The article "The Strategic Communication Imperative" defines strategic communication
“as communication aligned with the
company’s overall strategy, to enhance its strategic positioning” (pg. 83).
Additionally, Shayna
Englin, who teaches public relations and corporate communications at Georgetown,
states “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” (Martin
& Reeder, 2012).
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| What is Strategic Communications |
Based on this
definition, Englin’s statement and research provided by Argenti, Howell and
Beck, I agree that communication is crucial to an organizations overall
strategy. The article points out several imperative messages learned from the companies
researched, however, one quote from Michael Dell, “Communication has to be in the center to be optimally effective”
(pg. 85) is a great summation to this week discussion questions.
For
strategic communication to be successful in all areas of IMC along with social
media, it is best described by Dell’s CEO Kevin Rollins: “You have to modify messages by constituency, which elements of the
overall strategy do you want to discuss with each constituent? The
communication function breaks strategy into pieces and sells the right pieces
to the right audience” (pg. 85). An
article by Brad Martin and Tom Reeder, points out that there are basic
characteristic areas that should be focused on to communicate your strategy
successfully.
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| Communication Characteristics |
Today,
in the 21st century, Social media is necessary when communicating
your organizations community strategy for several reasons:
- · Fast means of communication
- · Reaches a greater audience
- · Allows for two-way communication
- · Real time communication
A video series by Joshua Salmons,
from the US Army talks about the importance of utilizing a new media, social
media, to communicate with the public your business.
When
aligning an organizations communication strategy, maintaining the integrity of
the brand (pg. 88) and communications emanating from the business units are
aligned with and support the companies overall strategy (pg. 85) are two
important facets not be over looked in strategically positioning a company. In addition, I feel consistency is just as
important when aligning your strategy.
Research from the article notes that the need for a consistent
communication strategy becomes even more crucial because it must communicate to
a diverse and rapidly expanding array of constituents while remaining relevant
to all (pg. 86). Consistency is
challenging when appealing to constituents, the message must be consistent with
the end goal the same for all avenues of business.
References
Argenti, Howell, & Beck (2005).
The strategic communication imperative.
MIT Sloan Management Review.
Retrieved from
https://www.dartmouth.edu/~opa/communicators/fall08/reading/Sloan_MIT_Strat _Comm_Imp.pdf
Martin, B., & Reeder, T. (2012,
November 28). Communicate strategy for
effect. Retrieved from http://nextforge.com/?p=1719
Hi Joanna,
ReplyDeleteI'm very impressed by your post! Great incorporation of bullets, images and linking a video series that relate to the topic. Social media is absolutely necessary in the 21st century, especially when you want to stay in touch with your consumers at all times.
I think your video series about how the military has opened themselves up to social media in order to communicate with the public has the potential to start up an entirely new topic.
I'd love to learn more about how the military utilizes social media for the betterment of their communication and what the limitations are for using social media while overseas. This past year, I had a friend who was in Afghanistan who had the opportunity to occasionally chat with me on Facebook. I found an interesting blog post that goes into this topic a little more:
http://www.toprankblog.com/2013/05/social-media-military-3-business-lessons/
Odden, L. (n.d.). Social Media and The U.S. Military – 3 Lessons for Business. Retrieved February 5, 2014, from Top Rank Blog: http://www.toprankblog.com/2013/05/social-media-military-3-business-lessons/
Nicole,
DeleteThank you.
Throughout the last 3 years at Marist, my professors have referenced the Military in many circumstances. When you research their methods and systems you find that they do work and have been the model for other organizations. Thank you for sharing the article. I especially like the last image and the lesson noting… “If a picture is worth a thousand words, a video must be worth millions. The magic of video isn’t just the format, it’s the message and the storytelling that matters”. Images are so powerful. This is so true and social media allows us to connect to not only businesses but also our loved ones who many not be near to us.
Thanks,
Joanna
Hey Joanna,
ReplyDeleteReally nice post. Besides the great content, the way you integrated a video and graphics really adds to the post. You picked a great quote as well, “You have to modify messages by constituency, which elements of the overall strategy do you want to discuss with each constituent? The communication function breaks strategy into pieces and sells the right pieces to the right audience” What do you think each form of social media (ex. Facebook and Twitter) sell to each of their audience? How does the message differ between these two very popular forums?
Daniel,
DeleteThank you. Great question. In my opinion, one of the main differences between Facebook and Twitter is the customer, Facebook is more “social” where you can play games, catch up with friends where Twitter is focused on more business topics, providing you with a small segment of the trending news (almost a synoposis)so you so hot have to read the entire article. This is primarily due to the #(hashtag) searches. However, the key is who you choose to follow.
A great infographic on the demographics of social media.
article
As part of your strategy, you must know your audience and which platform to market to. Each platform appeals to a different type of consumer and it is important to keep your message consistent throughout each platform.
