What Is Strategic Communication and Why Does It Matter?

strategic communication

Strategic communications are essential to personal or executive branding. Audiences want to know your purpose and values without guessing. A targeted digital communications strategy can help impact the right people at the best times. Here’s how to make the most of it.

Strategic communications are essential to executive branding and performance. The right message can make or break your personal brand and shape public perception of your business. Say the wrong things at the wrong times and reap the negative consequences. Use a comprehensive digital communications strategy instead.

A digital communications strategy comes with multiple benefits despite your audience or platform. Strategic communication requires attention to countless factors, including some you might forget to consider. Work with a reputation manager to streamline your approach and ensure optimal messaging.

Understanding the benefits of strategic communication is as crucial as knowing how it works. You can use a specific technique to draw attention, rewrite your brand values, or do an about-face in the market. Experts can also determine your goals and deliver digital content to align with various campaigns. It’s faster than traditional communication, and you can tailor each word in real time.

What facts about strategic communication do you need to know, and why does it matter? Which elements do the experts handle, and what are your responsibilities? Here are the answers you’ve been looking for.

 

Table of Contents

Strategic Communication: Just the Facts

How Does It Work?

Why It Matters

The Top 5 Benefits of Strategic Communication

#1. Increased Industry Authority

#2. Better Company Transparency

#3. Enhanced Control of the Market

#4. More Meaningful Interactions

#5. Streamlined Pivoting

How to Use Strategic Communication for Maximum Impact

Step One: Refine Your Personal Brand

Step Two: Compare Tactics with Competitors

Step Three: Develop a Digital Communications Strategy

Strategic Communication from a Personal Branding Perspective

Conclusion

 

Strategic Communication: Just the Facts

What is strategic communication, and how does it work? A personal branding expert can explain the nitty-gritty, but here are the fundamentals. As with anything that requires a customized strategy, this approach focuses on the factors that drive meaningful interactions.

“It’s about more than just sending a message. Strategic communication is about sending the right message.”

Tactical transmissions also require deliberate timing and intuitive management. Some entities rely on data collection and analysis to determine their target audience’s preferences and requirements. However, intentional interactions aren’t always dependent on data. Much of it centers on public opinion, trends, tradition, and intuition.

Do you want to attract more clients and boost revenue?

Learn how to position yourself as an expert, grow your audience, and attract the right clients.
FREE

You don’t make it to the top of the heap by throwing out casual statements and ignoring the feedback. A digital communications strategy can help busy executives monitor their output while streamlining their efforts. Use strategic communication to develop a calculated approach to saturated industries and oversold consumers.

Forbes calls it the “new corporate superpower,” while many experts consider it a mainstay for modern businesses. Strategic communication helps companies remain relevant and maintain an online presence. Meanwhile, it supports startups, encourages innovation, and elevates entrepreneurs with valuable methodologies.

DID YOU KNOW: An example of an effective digital communication strategy is adding hashtags to social media posts for increased traffic.

How Does It Work?

Strategic communication works based on specific objectives, timelines, and audiences. Each company or brand can use a unique approach to accomplish short-term or long-term goals. Executives can also separate themselves from corporate activities and values by branding themselves or their talents with a digital communications strategy.

Reputation managers use keywords, phrases, and slogans to describe their client’s goods, services, and affiliations. Experts will also help develop and deliver consistent messages with scheduled content across the targeted channels. They will focus on refining your image and creating an ecosystem around your brand. Also, expect assistance with SEO, publishing, podcasting, and more.

Their timing and verbiage will depend on the industry’s expectations and norms. However, your digital communications strategy will likely determine whether consumers or investors will ever find your website. Therefore, most executive branding teams use the four Ds of strategic communication to begin:

  1. Determine What You Want to Say.
  2. Discover Who You Want to Say It To.
  3. Decide Where You Want to Say It.
  4. Deliver on Your Brand Promises.

“A digital communications strategy involves zooming in on your target audience to develop a message that will capture their attention and keep their respect.”

It is a deliberate call to action that requires a strategic and intuitive approach. Throwing words and images around without considering the consequences can be catastrophic.

Why It Matters

Strategic communication is critical. The reason is that it helps ensure you never do or say anything that will jeopardize your brand. They say bad publicity is still publicity, but some companies can fall victim to that terrible advice. Negative feedback could increase sales by stimulating product awareness. However, it could remove you from the top of the market mountain in the meantime.

“Maintain a good reputation and increase brand recognition for all the right reasons.”

A diligent approach to communicating with your target audience is always the best answer. Consumers, suppliers, investors, and stakeholders will grow to trust you more readily if you’re transparent, predictable, and fair.

Today’s consumer wants to know more about the brands they do business with. They look for background stories, influences, value statements, and purpose. Some studies suggest people prefer companies that seem to care about them personally. Other groups say consumers want their businesses to behave like citizens – equitable, hardworking, and involved in the community.

FACT: A strategic communication plan can help you assimilate into your local environment without seeming like a rookie.

The Top 5 Benefits of Strategic Communication

You only get one chance to make a first impression. Still, you can use a digital communications strategy to rewrite public perception and fix a broken reputation. Begin your executive branding campaign with expert guidance to avoid a lengthy cleanup process later.

Carefully manage what you say, where you say it, and who hears it with a personal branding specialist who understands the fickle fabric of society. They’ll use a digital communications strategy to develop individualized content that matches broad prospects. Get bios, blogs, videos, photo shoots, and more with a dedicated strategic communication team.

