How do you adjust your communication strategy to meet new goals?

When revamping your communication strategy, a comprehensive evaluation is the first step. Analyze the strategy's goals, messages, and target audiences. Assess the effectiveness of current channels and tools, and explore new opportunities. Solicit feedback from stakeholders and employ relevant metrics for insightful analysis. Consider both quantitative and qualitative data to gauge impact and outcomes. This self-assessment provides invaluable insights into the strategy's strengths and weaknesses, guiding you to refine and optimize your communication approach. Emphasize continuous improvement to adapt to evolving audience needs and industry trends.

To adjust your communication strategy for new goals, start by being clear about what you want to achieve. Then, think about the people you want to talk to and what they like to hear. Customize your messages to match your goals and the audience. Choose the best ways to talk to them, like using social media or emails. Create content that helps you reach your goals and talk at the right times. Keep an eye on how well you're doing using measurements, and be ready to change things if they're not working. Listen to feedback, make sure your team is on the same page, and be flexible in case things change. This way, your communication can help you reach your new goals effectively.

The one aspect I want to add here is that a proper audit/analysis must reflect on the approach and perspective to the person(s) executing that analysis. In most organisations the problem starts with a question that is directed inside-out instead of outside-in. Meaning, it is not enough to know who the target audience is, you also need to know how they think and feel about whatever change is coming their way. In my experience this is of the essence to make the best decisions when it comes to developing a meaningful (effective) narrative.

Also don't forget about your old goals: Are the new goals (fully) replacing the old ones? Are they being added? To what extend do they fit the old goals or do they contradict them? What are the new main prioritieres and key performance indicators? Make sure to establish an understanding across all decision makers in your company about what you're changing or replacing and to manage expectations.

Again, I agree with that recommendation but would like to add an aspect of depth. SMART helps to get some transparency in both the process of goal definition and execution (measuring). However, if you need buy-in from your team, you have to add some context. Why is it relevant and inevitable to make these changes? Why is it relevant for you, and why should you engage with these new goals and support them? And what would be the scenario if a) you didn't make that strategic change or b) you didn't buy into that? Context is what gives strategy meaning and an opportunity to make it relevant on an individual level.

Crafting a successful communication strategy hinges on stakeholder-centricity. Identify and comprehend the diverse stakeholders surrounding your organization, such as employees, customers, partners, regulators, and media. Conduct thorough research to understand their unique needs, preferences, and communication behaviors. Segment stakeholders based on their significance and influence, allowing targeted and impactful messaging. Customize content and channels to resonate with each group, maximizing engagement and receptiveness.

And when doing so, don't confuse stakeholders with audiences as not every stakeholder is an audience. If you have to choose, go with the audience(s). They should be front and center in your communication strategy and often are also a source of information and insights as to what works well, what doesn't and what can be done to improve your strategy and tactics.

Si tenemos nuevos objetivos que queremos lograr, hay que diseñar una nueva estrategia. Y esa nueva estrategia comienza por analizar el contexto actual con las partes interesadas y también con personas muy diversas que no estén interesadas en nuestra organización pero si en cambiar el mundo. De allí podemos descubrir ideas novedosas para contrastar y sumar a las acciones que diseñaremos.

Use the channels where your audience(s) are already active. We all know that the most read intranet articles are those with employee stories and day to day practical updates that relate to them. Make it interesting and practical, avoid corporate speak messages. Focus on receiving feedback from your audience(s) through the channels you/they use, then adapt where needed. Don't go for the "latest gimmick or tool", ask your audience how to reach them, they know.

This describes the mechanics. That's all good and nice. But more importantly, you need to add opportunities to engage with what was said and who said it on every channel you have chosen. It is not enough to throw your content "over the fence." The important part of communication is that you are capable of creating a conversation. Communication is interactive and requires the exchange of sender and recipient for the sake of both parties, by the way. Because the conversation gives you the hints you need to either adjust or change your messaging, tone of voice, or channels.

Test your messages and then test them again... Our marketing colleagues know this - they do A/B testing all the time and today you have several message testing tools at your disposal. Invest in easy to use feedback mechanisms and don't be afraid to change tone of voice. No one is waiting for your next corporate speak CEO update.

Effective messaging is the bedrock of a robust communication strategy. Focus on clarity, brevity, and persuasiveness. Tailor messages to align with your objectives, target audience, and chosen communication channel. Employ an appropriate tone, style, and language relevant to the context. Eschew jargon and technical terms that may hinder comprehension. Engage your audience with compelling stories, data, and relatable examples. Encourage interaction through well-crafted call-to-actions, thoughtful questions, and feedback mechanisms. By mastering the art of impactful messaging, you captivate your audience, foster meaningful connections, and drive desired outcomes.

To quote David Shrigley: Weak messages create bad situations. This might feel like old news but is simple advice that cannot be stressed enough. Spend time on your messaging or the best strategy will fail. Get second and third opinions whenever possible to make sure your point comes across as intended.

I know I am repeating myself. But please do not forget the context. All your messages might be crafted to the best standards of top-down messaging. But if you don't give the context of the decisions made by the leaders, you also don't give them the chance to engage and feel like part of a conversation (team).

Baselining needs to become the new benchmarking. Without baselining, it becomes difficult to measure impact and progress. Measuring something once gives you a very limited view. Benchmarking has an appeal because corporate folks like to be better than their competition. But internal comms is very tricky to compare with other organizations. Culture - be it corporate or national - can be completely different. Throw in workplace strategy, workforce demographics and the mix of actual work activities, and it becomes less and less appropriate. Baselining your business goals and measuring how comms activities impact their progress makes far more sense.

The only goals any communications strategy and plan should be based on are the business goals. Within that rubric, priorities need to be set for support/resource allocation, timing, cadence, etc.

I adapt my communication based on the specific goals, tailoring my approach to the audience, message, and desired outcome. Whether it's being concise, providing detailed explanations, or using persuasive language, I adjust to effectively convey information.

Adding to Ashley, Laydon and Lisa's brilliant contributions. Your communications strategy should remain open to change and communicate this to your stakeholders ie a working document. Let them know that it is important that the strategy is serving their needs and the you are open to iterating to achieve this. And remain teachable because even if we are custodians of the strategy. It is meant to serve our stakeholders.

I think baselining is key (as per @Mike Klein) - you need to know where you are starting from. It is also key to know what the desired outcome is. When you know your strategic starting point and your intended destination you can build hypotheses and test them using experiments to gather evidence. The evidence enables an organization to adjust the strategy incrementally.

Planning sets the foundation for our internal communications strategy but the potential to engage with our audience and make impact comes when we use agility and adaptability. Fostering feedback, collaboration, and planning for change, we pave the way for dynamic, impactful, and future-forward communication strategies.

Create a killer catchphrase. You need a memorable slogan that captures your new goals. For example, "Operation Office Unity: Let's Make Work Less 'Mission Impossible' and More 'Mission Incredible'!" Choose the right channels. Think of communication channels like weapons in your arsenal. Use it to disseminate your message effectively. Craft killer content. Inject humor, drama or mystery into your messages. Use gifs, memes and quirky visuals. Turn your new goals into a game. Create challenges, quizzes or treasure hunts. Get spies on board! Recruit internal influencers to spread the message. Their endorsement will have the power of a secret handshake.