Why jumping to tactics is a risky game
Jumping to communication tactics is enticing when you’re time poor, but when it comes to strategic communications, relying on intuition is a costly game to play.
Too often CEOs, HR or service delivery teams will reach out for tactical support for their communication problems. Editing, proofing, recording, or designing.
We need a media campaign! We need a video explainer. Or worse still, we need you to “spin your magic” on the open letter that “we’ve already drafted”. Yes, these efforts are going off gut instinct of experts - which is great - and they cut corners to get on with the job, well done.
There are however, two key issues that arise when the communications brief is bypassed. Firstly, by jumping straight into tactical solutions, the effort has invariably missed the goal and metric setting stage, which media and communication studies demonstrate time and time again as vital to shifting the business dial. A stage that time poor teams (everyone you say?) is at risk of, and in turn, cannot afford not doing.
The second issue is obvious. You don’t know what you don’t know. The CEO, HR, research and policy team know their audience, know their content, know the channels that work, and know a flavour as to what’s worked before. For so many, it’s obvious. Yet despite managers and CEOs knowing this through and through, they far too often get the answers wrong.
There are plenty of reasons why this is the case. But the key is, strategic communications is in fact not intuitive. In a crisis, when an oil spill or sex scandal is being splashed across headlines, the leadership team freeze and wait to know more detail before fronting up to media leaving the audience and their employees with hours if not days to assume the worse.
With new research and cutting edge findings, the media release is sent with statistics and dollar figures first and personal anecdotes last - if not missing entirely. When a change in policy is made, the facts are presented in fast and furious detail, ensuring as much information is passed on as possible.
When a key update is made, another hefty email is sent over an addition to the newsletter, a video over one image, a fancy oped over efforts to persuade employees. Sitting in meeting after meeting - I’ve seen the wrong tactics called on time and time again. Or worst still, the wrong campaign entirely. A mass donation drive to wow the board, when a coffee with high net-worth individuals would suffice.
Unsurprisingly building your reputation or prompting action is about more than making noise. It’s about being confident and discerning when noise is needed, and indeed, when it is not.
That’s when a communications expert is important. If they understand your business objectives, they can work with content and organisation experts to prepare communication solutions that draw on best practice, experience and ideally latest research.
Here’s what they’ll need to know:
What’s the business issue that you’re trying to solve?
What does success look like to you? And what urgency is there to achieve this?
Who do you foresee as your target audience? And what do you need them to most know and feel about the issue at hand?
What’s your expected budget?
Is there anything else that you think that I should know?
Once answering the above, you'll have a communications advisor who will be able to work with you to set the goals and metrics to move the dial, and advise on strategic tactics that are worth investing in. Wasting effort on unhelpful tactics, when you're already time poor is a costly way to go.