Thank you,
Joanna
Hi Joanna,
DeleteI think you're right about how one of the main differences between Facebook and Twitter is the customer. I found a really interesting article with statistics on the revenue of Facebook and Twitter. In 2013 the revenue from Facebook was close to $5.3 million, while the revenue from Twitter was only $422K. (Bennett, 2013)
Bennett, S. (2013, November 5). Facebook Vs Twitter: Revenue, Users, Average Time Spent, Key Mobile Data. Retrieved February 8, 2014, from Media Bistro website: https://www.mediabistro.com/alltwitter/facebook-vs-twitter-data-stats_b51335
I certainly think knowing ones audience is key. I have seen a few companies who clearly copy and paste posts from Twitter to Facebook and I have always felt it looks unprofessional.
DeleteNicole.
DeleteGreat article. Until this class I never used Twitter. However, I really like how the data is filtered and how it can be used in a more business style and how it is searchable by #'s.
-Joanna
Dan,
I agree, posts to each platform should not be identical. Each has their own personality and must be marketed accordingly. This is where an IMC campaign needs to focused on. Keeping all messages consistant across all platforms, but keeping the that message consistent with each platform style and user. Which is key to a successful campaign. Like I mentioned, I never used Twitter before this class, but I like how there is the character limit. It captures your allows with just enough details about the post.
-Joanna
Hi Joanna,
ReplyDeleteI agree with you 100% on your message about choosing the right messages for each type of constituency! I think this is one of the most important aspects of strategic communications in any company!
I have found this to be somewhat synonymous with how I plan my communications in my current position. I have to determine all of the facts involved in a students' crisis, whether it be details of how a fight began, or why a student became upset, etc. Then I have to gather the facts of what the Teacher wants as an outcome, as well as what the Administrators what as an outcome, without forgetting what the student wants the outcome to be. After I have gathered and pieced together all of this information, I then decide what details each person needs, in order for them to 'buy in' to the ideas I have to rectify the problem at hand. Once I have the commitment from each of the parties, I can then follow through with the finished plan. When I read this part of the MIT Sloan Management Review, I had a major 'aha' moment!
Great post!
Dawn,
DeleteThank you for your reply and example. We communicate all day, everyday and while it is second nature to us, when you break it down, a lot goes into it.
My position is primarily sales, however, I have to communicate to the customer the “benefit” of the particular service. Which is similar to your example.
When I am speaking to a customer I have an end goal in site; sell the product, however I must have a strategic plan in place on how to communicate the benefit to them. Without a plan, I could not do it. While I communicate with customer, I have to approach them in different ways, based on their personality.
Thank you,
Joanna
Hi Joanna,
DeleteYes, I completely agree with your point about reaching each customer in differing ways from each other ... just as I need to do with each student.
In both cases, our planning has to be very precise, keeping in mind the attitudes and personalities of the individuals we are speaking to. It is always a challenge, but also very rewarding when the planning works in our favor!
Dawn,
DeleteI agree. However, we must always have a plan B, just in case.
-Joanna
Joanna,
ReplyDeleteYou hit on a lot of great points, particularly consistency and reach. Consistency is so important when determining a communications strategy. There are many companies that do a great job of consistent messaging on their social media channels, television and the internet. Nike and Starbucks are two of the best that I have seen accomplish this.
The second item that you outlined was reach. I think reach is very important when thinking about a communication strategy. As Qualman points out, advertising is less about social media campaigns and more about ongoing conversations. This struck me because I recently had a meeting with a student who was explaining to me his plan for promoting an upcoming event on campus. He was confident that he was doing a great job promoting the event because he was using social media, specifically Twitter, to advertise. My first question was, “how many followers does your group have?” His answer was 275. That breaks down to about 6% of the student body. My next question was, “how many of those 275 followers are current students?” The look on his face said it all.
Qualman’s point about driving conversation and engaging users is important.
Sending aimless tweets to 275 followers who may not live in a 250-mile radius of campus is not a great communications strategy. Developing a social media strategy that is engaging, strategic, continuous and consistent is important to running a successful campaign. Also, it needs to be an integrated approach. Using signage and other elements like the school newspaper to drive students to social media would have been a much better approach than just tweeting. Younger people sometimes tend to forget that other communications channels exist besides Twitter and Instagram.
References
Qualman, E. (2013). Socialnomics: How social media transforms the way we live and do business (2nd ed.). Wiley: Hoboken, NJ.
Travis,
DeleteThank you. I agree with you that when creating a social media campaign, all platforms are to be considered and integrated. Each platform will have certain characteristics to attract followers. If you are not utilizing all platforms, including traditional media, you are missing out on the potential to reach your full audience. Your example is so relevant to this. I came across this great article on social media planning.
click here for article
Thank you,
Joanna