“Communication is the center of everything. You can’t execute strategy if you can’t communicate about it.” -Vice President of FedEx Services, T. Michael Glenn.
Have you ever come across those articles with titles that read “5 must things employers notice in an interview” or “10 ways to make your skin softer than a baby”? Well in this post I am going to talk about the top 5 strategies to make a million dollars in 10 days. Wait…. What? Is this a Buzzfeed article? No! But is this another obvious attempt (or a strategy) to get you to click on my website link? Maybe.
But, how did Buzzfeed come up with this simple but yet such an effective strategy? Why do their articles get so many views? Or rather, why do we click on these articles even though we have absolutely no plan of following these 5 or 10 ways? Well, Buzzfeed figured out a perfect way of communication. With an estimated monthly viewership of 7 billion, BuzzFeed can teach us all a thing or two about mastering content marketing. The clever wording and cheesy clickbait titles are carefully crafted to grab attention and increase reads. But the secret to BuzzFeed’s success doesn’t lie only in cat memes. It can also be attributed to a well-thought-out effectual method of strategic communication. And we can rightly say that these titles work because Gil Junger directed a blockbuster romantic comedy and named it 10 things I Hate About You. And let’s admit we all love that movie.
So, what is this strategic communication that I’ve been talking about? The term “strategic communications” has become popular over the last two decades. Simply put, it means infusing communications efforts with an agenda and a master plan. The field of ‘communications’ is broad, encompassing professionals who create news or want to push information to the public (public relations, public information, marketing), people who deliver news and media to the public (journalists, audio and video producers, public speakers, educators), and people who study the interplay of media and society (researchers). Strategic communications fuses the “pushing” and the “delivering.”
Since its conception, strategic communications has grown into an integral part of marketing. In recent years, with the introduction of the Internet, a wealth of information can be made readily available to consumers in an instant. Because of this, strategic communication has shifted from its previous position as a helpful marketing tool, to an essential one.
It is increasingly important for businesses to clearly communicate their values and purpose through strategic communication. Being strategic means communicating the best message, through the right channels, measured against well-considered organizational and communications-specific goals. It’s the difference between doing communications stuff, and doing the right communications stuff.
But in the end we all agree that Strategic communication is an invaluable tool for membership growth and success, if utilized effectively. And since the post promised to provide you with strategies to make a million dollars in 10 days, let me give you a few tips to run a business successfully which will eventually earn you a million dollars. The 10 day plan was a hoax.
5 Strategies to run a successful business by using effective communication
Be honest with your audience: Transparency is key when communicating strategically. Successful business owners are the ones that are truthful and therefore trustworthy in the eyes of their customers. “Being on message is critical, but it has to be based on something real. Having integrity when communicating is the crucial to gaining trust from consumers. Being honest with consumers not only refers to marketing a product. It is also crucial to be honest and responsible when addressing issues or crises that may arise within your company.
Offer a little more than just your product: People are looking out for meaning and arguments that contribute to the society. Be open to feedback and try giving people the answer to the WHY, instead of concentrating only on the WHAT and HOW.
Repeat your message: Repetition is crucial to communicating strategically. An organization’s intended message gains clarity the more it is affirmed. Establishing a clear message and repeating it frequently will reinforce its importance and help achieve successful strategic communication.
Consistency and Coordination: Nature of communication cannot be controlled and regulated anymore. There is a greater need for consistency between departments, since the public can easily Google anything online since there are now many more avenues available to reach the public than the now.
Identify your target audience and place your message effectively: Creating precise and distinct messages for different audiences is key to successful communication. Consumers are highly exposed to the media and have a seasoned understanding of where and how to find information. In order to communicate strategically with these consumers, messages need to be channeled into the correct platform.
A professor pointed me to an article by Hallahan et al., titled "Defining Strategic Communication," which states that "strategic communication" is "the purposeful use of communication by an organization to fulfill its mission." The purposeful use of communication makes it "strategic." The authors elaborate that : "Six relevant disciplines are involved in the development, implementation, and assessment of communications by organizations: management, marketing, public relations, technical communication, political communication, and information/social marketing campaigns." Although the authors see strategic communication as "an emerging paradigm," this clarification defines strategic communication as a set of tools, not as a discipline. Marketing, public relations etc. themselves are no disciplines, but approaches drawn from broader fields, such as economics and communication. Complicate the matter further by looking at the business management discipline of strategy itself: they examine many questions quantitatively, all with specifically measured results on organizational outputs and goals. And not once do they ever consider the "soft skill" of communication as a part of strategy. It is simply not studied. In public relations, we talk about strategy as building relationships with stakeholders and publics through research and dialogue. But then businesses do run on effective strategies, so why is strategic communication not an important part of a business management course? Is strategy different from strategic communication?
What is strategy? Is it basing decisions on research and thinking logically and systematically about how to enhance the effectiveness of an organization. Strategy is not manipulative, and it is based on fair competition, efficacy, and logic. But what is strategic communication? Does strategy drive strategic communication, or does strategic communication drive strategy? That is the sticky wicket.
While strategic communication has become a buzzword in some areas, it by far does not cover the relevance and meaning of "communication" per se. Communication for development, or for governance, goes way beyond public relations, marketing, and information campaigns. It's about what happens in people's heads, what happens in social groups, what happens in political systems, and what happens to our reality. I assume that people who don't see communication as a core issue of development see only the strategic, instrumental, campaign side to it. But it goes so much beyond that. It's about the glue that makes our society, it's about what drives us, what drives politics - it's about people. And what else is development about?
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