What is a Communication Strategy and How to Develop It?
One of the most important success factors for any business is effective and timely communication with customers. Companies and brands must be able to attract the attention of their target audience, convince them to buy their product or service, and build mutually beneficial long-term relationships with them.
Content:
1. Communication strategy — what is it and why is it needed?
2. What does the communication strategy consist of?
3. Types of communication models
4. Stages of developing a communication strategy
5. Common mistakes in the preparation of the CS
6. Conclusion
Successful interaction with the target audience requires a pre-prepared plan, which is called a communication or communication strategy. In our new article, we will talk about the definition of a communication strategy, its goals and objectives, who needs it and why. We will also talk about what elements it includes and what types of strategies exist, as well as about the stages of their development and directions of communications. Finally, you will learn about common mistakes in this process and how to avoid them.
Communication strategy — what is it and why is it needed?
A communication strategy is a set of measures aimed at creating demand and promoting a brand through communication and interaction with the target audience. The effectiveness of a company's marketing policy directly depends on its consistency, which can be achieved through comprehensive strategic planning.
This means that for effective marketing, it is not enough for brands to just launch disparate advertising campaigns and prepare individual promotions online or offline. Instead, it is very important to use an integrated approach to interaction with clients, the result of which will be the preparation of a communication strategy.
With regard to the goals and objectives of this event, among them are the following:
- Increase brand awareness and inform the target audience about its products.
- To form a loyal attitude towards the brand and neutralize the negative.
- Help potential customers solve their problems by providing the best solution in the form of brand products or services.
- Adjust the brand image, making it more understandable and attractive to different target groups.
In addition, each of the directions of the strategy contains specific communication tasks, which we will discuss later in the text.
What does the communication strategy consist of?
As a rule, a modern communication strategy includes three main areas: marketing, creative and media. Next, we describe each of them in detail.
Marketing block
The development of a marketing direction is the first step in creating a brand communication strategy. It starts with studying the target audience (by conducting surveys, interviews, questionnaires, etc.) and ends with the development of USP. Based on the results of the first stage, brand representatives study their target audience, find out its preferences and form a list of product benefits.
The marketing block of the communication strategy includes the following list of tasks:
- Presenting the specific benefits of the brand and its product to the audience.
- Development of a unique selling proposition (USP).
- Detachment from competitors — identifying ways to stand out from their background and attract the attention of the target audience.
- Measures to stimulate customer loyalty to the brand.
Thus, the marketing direction helps to form a brand image, increase its recognition among the target audience, show key advantages and differences from competitors, and make existing customers more loyal.
Сreative block
The creative direction allows you to work out the brand image in all its details and lay the foundation for effective communication between the company and its potential/current client. The main goal of the creative block is the creation of an original idea that would be understandable to the target audience and would inspire confidence in it. As for the main tasks of this stage, they are as follows:
- Creation of elements of the visual image of the brand, in particular corporate identity, brand book, website/mobile application design, etc.
- Elaboration of rational and emotional components of the brand.
- Preparation of communication messages for different segments of the target audience, as well as all channels and stages of promotion used.
The creative block closes the task of visualizing the brand image created during the previous stage. He is also responsible for the development of message content for all relevant target audience segments and different channels/stages of a communication campaign — this is the whole complex of measures for communication and interaction between the brand and its customers.
Media block
After preparing concepts for the marketing and creative direction, it is necessary to think over communication strategies for the media block. During this stage, marketers select the most promising promotion channels: contextual advertising, social media campaigns, SEO, etc. Also, the media direction is responsible for choosing the most effective ways of communication between the company and its customers: email/SMS mailings, SMS platform, instant messengers, online chats, push notifications, etc.
Thus, the fulfillment of the tasks of the media block allows you to convey messages to the audience about the benefits of the product through the selected channels. Any channel and medium you choose require validation, as such using a phone validation service can help you in identifying the users. In addition, with their help, marketers can create a brand image, as well as receive and process feedback.
Types of communication models
In short, the communication model (CM) is a practical tool for implementing a communication strategy (CS). It reflects the processes of transmission and/or exchange of information between all participants in the communication process: in our case, between the brand and its audience.
Among the most common communication models today are the following:
- AIDA. Probably the most famous and widely CM used in marketing and advertising. It provides a step-by-step scenario for attracting a customer and stimulating him to buy a product, which consists of 4 stages: A (attention), I (interest), D (desire), A (action). The AIDA model formed the basis of the classic sales funnel. There is also an extended version of this CM called AIDCA with an additional stage C (confidence).
- ACCA. Another highly demanded communication model developed on the basis of AIDA. It has an almost similar sequence of actions, but with slightly changed stages: A (attention), C (comprehension), C (conviction), A (action).
- AIMDA. Another improved AIDA model has the following structure: A (attention), I (interest), M (motive), D (desire), A (activity).
- 4A. This format of the communication model consists of 4 stages, each of which denotes the expected reaction of the client to the messages sent to him: A (awareness), A (attitude), A (action), A (again action).
- 4P. According to the following CM, effective communication between a brand and its target audience should include 4 elements: P (picture), P (promise), P (prove), P (push).
- DIBABA. It is also worth noting a more detailed communication model containing as many as six components. However, it is also built on the basis of the same AIDA CM, but has an extended structure of stages: D (desire), I (identification, identification of needs), B (bamp, stimulation to make a purchase decision), A (reAction, reaction tracking), B (buy, call to buy), A (atmosphere, creating an atmosphere conducive to buying).
Stages of developing a communication strategy
There are several main stages in the development of a CS: analysis, positioning, selection of interaction channels and media planning. Let's take a closer look at each of them.
