This avoids information mismatches and ensures that the organizational culture is also reflected through its messages, regardless of the channel used and the target audience.
And it is precisely to have this control that strategic communication emerges.
In order to analyze mission and values, plan and promote the integration of these elements with communication objectives, strategic communication becomes increasingly essential for a company's survival.
After all, the market trend is to demand authenticity, which brings proven benefits in relationships with both customers and employees .
If you want to improve your company's communication and still don't know how to do it, take advantage of this text to learn what strategic communication is, what its main pillars and advantages are, and discover how it can bring the much-desired success. Follow along:
What is strategic communication?
The term “strategic communication” includes a series of professions related to communication, such as public relations, marketing, advertising, and propaganda, among others. Although it is not a new term, it only began to gain ground in companies in recent times, when managers realized the value of this type of communication.
With the new technologies available, a new order has been vp r&d email lists established, in which the pace of relationships is much faster and more personal. The trend for business communication — regardless of the segment in which it operates — is to be more interactive, allowing the exchange of information and experiences.
This does not only apply to the end audience, but also to stakeholders such as shareholders, suppliers, employees, and the like. The role of communication is to mediate the relationship between the company and all these stakeholders.
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Creating a personality
To achieve this, it is essential that your company creates its own identity and assumes a personality. This personality promotes identification with the public and reflects its values.
Defining and putting it into practice, however, is a long and complex process, involving a series of actions that must first be accepted by your employees.
The first step is to develop strategies and use tools to help the public understand your company’s values, mission and vision. These include:
defining a language: what and how does your company speak? Segments that require more formality — such as law firms or insurance brokers — can adopt a didactic and close tone;
selection of communication channels: where does your company intend to communicate with the public? It is necessary to analyze which channels are essential for each case;
Creating a brand manual: This identity created for your company must be present at all points of contact. To this end, it is recommended to create a manual documenting all of this so that all areas are aware.
Strategic guidelines
For communication to be truly strategic, it must be aligned with the company's own planning. Organizational culture and policy are processes dictated by managers' decisions. Therefore, it is their decisions that will set the tone for communication. However, professionals responsible for communication must have autonomy and competence to make decisions.
Team integration
Effective strategic communication must involve all teams involved in communication, from those responsible for social media to the team that handles relations with the press and events. Communication planning must include short, medium and long-term actions, involving all areas, in order to strengthen and consolidate your company. Their functions must complement each other.
Why is strategic communication essential for your business?
When adopting strategic communication, some benefits are expected, while others arise almost as a side effect. Below, we will present some of the main ones so that the need for this practice in your company becomes clearer.
Improve your company's reputation
First, strategic communication directly influences an organization’s reputation. Many companies believe that reputation builds itself over time, but everything a company says or does contributes to brand management.
Therefore, if your communication has its own identity, is standardized and constant, it appears more professional than that of other companies.
One risk you run without a well-defined communication plan is presenting conflicting information to your customers. For example, imagine someone visiting your Facebook page looking for posts related to labor rights.
Some of them use slang and try to create intimacy with the public by using a more fun tone, while others use simple and objective language, being didactic. This confuses the client as to their stance.
Is it more laid-back and geared towards young people or is it serious and stable? A well-planned positioning would not leave room for this type of doubt, providing more confidence and facilitating the loyalty process.
Nowadays, comments posted on social media have a great power not only for good, but also for bad. Positive reviews can influence potential customers to seek more information. Negative reviews, on the other hand, drive them away.
Therefore, be very tactful when responding to each of them. Analyzing and measuring the relationship with the public through this feedback also helps when setting clearer and more meaningful goals for the company.
Avoids the dispersion of information
Strategic communication ensures that information reaches the right people, both internally and externally. Having your employees on the same page is essential for an efficient work environment.
Internally, this prevents employees from taking actions that go against the company's values, especially when we are talking about segments in which an honest stance affects public perception more intensely, such as the legal sector.
Externally, it ensures that customers and stakeholders are aware of all relevant information about the company, its policies and events.
