When you approach client, customer, and even employee communications without a specific strategy or goal, it can cause confusion and result in misinformation. That’s why having a plan in place for internal and external communications is critical. Creating a strategic communications plan with your executive team and other organization leaders can help align your organization and give it a starting off point to handle any situation.
Get All of Your Employees on the Same Page
Before you focus on external communications, you need to focus on your company culture and ensure that internal communications are aligned.
When employees know what to expect from management and how the company prefers to handle a variety of situations, it empowers them to perform better in their roles. They can then more easily liaise with customers, clients, and external vendors.
You can set strategic communications for your employees by doing the following:
- Providing a company-wide handbook with internal policies and information
- Creating a strategic communications document that gives employees an overview of company objectives and goals
- Offering examples of language and messaging that staff can use when working with
Present a United Front to Customers and Clients
A common objective of companies and organizations is to solve problems for people. Whether you are a top-level executive of a major corporation or a high-ranking official at a government agency, it is imperative for people to trust you to do that.
Creating a strategic communication plan that aligns all your marketing and messaging helps you present a united front. When you put careful consideration behind every piece of media and information that you release, the public is more likely to find your brand believable and trustworthy.
Moreover, when your employees are also in alignment with these principles, customers who contact your organization will receive the same type of messaging that they received from their very first touchpoint with the company.
Create Measurable, Impactful Goals
Having a communication strategy can even help your organization align crucial goals. Knowing exactly what you are putting out into the world provides you with the unique position of knowing exactly what you are expecting to get back from it.
It also allows you to tweak your messaging across the board to achieve those goals. You will be able to easily see where things are working and where they could use some work. Strategic communications allow you to see, manage, and measure what your messaging is doing against real goals.
Planning and aligning your messaging puts the power in your hands to help create and shape public perception of your organization. However, creating a strategic communications plan from the ground up can seem daunting, especially if you have never worked with one before.
Applied Development Can Help Align Your Organization Through Strategic Communications
Applied Development has decades of experience creating plans for a variety of industries. If you are ready to start aligning your organization through strategic communications, give us a call at 410.571.4016 or contact us on the website.