How to refresh your communications and marketing strategy

How to refresh your communications and marketing strategy

The importance of doing your research and reflection up front

Whatever happens next year, one thing is certain – people will be at the heart of your strategy and plans. Providing them with a product or service that helps them and the world, will help you sustain your business in these turbulent times. People no longer want a brand promise, but an authentic purpose.

This is why many of us will be busy rethinking and refreshing our communications and marketing plans to kick start 2021.

Now when you want to start working on your communications and marketing strategy for your purpose driven company, it’s vital that you embrace a commonly used communications and marketing model for reputation, and look at –

• What people think you do

• What you say you do

• What you actually do

The aim is for all of these to marry up as your aligned strategic purpose as a company, and have huge value in achieving your business objectives.

But in the meantime, it’s worth answering all of these questions throughout the strategic process to help you spot trends and identify actions.

But how to start working on the detail?

A common mistake is to create a strategy from the top of your head, or one that is solely based on what your business wants. The right strategy will come from what your business wants, what your audiences need, and also what your marketplace is doing.

In this post I explore five key steps on refreshing your strategy:

1. Understand where you are now

   This includes your business, your marketing and communications, and also your audience.

   Some key things to think about are your business objectives and whether you’re on course to achieve them, how your current marketing and communications plan is going, and how and where your audience is engaging with you.

   A good principle to use is – Know, Think, Feel, and Do. In short, this means –  what do your audience Know, Think and Feel about your business and service? And then, what action do you want them to take – what do you want them to Do?

   “This principle of “know, like, trust,” as it’s known in the marketing world, is a universal framework for growing your business because it’s the pattern humans follow to build relationships.” **

   There are many things that you can consider when working through this, such as:

   • Social media interaction

   • Website analytics

   • Click-throughs

   • Comments

2. Be really clear where you want to be

   Now we have all of this information, I like to begin at the end – what does success look like?

   Think about your new business objectives for the coming year. What are they? How can your communications and marketing plan achieve them? Once you know the answer to this, consider what success looks like in terms of what your audience is doing. What do you want them to Know, Think, Feel and Do to make sure you achieve your communications and marketing goals, and in turn your business objectives?

3. Get your active insights

   Now we know where we are, and where we want to go. The key is to not skip, assume, or underestimate this third step – as it will help you not only create a brilliant strategy that can stand the test of time, but it can also help you get internal recognition and open doors within the company you work for.

   It’s important that you really understand your audience, and what challenges they face. What makes them tick?  How can we solve a problem or enhance their lifestyle?

   Here are some tools you can use to gather these insights:

   • Use a search listening tool like Answer The Public

   • Market research that can be found online

   • Social listening to monitor social media channels for mentions of your brand, competitors, and product

   • Google analytics

   • Website analytics

   • Facebook groups and Facebook Audience Insights

4. Spot trends

   Once you’ve gathered your active insights, you can start to process all of the data that you’ve gathered and spot trends. Here you can connect where your audience is now using their Know, Think, Feel and Do, where you want them to think, feel and do, and what active insights, and brand plans will help fill the gap.

5. Clarify your strategic intents

   In our final step, it’s time to pick the ‘how’ you’re going to engage your audience. These are the things that are going to make the biggest impact and will be your strategic pillars going forward. Choose the top three – five things that will make the biggest impact on your objectives. For example, if your company makes health food snacks aimed at busy mums, you could choose to:

   • Extend your target market to busy mums across the UK, who are health and environmentally curious and conscious

   • You believe mums should invest in themselves, so they can look good and feel great

   • You will help unlock time for them and their family

   • You can then decide on some strategic intents to move forward with

I hope this article gives you a clear starting point for working through your next marketing and communications strategy. If you have any questions, don’t hesitate to connect with me – DM me on Linkedin or email me on louise@connectedcommssociety.com.

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