The key is relevance.
Why here? Why now? Why you?
An effective communications strategy starts by understanding the bigger picture. Who are the other organizations and individuals in your ‘issue ecosystem’? What conversations are they already having? Where is the cultural zeitgeist and how can your work become part of it?
The idea is to identify where you and your work can add the most value for different audiences, and reinforce it in everything you say and do, so that your audiences, whoever they are, want to hear more from you, work with you, and help you in your mission.
We typically get requests for two levels of strategy support:
Positioning
Showcasing relevance within the ecosystem enhances impact.
“How should I position our organization or programme so that our ecosystem understands its value?”
When an impact organization needs to position itself or one of its programmes within the wider issue ecosystem so that audiences appreciate the relevance and value of its work.
What the service includes:
- Ecosystem mapping: mapping and profiling partners, competitors and other stakeholders to identify your organization’s unique value proposition.
- Audience mapping: mapping and profiling all relevant audience groups to build a professional and personal profile.
- Organizational narrative development: developing a unique organizational story which orientates your work within the wider conversation around your issue. Typically developed with input from internal and external stakeholders through interviews and guided workshops.
Communications framework: distilling all this input into a clear framework your team can use to guide all communications (i.e. organizational mission, vision and purpose statement, with value propositions and key messages for each product or programme).
Deliverables:
- Communications handbook, including:
- Written narrative for organization or programme.
- Key messages, integrating key proof points (data, evidence, case studies, etc.). Includes variations for different audience segments.
- On-boarding of internal stakeholders to new narrative via a presentation (in-person or online).
Content & Campaigning
A message is only as clear as its delivery.
“How do I communicate our narrative to the right people, at the right time so that they do what we need them to?”
With this service, we plan how to insert our clients’ messages into their audience’s conversations across a certain timeframe, covering either all organizational communications or communications around a specific programme, initiative or campaign.
What the service includes:
- Research: understanding the media and narrative environments you are communicating in.
- Comms planning: choosing the right blend of channels for reaching your audience groups (e.g. social media channels, PR, website, newsletters, partnerships) with tailored messaging.
- Content calendar: a detailed plan for when and where to deliver your message, including specific guidance on scheduling social media posts.
- Creative ideas: creative ideas for formats and content on each channel.
- Campaign support: support to execute the campaign, for example by operating social media spend on post boosting.
Deliverables:
- Communications plan, outlining all activities across relevant channels for a set period of time (3–24 months).
- PR plan, specifying PR objectives, metrics, list of target media and implementation plan.
All these services can be tailored to your specific needs, determined during a briefing call, and adjusted in scope to suit your budget and needs.
Contact us now to discuss your project and see how we can help you achieve your communication goals.
