Three myths that might be stopping you from committing to a communications strategy

If you’re a start-up, small business or non-profit that isn’t committing time and resources to your communications needs, you’re not alone. But you are missing out. Here’s what can happen: You’ve set your goals, your marketing strategy is in place, but you haven’t drilled down to how your story will come to life in a fully-integrated way that delivers the results you desire. A strong integrated communications strategy ensures that your vision and goals are realized with impact and authenticity, and that you connect with your target audiences with the right story at the right time.

Let’s take a look at some of the misplaced concerns that stop organizations from committing to an integrated communications strategy:

“We can’t afford the investment.”

 You can’t afford NOT to. A well-designed and well-executed earned communications strategy is both cost-efficient and effective. Many organizations are guilty of fragmenting the levers of communication by engaging in only some dimensions of it, but not in others. For example, committing to social media, but not building a robust content strategy won’t work. In our hyper-connected digital world, there’s never been a better time to take advantage of all the available earned opportunities, regardless of budget limitations.

 “We don’t have the resources to execute internally.”

 This may be true on the surface, though sometimes amazing things can happen with a little creativity and leveraging of internal resources. I often ask clients the following: “Is everything you’re currently doing working? Are there programs you do only because you’ve always done them? Are there things you can stop doing so you can start taking more valuable actions?” It’s also about understanding the art and science of communications. The art is the creativity, while the science lies in process. The magic can happen once both are aligned and the right people are set up for success.

 “It’s hard to measure results.”

Measurement becomes easy once you establish clear goals. In the words of the legendary Yogi Berra, “If you don't know where you are going, you'll end up someplace else.”

 There’s no one-size-fits-all solution, but a highly impactful customized communications strategy can work for your organization, regardless of its size. Positivity Communications’ goal is to help empower purpose-driven brands, start-ups, small businesses, and non-profits to build and execute their own communications strategies. Every organization has different needs, structures, and dynamics. That’s what makes what I do so exciting. You have nothing to lose and everything to gain by embracing a forward-looking, integrated communications strategy. 

 Contact me today if you’d like to know more.

With positivity,

Shelley

(photo credit: Steve Johnson, Unsplash)

Six essential communications questions every organization should ask itself

The human spirit thrives on great storytelling. From the moment we are old enough to be captivated by Goldilocks and the Three Bears and Aesop’s Fables to every time we go online to stay in touch with today’s news, we are drawn to stories and storytellers that spark our imagination. Herein lies the power of communications. But a great idea or a powerhouse story is just the starting point for a high impact communications strategy.

Here’s six questions to ask yourself before embarking on your strategy:

1.    What is the story we want to tell, and will it emotionally engage our target communities? (It seems an obvious question, but you’d be surprised how little thought is given to this)

2.    Does our communications strategy truly align with the goals of our organization?

3.    Have we have assigned the right resources and budget to achieve our goals?

4.    Are we maximizing every opportunity to tell our story in all our earned and owned channels?

5.    Have we aligned our expectations internally? With leadership? With the Board?

6.    What are the metrics we’ll measure ourselves by?

It’s easy to get caught in the weeds of the day-to-day and to be laser-focused on achieving the mission of your business or organization. That’s the right thing to do, of course. However, many organizations don’t invest in the right resources for a fully-integrated communications strategy and valuable opportunities get left on the table as a result.

Limited budgets and resources shouldn’t be a barrier to creativity and success. In fact, the world today presents more earned opportunities for building brand awareness and engagement than ever before. Why not take advantage of them?

This is why an outside perspective often helps; a partner who can look objectively at what you want to achieve and help you map out the best way to get there in a realistic, sustainable way, taking into account financial and human resource considerations. 

With positivity,

Shelley 

Sounds interesting? Let’s talk today about your communications needs and what Positivity Communications can do to help.

(photo credit: Adrian Trinkaus, Unsplash)