Communications
Listening and participating
are critical.
- Crisis Communications
- Public Relations
- Stakeholder Relations
- Media Management
- Media Training
- Internal Communications
Communications and strategy: it's all about engagement.
Over the years, so much has changed with communications and engagement. It’s no longer acceptable to simply distribute messages: organizations must engage people in meaningful ways.
Today, we view communications and engagement as prime opportunities for audiences to interact with companies, governments, and organizations. Our role is to help our clients tell stories, listen to comments, and answer questions.
Public relations—or PR—uses media to enhance credibility and earn the public’s trust. It connects you personally and organically with your target audience. While advertising makes your target market aware of your products and services, a PR strategy spreads the word through various channels, so customers come to you. PR strategies start conversations that help audiences to trust your products or services. PR also protects your brand when you face issues or crises.
How we can help
- Crisis Communications
- Public Relations
- Stakeholder Relations
- Media Management
- Media Training
- Internal Communications
Communications audits give you a new perspective.
A communications audit assesses the current state. It evaluates existing materials and identifies new opportunities. It measures messaging, media relations, and reputation.
An audit may start with interviews with senior management, managers, and a representative sample of employees. It may include telephone and electronic surveys of customers or audiences, social media scans and digital audits, inventories of existing communications tools, along with analysis of their suitability, readability, tone, language, and more. The process takes a deep dive into things that matter: metrics, sentiment, and effectiveness. It helps an organization identify the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and challenges of its various communication methods and provides that “aha” moment of clarity.
Plan Elements
The research and assessment conducted during an audit can lead to strategic communications plans for public and employee communications.
- Summary of background and opportunity, including the brief project history and the involvement of the respective audiences to date
- Research summary, SWOT analysis, including an understanding of emerging challenges and opportunities
- Communication goal – definition of the long-term business goal that communications is supporting
- Objectives – specific, measurable objectives to support the organization in achieving its business goals
- Identification of internal and external target audiences
- Overarching key messages, by target audience
- Communication tools, by target audience
- Implementation of communication tools (including roles, responsibilities, inputs, production time, frequency, timing, distribution)
- Resource allocation (staff time and budget)
- Evaluation metrics to monitor progress and adjust as needed
