Niki Goddard’s Post

View profile for Niki Goddard, graphic

Corporate Affairs

At a very interesting scaleup event this week, I was talking in a group of founders and most of them agreed on one thing; they need #PR and #communications but didn't have the money to pay a full timer and most had had a less than positive experience with a freelancer. What became apparent is that their bad experience stemmed from not being clear about what they needed with regards to comms, not really understanding what it could achieve and therefore not having a clear goal and - most importantly - they thought they could just jump right in and 'be in the FT'. What could have been different for these companies? 🔹 Firstly, they need to get their foundations right; audience segmentation, channel mapping, messaging and a clear #strategic plan. A lot of people think their marketing people have done this job and it can just be rolled out across any discipline. But, if you're moving to longer term activity like PR, all that work needs auditing against your new objectives. Remember that you can't build a solid house without a base. 🔹 Once you have that in place, you'll need to plan out your tactical execution, integrating each element with your sales and marketing. There is a lot of overlap between the disciplines and a solid plan that incorporates every channel will ensure efficient across the team, as well as consistent and impactful communications. 🔹 The final step is measurable roll out, which needs to be a sustained effort. PR won't yield overnight results and you won't know what is changing if you aren't tracking against stringent KPIs. I always recommend a #brand awareness and sentiment exercise at the start of a contract, which can be used for regular [at least annual] benchmarking. That will be the best show of whether activity is moving the dial for you. A lot of the initial work can take up resources that growth organisations don't really have. But, it is worth doing. Hiring in senior, strategic consultancy to get the fundamentals in place and support your marketing team can be a strong alternative to hiring a CCO. The most important thing is to find someone who understands your brand and who you can be honest with. If you need some senior comms support or just have a question about how you could get started, do feel free to drop me a line!

To view or add a comment, sign in

Explore topics