s impact. With a robust strategy, you can reach new audiences, lead cultural change, and grow your alliances.
But don’t let the importance of such a plan add undue anxiety or keep you from getting it done. In fact, once created, it should result in precisely the opposite: a sense of peace and clear direction.
TAILOR-MADE MAKES THE DIFFERENCE
Let’s be real: your team’s capacity will absolutely change the fit of your strategy. Too tight and you don’t allow your folks to be reactive when they need to address something current. Too loose and they don’t know where to go or why. So tailor your comms plan for your team, today.
This communications strategy should be detailed, for sure, but short enough that you’d be down to revisit it later as your year develops. As such, this plan is best built using a live, working doc – one that can be actively maintained to be the most effective.
I’ve been brought in to lead the communications strategies for dozens of organizations, and here’s where folks often get it wrong: they don’t connect their comms plan to any larger strategic plan. Or worse: the plans are done leaving key team members in the dark.
Ensure org-wide buy-in – identify moments where you can engage stakeholder & non-comms folks such as your ED, program team, and campaigns folks. Bonus: their perspectives might spark a whole vid series or angle you hadn’t yet uncovered!
START HERE
Here’s what has produced successful and positive results for our clients (and us!):
Define your organization
What are the mission, vision, and values you hold?
These will become the core drivers of your comms objectives, so don’t skip this step.
What are the different types of programs and services offered by your org?
Who are the stakeholders?
Know your audience
Who do you hope to reach through your platforms and associated content?
How do you want your organization’s voice to be heard?
What tone would best connect with your primary audience (ex: friendly, informative, positive, youthful, authoritative, casual, etc.)
What are the preferred platforms for your org?
Consider your team and where their skills lie – through what content formats are they best equipped to effectively and efficiently communicate?
Create communications objectives
Take the mission, vision, and value statements and turn them into objectives.
What are the primary purposes of your org’s social media platforms and associated content?
What are the calls-to-actions (CTAs) you hope to achieve/target?
Create goals & KPIs
Develop a list of goals and a way to keep track of those goals, either specific to each platform or – more high-level – aggregating across all platforms.
Make sure you do this on the reg. Automate as much as possible. Set reminders, too!
Create content pillars
Identify 3-4 content pillars based on your mission, vision, and values (see, told you that step was important!).
Each pillar should be a short statement that is core to your org’s objectives
These pillars will guide the types of content you will create.
AND THEN, SIMPLIFY
After completing the outline above, sit down with your comms team and be honest with what’s pie-in-the-sky and what’s non-negotiable. Edit and simplify by making templates or scaffolding for certain categories of content. Take time to highlight big goals and yearly objectives. Assign tasks. Calendar important stuff.
Just make sure it fits.
A FEW FINAL CONSIDERATIONS
For your messaging to have power and purpose, the story you tell to your community – internally and externally – should follow patterns of predictability and standards of high-quality.
As I mapped out above, it takes some time to get to that place, but the work is worth it! However, you can’t depend on your teams to understand what you expect of them by osmosis. Check out this article for deeper details on building your strategy.
And get to planning. ✌️
⚡NEED A VISUAL? A STARTING POINT?
Something to email to your stakeholders to get everyone on board?
We'd love to deliver our template to you.
Request your Communications Strategy Template