When some NGOs and SMEs hear about Communications Strategy development they agree it is important but quickly follow up with how expensive it is to get one. You can go through an article I shared earlier to see how important it is for organizations to have a communications strategy. In this article I would like to share five simple steps you can take to develop your organization’s communications strategy. You can do this exercise with your team members if you are a small organization and cannot afford the services of a communications consultant.
- Articulate your vision and mission statement. Your vision is why your organization exists while your mission statement articulates how you intend to achieve your vision. If this is not gotten right it will be difficult to develop an effective communications
- Define who your audiences are. When you have a well-crafted mission statement it will be easy to identify your key stakeholders (partners, beneficiaries, clients, etc.)
- Articulate your central message. What is it that you want your audience to know you for and think anytime they see your brand? This is where you will need to use your storytelling skills; more like an elevator pitch for your organization, project or campaign. You can decide on what type of story clearly shares the heart of your organization. What you want to achieve is ensuring your audiences are emotionally connected and committed to your organization’s mission.
- The next step is to decide on what type of content your target audience would be interested in and how you can create such content around your central message or theme. You would need to decide on the type of content and format of content. The type deals with themes and topics while the format deals with the way they will be accessed by your audience; video, pictures, infographics, threads, articles, etc.
- Determine what platform(s) to focus your marketing communications on. This depends largely on your audience segmentation.
I hope you found this helpful? If you have any questions or feedback send me an email (Oghenefego@teoinspiro.com). If you have enjoyed these articles be kind enough to share with others who might need this information.