We live in a hyper-connected world, where companies today have to reinvent themselves to reach their audience. In this scenario, corporate communication plays a very important role in companies, as consumers expect them to be more accessible and open to dialogue and interaction.
We live in a hyper-connected world, where companies today have to reinvent themselves to reach their audience. In this scenario, corporate communication plays a very important role in companies, as consumers expect them to be more accessible and open to dialogue and interaction.
In the world of corporate communication, consumer-oriented companies represent a great challenge, because their nature is very different from other companies, and they have other needs and peculiarities. It’s not the same to talk about cars, lifestyle or energy as it is to talk about a consumer technology company.
Among a brand’s stakeholders, the media is one of the most important ones, as it is a loudspeaker through which messages are transmitted to end users. That’s why it’s not only important to develop custom work for each client, based on their goals, services or product and the target market they are addressing, but also the type of media we want to direct the message to.
In my experience, there are some characteristics to consider to better connect with the audience. First of all, you need to define the strategy and actions to be taken for each information, using different tools and approaches. And for this, we can follow these tips:
1. Adapt the message for each type of audience. Listening is always essential and for brands even more so. Try to understand what our audience needs and what they can expect from us. It may seem obvious, but the media have specific formats with which it is possible to establish different types of relationships, adapting the message and tools to their needs to better reach the receiver.
Let’s think about all these characteristics when we work on a communication action. The execution of the actions must be different depending on the media we are addressing, but there must always be coherence in the central message and the company’s positioning. Even if the execution and tools are different, the messages we transmit must be the same regardless of the type of media.
For example, a client is very interested in talking about the latest promotion you have launched or a new business deal you have just signed, but readers of, say, lifestyle media may not be as interested in your corporate news. However, they may want to receive industry data, trends, or expert advice that provides them with useful and interesting information. In many cases, if the content is too “marketinian” and commercial, their attention will be diverted and that is not what we are interested in. Engaging the audience with valuable content will help to achieve a quality audience. Let’s not forget that communication consultants must always look for the most appropriate informative angle for the newsworthy event, always adding value to the brand and, of course, to the media.
2. Capture the dynamics of information and be agile. As a rule, we work with a medium to long-term communication plan. But if there’s one thing we’ve learned in this profession, it’s that you have to be flexible and have a great capacity to react and adapt. We also have to think in the short term, especially when a social and current event is in the news and becomes a trend.
Let’s take advantage of the news moment and ride the wave of current events to launch our message and make a splash by linking brand messages. Agility is key here, and we need to be ready to build and launch information quickly, based on current events and different and new situations we may face. That’s why it’s essential to have a flexible strategy with a content calendar that allows for changes and the introduction of new content.
3. Get to know the journalists, they are our allies. All media and freelance journalists are different: their editorial line, readership, publication schedules, closing dates and times, etc. If you don’t know each other, you may make a mistake in contacting them and offering them our information, and that can be a major obstacle to reaching them, or even put us out of business.
The media depend to a large extent on the information we provide them from communications departments and agencies, so we need to be careful about our experiences with journalists. As I mentioned earlier, it is important to tailor the message to each audience. On our side, we will try to make sure that the contents and actions we issue from the communication office have the widest possible diffusion, while the journalists’ objective is to offer relevant contents to their readers.
When you know the journalists well, you know what kind of information they are interested in, what their editorial line is and how they address their audience. If we offer them unique and exclusive stories tailored to their needs, we will become a reliable and recurring source for them and there will be occasions when they will be knocking on our door to request information. It’s a win-win alliance.
There is no great mystery to these keys, but on many occasions, the rush, the desire to get there yesterday, and the over-information help us keep in mind the importance of knowing how and to whom to communicate, not just what. Simply applying these keys to communication strategy and media/public relations can lead to some very important breakthroughs and achievements. To me, this is one of the areas where there is the most work to be done and where it is easiest to make a difference in our profession.
