10 Things I Know About Strategic Communications
1. IT’S DRIVEN BY STRATEGY
Approach marketing communications as an integrated element of your overall strategy. Focused communications inform, reinforce and extend marketing efforts.
2. IT’S NOT ABOUT YOU
Assess what customers know about your product or issue and where and how they get news. Create marketing communications to reflect your knowledge about them, and stay in tune with them.
3. IT’S NOT SMOKE & MIRRORS
Don’t rely on marketing communications to gloss over weaknesses in your customer service or product. Even the sleekest campaign can’t compensate for glitches in the product system.
4. PARLAY PARTNERSHIPS The strongest partnerships link organizations with at least one element in common and huge potential for communications opportunities and cross-promotion.
5. FOCUS WITH SOCIAL MEDIA
Work it into your strategy and take a focused approach to create affinity with your issue, product or organization. Be prepared to react quickly to opportunities.
6. USE IMAGES
A great designer can create powerful visuals to help launch and sustain communications campaigns.
7. DON’T USE FAKE NEWS
If you’re investing resources in media relations, be sure you have real news to pitch. Then pitch, tweet and post!
8. TELL STORIES
Statistics don’t stick in people’s minds. But a story that illustrates and humanizes your company, product or issue can create long-lasting impressions.
9. EVERYONE IS A LINK
Make sure everyone within your company knows what you want to say about your company, product or issue — and how to say it.
10. MESSAGES MATTER MOST
Refine messages to be vibrant, focused and simple to repeat — simple enough for your customers to understand and creative enough for them to remember.
Cindy Wright is principal of CJW Associates (www.cjwassoc.com) in Shrewsbury. She specializes in marketing communications for healthcare and nonprofit clients.
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