Back to the basics: building an effective communications strategy to support your business goals

Effective internal and external communication is the bedrock of every business and organization. Internal communication connects employees, facilitates seamless work between departments, and helps build a sense of identity, investment and belonging for teams. External communication is a tool to cement your brand, a storytelling tactic to elevate your business in the media, connect with customers and build trust. When done well, internal and external communications are critical components of your business strategy to help propel growth.
Let’s step back a second; what is communication? At its core, communication is simple and to the point– answering the key questions: who, what, when, where, why and how. But sometimes those basics get lost as organizations overcomplicate their messaging, insert filler and use complex industry terms in an effort to ‘beef up’ communications and ‘sound professional.’ In the end, this type of communication often misses the mark, tends to confuse customers and adds no value. What most organizations need is a comprehensive, well-thought-out internal and external communication strategy, complete with a media plan to support business objectives and communicate these goals. These plans need to be realistic and match the capabilities of the team to execute and provide a return on investment. Effective communication supports the day-to-day business operations, creates a roadmap for future success, and a strategic framework to analyze, predict, prevent and circumvent potential issues that the business may face. By creating proactive, effective internal and external communications strategies, your organization is investing in its future success, prioritizing a key business function that is often taken for granted when things are going well but called upon in a crisis to make the issues go away.
If you need help creating a robust communication strategy, contact SMRT Solutions Consulting. We leverage over 40 years of experience in communication, issues and emergency management to help organizations build robust internal and external communication strategies customized to meet your goals and objectives. Contact us at www.smrtsolution.ca.