Analysis
Preliminary collection and processing of analytics data is one of the key stages, without which no example of a communication strategy can do. A competent assessment of the position of the company and its product on the market, along with other criteria (strengths and weaknesses, competitive environment), allows you to choose the most effective communication tools and channels of interaction with the audience. Depending on your buyer persona type, you may choose the best communication channels such as a client portal; some customers may prefer landline phone service, while others would love to connect via messaging apps. Consider using a customer portal, too, as it is also highly effective when it comes to managing customer communication.
For the preparation of complex analytics, measures such as:
- An analysis of the company's position in the market, based on data from several sources. This includes both internal documents (sales reports, etc.) and analytics from third-party independent sources (for example, external audit results).
- Interviews with management and decision makers (DM) in order to obtain information about the achievements and prospects of the company, its current position, etc. Comparison of the obtained information with the data of internal and external analytics.
- SWOT analysis to identify the strengths and weaknesses of the company and its product in comparison with competitors, as well as identify external opportunities and threats.
- PESTEL analysis is a more detailed and detailed assessment of the environmental factors described in the SWOT analysis. All the factors presented here are divided into 6 categories: political, economic, socio-cultural, technological, environmental, legislative.
- Media presence analysis, which captures all mentions of the brand and its products in social media, mass media and other media sources for a certain period of time (for example, for a year). At the same time, it is necessary to take into account such criteria as the number of publications, the level of sites, coverage, tonality, etc.
The result of processing all the received data is the so-called “analytical note”. It describes the overall picture of the state of affairs of the company based on the research performed, and also spells out the goals of the brand's communication strategy. We talked about the common goals of the CS in the first section of this article.
Positioning
The next key step is the development of brand positioning — the image of the company in the eyes of its target audience. Properly conducted positioning will become the basis of a communication strategy, will help to effectively attract new customers and stand out from competitors. To achieve the desired result at this stage, you need to perform the following tasks:
- Create a portrait of the ideal customer by identifying their demographic and social characteristics, geographic location, occupation, hobbies, values, problems, pains, motivation (emotional or rational) and other important factors.
- Segment the customer base by dividing all customers into certain categories: for example, by gender, age, place of residence, income level, etc. For faster and more convenient segmentation, you can use the criteria from the portrait of the ideal buyer.
- Choose appropriate channels of interaction with the audience and prepare messages for the target audience, focusing on the chosen communication model or models (AIDA, ACCA, 4A, etc.). If the brand has several target audiences, then for each of them you need to think over separate CMs and messages. For example, for a male audience, build them on the basis of a rational approach, and for a female audience, on the basis of an emotional one. In all cases, it is important that these messages are understandable, memorable and evocative.
- Build a Customer Journey Map for each segment of the target audience. In this document, it is necessary to visualize all stages of the client's interaction with the brand and its product: from acquaintance to repeated purchases.
- Build a PESO matrix, describing in detail and grouping all the promotion channels used into the following categories: Paid, Earned, Shared (social), Owned. As in the case of CJM, PESO must be built for each segment of the target audience.
- Develop a content policy. Another important element of positioning involves the selection of communication message parameters. These include acceptable formats, frequency of sending messages, Tone of Voice (brand voice), etc.
After completing all communication tasks at this stage, specialists proceed to the preparation of the final document called the positioning concept. All further activities for the preparation and implementation of the brand's communication strategy should be carried out in accordance with the adopted concept.
Choice of interaction channels and media planning
The final stage of preparation of the CS directly concerns practical tools and technical details, which include:
- Selection of optimal channels of interaction with clients, which would provide maximum coverage of the audience, combined with a high speed of message delivery and an acceptable amount of campaign costs.
- Development of a calendar media plan, where you need to write down information about all planned and completed media activities, indicating the main data for each of them: format, target audience, venue, goals, results, etc.
- Development of a content plan, which publishes a detailed list of texts, images, videos and other materials that will be used in communication messages.
- Development of a performance evaluation system that allows you to quickly collect feedback, monitor and control the results of the implementation of the communication strategy, and correctly correct it if necessary.
- Budget calculation, which can be carried out according to one or more popular methods: fixed budget, budgeting by goals, by balance, or by percentage of sales.
Common mistakes in preparing a CS
- Poor or limited data analysis (for example, due to incorrectly selected analytics tools or incomplete collection of information. The result of this error may be the wrong choice of channels and methods for implementing a communication strategy.
- The lack of an accurate description of the goals set and the planned deadlines for their implementation. This error can make it difficult for a brand to evaluate the effectiveness of a communication strategy.
- The lack of a clear media plan, which will make it difficult to build stable communications with the audience in the long term, as well as timely adjust positioning in case of changes in the market.
- The target audience is incorrectly defined — this is a fairly common and serious mistake, due to which the communication messages sent by the brand do not resonate with customers and, accordingly, do not bring results.
- Incorrectly selected promotion channels — this error is a logical continuation of the previous one, because of it, companies often “drain” their advertising budgets for nothing.
Conclusion
A communication strategy is a set of measures designed to streamline all formats and stages of interaction between brands and their customers. With its help, companies can increase awareness, strengthen loyalty and promote their products more effectively among the target audience. CS consists of three main blocks: marketing, creative and media, each of them includes a specific set of tasks.
The development of a communication strategy is carried out in several stages, first comes the analysis, then positioning, and the final stage is the choice of channels of interaction and media planning. Incorrect data analysis, lack of specific goals, deadlines and media plan, as well as incorrectly defined promotion channels and target audience are the main mistakes that can significantly reduce the effectiveness of a communication strategy.
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