Personalize at scale, and reap the following benefits:

#1. Increased Industry Authority

A digital communications strategy helps make your messaging clearer, more concise, and more conscientious. It can also ensure you make sense to the appropriate audiences regardless of the subject matter. Content written by professional writers and imagery designed by expert reputation managers contributes to brand potency and potential.

Strategic communication typically involves using links to and from other authoritative sources. This technique can help affiliate your brand with industry leaders and think tanks. It also improves traffic to your site while encouraging conversions on primary pages.

#2. Better Company Transparency

Help people learn more about you and your company. However, don’t give away crucial trade secrets or reveal plans to your competitors. Let an executive branding team determine the best digital communications strategy to avoid mishaps and oversights. This method also ensures you remain transparent without giving too much away.

Consumers will likely start to see your brand as a trusted figure in the marketplace. Some might not like the things they hear, see, or read when you’re being authentic. Still, many will choose your brand despite the differences of opinion because they appreciate your honesty.

#3. Enhanced Control of the Market

“Strategic communication helps you control the conversation around specific topics.”

You can also become the go-to advisor for certain goods and services. As an established industry authority, your stamp of approval becomes the standard with which other brands compare themselves and others.

Consistent messaging can make this happen faster. You’ll also remain a source of continual support and knowledge when trends shift. A digital communications strategy strengthens your command by keeping your slogans, logos, and content in the public eye for conversation and consideration.

#4. More Meaningful Interactions

Strategic communication specialists never forget to focus on your relationship with consumers and investors. They understand that your interactions impact public perceptions, sales, profitability, and opportunities. Meanwhile, most people want businesses to reply quickly with meaningful messages, but that’s not always possible for a busy executive.

Personal branding experts can talk to your followers directly through social media and other messaging platforms. They can also answer inquiries and address concerns in real time. This advantage helps improve word-of-mouth advertising and reduces future inquiries by creating a log of potential answers.

#5. Streamlined Pivoting

Change your trajectory or redefine your perspectives in an evolving market without sacrificing your core values.

“Strategic communication helps you send updated messaging to align with societal trends and equitable philosophies.”

Don’t let your brand go out of style because of habits, behaviors, and campaigns that no longer work.

When your brand is strong, the economy grows stronger. Your elevated approach to the industry forces the competition to play ball. If you lower the standard, your target audience will know. Then they could change their mind about doing business with you or contribute to the negative publicity you don’t want.

How to Use Strategic Communication for Maximum Impact

Strategic communication can only take you so far without hitting a glass ceiling. The reason is that there’s more to a digital communications strategy than choosing the right words. You also can’t get by with excellent timing or an established reputation. Experts must monitor and manage those factors to ensure positive momentum and continued success.

Each brand requires a customized approach, and most specialists understand that. Here is what you can expect when during the typical strategic communication process:

Step One: Refine Your Personal Brand

The first step is to figure out who you are and what you want to say. Most executives have multiple talents and loads of experience. Even individuals building a personal brand might find it challenging to narrow down their competencies. However, you must refine or risk confusing the audience.

TIP: Pick the abilities and experiences most closely aligned with your brand. Choose to highlight specific talents based on how they affect your company goals.

Step Two: Compare Tactics with Competitors

Use this next step to determine what your competition is doing to attract traffic and increase conversions. Then develop a methodology that satisfies similar requirements while filling in the gaps. You can also turn your competitor’s shortcomings into why people should choose you.

TIP: Apply data analytics to define audience preferences and get quantitative metrics. The feedback can help you develop better marketing campaigns.

Step Three: Develop a Digital Communications Strategy

Work with a personal or executive branding strategist to create a plan. Reputation managers can help hit the mark at the best time for maximum impact. You can also ask them for advice on specific marketing campaigns to maintain alignment with consumer and industry expectations.

TIP: Let the experts lead when developing a strategic communication agenda. They can show you why some actions have unexpected consequences.

Strategic Communication from a Personal Branding Perspective

Personal branding is unique because it focuses more on your personality and private life than your professional competencies. You might experience some pushback from consumers who don’t understand your goals and values. Fortunately, reputation managers can help soften the blow of negative feedback in these three ways:

  1. Publishing information to the contrary – Squash false claims with evidence.
  2. Demonstrating excellence on your behalf – Show off your accomplishments and credentials.
  3. Generating positive in-person and digital feedback – Encourage profound interactions.

Don’t let the big picture scare you. Parce out the perfect strategic communication plan to enjoy progress one step at a time.

Conclusion

Strategic communication is essential, even if you don’t have a personal brand to manage. Saying the right things to the right people at the right time can make or break your reputation. However, working on every detail of public perception is too challenging for most busy professionals. A digital communications strategy can help streamline interactions and ensure maximum impact.

Be aware of your competitors and develop a technique that outshines them. Make the most of the consumer’s attention span with thought-provoking content, copy, and advertising. You can also use strategic communication methods to improve your image, rewrite your company story, or market innovations.

Search
About Claire
Marketing Agency, Strategic Communications, claire bahn group, claire bahn
Claire Bahn is a personal brand strategist and the CEO and Co-Founder of Claire Bahn Group. She has been helping high achieving entrepreneurs, investors, founders, and executives create their best personal brand for over 10 years. She helps entrepreneurs leverage their personal brand to develop the authority, influence, and trust they need to exceed their business goals.
Subscribe to the Newsletter

Want personal branding tips in your inbox?  Sign-up below!