Build a Corporate Communication Strategy | A Step-by-Step Guide

Although 89% of people believe that effective communication is extremely important to an organization’s success, as it helps to communicate effectively within and outside the organization, 8 out of 10 people rate their own business communications as either average or poor.

Failing to have a corporate communications strategy in place will not only have a negative impact on employees’ work ethics and motivation levels but will also affect a business’s reputation with its customers and key stakeholders: 74% of people said they had stopped dealing with a company and moved to a competitor due to feeling the business was disorganized.

To avoid such losses, it is essential for organizations to implement a strong corporate affairs strategy, which includes maintaining regular and clear contact with staff, customers, and stakeholders.

What is a Corporate Communications Strategy?

A corporate communications strategy is a comprehensive plan that outlines how a company will communicate internally with employees and externally with customers, investors, and other stakeholders. It is a crucial component of a company’s overall business strategy, as it helps to shape the company’s brand image and reputation, foster positive relationships with stakeholders, and drive business growth and success. By having a well-defined corporate communications strategy, businesses can ensure that their messaging is consistent, clear, and aligned with their core values and objectives.

Definition and Importance of Corporate Communications

Corporate communications refer to the process of creating, disseminating, and managing information to various stakeholders, both internally and externally. It encompasses all forms of communication, including verbal, non-verbal, written, and visual. Effective corporate communications are essential for building trust, credibility, and reputation, as well as for driving business results. When a company communicates effectively, it can enhance employee engagement, improve customer satisfaction, and strengthen relationships with investors and other key stakeholders.

What is the purpose of a communications strategy?

• The purpose of a communication strategy is to explain a company’s goals and objectives
• To clarify the relationships between audiences, messages, channels, activities, and materials
• To refine the roles of staff members, stakeholders, and others
• To develop creativity and camaraderie among teams
• To help staff members and stakeholders get on the “same page”
• To include stakeholder input in the communications process
• To ensure stakeholders and customers are being reached effectively

Where to start with the process of corporate communications strategy?

Understanding Your Audience and Stakeholders

To develop a successful corporate communications strategy, it is essential to understand your audience and stakeholders. This involves identifying internal and external stakeholders, gathering feedback from employees and customers, and analyzing audience needs and expectations. By understanding who your stakeholders are and what they care about, you can tailor your communication efforts to meet their needs and build stronger, more meaningful connections.

Identify Internal and External Stakeholders

Internal stakeholders include employees, management, and board members, while external stakeholders encompass customers, investors, media, and the general public. It is essential to identify and prioritize these stakeholders to ensure that communication efforts are targeted and effective. By mapping out your stakeholders, you can determine the best communication channels and key messages for each group, ensuring that your corporate communications strategy is comprehensive and inclusive.

Gather Feedback from Employees and Customers

Gathering feedback from employees and customers is critical to understanding their needs, expectations, and concerns. This can be done through surveys, focus groups, and one-on-one interviews. Feedback can help to identify areas for improvement, inform communication strategies, and ensure that key messages are resonating with the target audience. By actively seeking and incorporating feedback, companies can create a more responsive and adaptive corporate communications strategy that truly addresses the needs of their stakeholders.

Create Market Awareness

By creating awareness in the market through effective external communication, companies have the opportunity to get their names out there and to let customers know what they have to offer. This does not mean businesses have to splurge on high-profile marketing campaigns; another option is to seek out trusted third parties who are already discussing your brand and amplify what they have to say. Smart use of social media offers the opportunity to publish and share thought leadership articles and opinion pieces for free.

Respond Efficiently to Customers

Effective communication strategies based on response and conversion are becoming increasingly common, especially with the rise of content marketing tools that make it easier to track how engaged the audience is with a piece of content and to follow up in a targeted way. Any insights discovered can be passed to the relevant team, who can follow up with customers.

Educate the Market

Technology companies, in particular, often need to educate the market about their products or service offerings. A communications strategy that’s focused on education may favor easily digestible infographics, how-tos, and short videos that explain the market need and how a product addresses that pain. Take care to put ample educational material out there for customers still trying to make a buying decision. Educational content is a key component of marketing communications, helping to inform potential customers about the benefits and features of a product or service.

Focus on Internal Communications

Internal communication is just as important to an organization’s overall health and development as external communications. A solid internal communications strategy helps ensure better morale and employee engagement in the overall corporate objective. Use an internal communications strategy template to get started.

Five tips for Building Effective Communications

1. Create real value—all content should focus on how a product, service, or development will help customers or employees to solve a problem or overcome a challenge.
2. Include Key Performance Indicators—incorporating clear key performance indicators (KPIs) is critical to meeting the goals and objectives set forth in the strategy.
3. Be clear about metrics and goals—it should be clear to everyone working on a project what a successful outcome looks like.
4. Understand your audience—it is important to understand the pain points and interests of your audience.
5. Listen to your stakeholders and customers—prior to launching a new product or service it’s a good idea to seek input and feedback from internal and external sources.

Clear communications are the bedrock of any successful organization, whether that’s internal communications or communicating with customers, suppliers and stakeholders. By being clear and open organizations build a culture of trust which in turn leads to loyalty. In today’s business landscape, loyalty is a clear competitive advantage. A successful communications strategy should include feedback mechanisms from both employees and customers to ensure continuous improvement and alignment with strategic goals.