Strategic Communication

Strategic Communication Definition

Strategic communication refers to a specialized approach that involves utilizing effective communication techniques and skills to receive, distribute information, and achieve public relations or marketing goals. It enables a business to engage and communicate with key audiences through the distribution of compelling messages consistently.

Using this approach can help organizations maintain and establish strong and longstanding relations with key stakeholders. Moreover, it promotes accountability and transparency and fosters trust in the office. Three elements of this method include feedback incorporation, execution, and strategic planning. Also, this approach has different types, for example, internal, external, investor relations, and marketing communication.

• Strategic communications refers to the principles, initiatives, and strategies businesses use to fulfill their mission or goals. It enables organizations to communicate with their most important audiences through the distribution of compelling messages on a consistent basis. 
• Unlike public relations, strategic communication is a much broader concept. The former is a part of the latter. 
• The three components of this approach are strategic planning, feedback incorporation, and execution.
• There are various benefits of strategic communication. For example, it enables a business to stay competitive and improves the organization’s reputation, efficiency, and decision-making.

Strategic Communication Explained

Strategic communication refers to an approach through which businesses communicate the best message via the right channels, at the best time, to the correct individuals or organizations. Moreover, it involves using the feedback obtained through this process to remain focused on achieving the organizational goals. This method requires tactical, planned execution and forethought. Moreover, it requires accurate positioning around the business’s mission.

To help understand better, strategic corporate communication usually involves developing media and marketing strategies to reach the organization’s target audience with a compelling message. This can include developing integrated marketing communications. Alternatively, it may include messaging on different platforms while maintaining a brand identity.

Organizations need to use this approach as it enables them to effectively particular targeted messages, values, and goals, to key people to fulfill the set objectives. This may include managing a certain crisis or shaping the opinion of the general public.

Besides making messages visible to particular audiences, such an approach helps in promoting responsibility, reliability, accountability and building and maintaining longstanding relationships with clients. Note that this approach can also help prevent the circulation of wrong information.

Elements

Let us look at the components of strategic communication in detail.

#1 - Execution

Execution involves taking the plan and breaking it down into different actionable segments before scheduling and assigning every activity. Without proper implementation, strategies might not provide tangible results. In small businesses, the owner might have the responsibility to implement a communication strategy, while large organizations may take the help of communication experts.

#2 - Strategic Planning

Note that there’s no such communication without strategic planning. The planning stage is crucial to set the aims of every activity and make sure that it is in line with the organizational goals. In this phase, four problems — action plan, communication channels, communication goals, and target audience are paramount. These issues offer answers to who, how, where, and why of strategic communication. The target audience and goals determine the actions to take and platforms to utilize.

#3 - Feedback Incorporation

This approach is about fulfilling organizational objectives via targeted messaging. Hence, a feedback system or mechanism is crucial for full actualization. This explains why organizations keep asking all their customers or clients to review their products and services. Note that requesting such feedback is not adequate. Their aim must be to obtain meaningful insights from the feedback to come up with better strategies.

Types

The different types of such an approach are as follows:

• External communication: It focuses on engaging and communicating with customers, investors, partners, and other external stakeholders.
• Public Relations: Such a form of communication involves maintaining and building relations relationships with external stakeholders and the public.
• Government Relations: It involves focusing on maintaining and strengthening relationships with different government agencies and officials.
• Social Media Communication: When businesses engage in this form of communication, it involves utilizing different social media platforms, for example, Facebook and Instagram. With this approach, they can communicate, share, and create content to promote different products and services offered by them.
• Investor Relations: It focuses on maintaining and developing relationships with shareholders as well as other investors.
• Community Engagement: This kind of communication aims to build relationships and maintain the same with the community. Its purpose is to comprehend the community members’ concerns and needs and give feedback and information to help them make better decisions.
• Internal Communication: It focuses on engaging and communicating with employees who are part of the organization.

Examples

Let us look at a few strategic communication examples to understand the concept better.

Example #1

Suppose Company ABC is an online t-shirt seller. Its core values include developing honest and open relationships through communication with all its internal and external stakeholders. All team members work with cohesion, which ensures robust internal communication. Moreover, they are efficient with regard to making crucial business-related decisions.

 If there is any tension or issue between different departments, the employees arrange for meetings to address all the problems. The strategic communication taking place within the organization builds trust in the workplace while fostering transparency.

Example #2

In July 2023, Fino Payments Bank, which is a company under the umbrella of Fino Paytech Limited, appointed an agency named Streetlight Media as the strategic communication partner because of the organization’s capabilities to provide strategic outcomes, commitments, and extensive rural reach. The agency will formulate and implement the Navi Mumbai-based company’s new communication strategy to engage and manage media spread across the various small towns in India.

The agency’s public relations experience will prove to be vital in exploring Fino’s brand image, creating deep and meaningful connections with its target audience, and increasing market visibility. In combination with the innovation and history in the fintech space, the collaboration will cement the position of the brand as one of the market leaders within the fintech sector.

Importance

One can comprehend the concept’s importance by going through the points below:

• It can improve a business’s reputation.
• This approach can help businesses respond effectively to any unforeseen or unexpected event by offering a framework for disseminating and developing information.
• It helps in building trust with the company’s key stakeholders.
• Another crucial strategic communication benefit is that it improves engagement with the key stakeholders through the creation of opportunities for feedback and dialogue.
• Such a form of communication promotes transparency.
• It provides information and feedback that helps in improved decision-making concerning organizational tactics and strategy.
• This approach can help increase efficiency as it helps in better-allocating resources to communication activities that are the most effective.
• It allows businesses to remain competitive by providing a way to expect and respond to alterations in the external environment.

Strategic Communication vs Public Relations

Individuals often have confusion regarding the meaning and purpose of public relations. Hence, knowing how they differ is vital to avoid any confusion. In that regard, looking at their distinct characteristics is imperative.

Strategic Communication	Public Relations
It involves utilizing communication effectively to achieve certain business-related objectives and goals.	Public relations is a type of strategic communication, as mentioned above.
This approach is concerned with the perception of external and internal stakeholders besides the general public with regard to the organization.	It is primarily concerned with the general public’s perception of an organization.
It has a broader scope.	The concept of public relations has a narrower focus.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

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