Communications professionals know that the strategies that were effective even five years ago are no longer sufficient in an environment where audiences are more widely distributed than ever before, the traditional media landscape is shrinking, and people are turning to new sources for content. With that as the backdrop, V2 assembled a panel of experts who have overcome these challenges by taking an integrated approach to communications, leveraging new formats and channels to break through the noise and reach the people that matter to their business.
We spoke with Heather Graubard, Chief Communications Officer at UiPath, Christian Potts, Director of Global Public Relations at Quickbase, and Becca Sullivan, VP of Global Communications at Rocket Software. If you weren’t able to make it, you can watch the full webinar recording here, and read on for a full recap of the key takeaways.
Moving Beyond Traditional Channels
The panel was unanimous in acknowledging that with the changing landscape of the last several years, traditional approaches that rely only on earned media won’t cut it for most brands. It’s more important than ever that organizations embrace an integrated strategy, one that takes advantage of owned and paid channels, in addition to earned, to reach target audiences consistently and effectively. While the external validation that comes with earned media is still extremely valuable, there are times where organizations need messages to get out in the world that won’t resonate with traditional media and might work better as an advertorial or other formats.
For that reason, teams need to be thinking about earned, owned, and paid all at the same time so they can evaluate which works best for each individual use case. Many organizations, Heather said, aren’t making enough use of their owned channels, which can be a hugely valuable resource in reaching audiences where they are. The trick to using earned, owned, and paid effectively and in concert with each other is figuring out which levers to pull, for who, at what time.
Integrating the Team to Achieve an Integrated Strategy
Once companies make the decision to transition to an integrated approach, they need to begin executing, and one of the first steps is ensuring the team is structured in a way that fosters the necessary collaboration. As Heather pointed out, with the advent of new tools like social media and analytics, teams have been siloed into focusing on one specialty. While taking advantage of a specific expertise is valuable, too often those specialized teams aren’t talking with each other, or with the people who are setting the broader strategy. That needs to be remedied to ensure messages are consistent across channels, while still being tailored to meet the medium.
Becca emphasized putting comprehensive plans for individual campaigns on paper early in the process, so that everyone is aligned on goals for the campaign, key messages, third-party validators, and other elements. For broader strategic conversations, Becca referenced using quarterly business meetings as touchpoints so that the whole communications function can align with the rest of the business on upcoming priorities, how to create messaging for them, and how to share them with the right audiences.
Getting the Most of Big Moments
One of the most advantageous times to employ an integrated approach is when an organization has a quality “hub asset,” like a big announcement or key initiative, that can fuel coordinated, multichannel communications. Christian refers to this as a “lightning strike approach,” mobilizing every tool in the communications toolbox at once around a seminal theme or moment.
Events are a great example of how this approach can be put into practice. In addition to thinking about the key themes that will be discussed on stage, Christian said, organizations should consider things like incorporating influencers as moderators or panelists, putting out news timed with the event, doing social activations on-site, leveraging recent research to inform content, and more. This approach not only helps organizations get the most out of the event, but also generate new ideas and themes that can be used beyond the event, extending the life of the “lightning strike” to give it a longer tail. A session at an event might spark an idea for a byline, or video content could be captured and shared on social, even long after the event is over, to reinforce key messages.
Making use of Data
Once organizations have the right team in place and are executing campaigns based on “lightning strike moments,” they can benefit even further by making use of the data that these campaigns generate, both to measure campaign success and to inform future campaigns. A benefit of an integrated approach is that there’s often more data available to teams compared to the data that earned media generates, and it can be put to use in several ways.
For one, Becca noted the importance of educating executives as communications evolve to be more integrated, and the best way to do that is with data. By showing them metrics like web traffic or social views, communications professional can demonstrate the value that comes from newer channels. These metrics can also help teams decide where to devote resources for the next campaign, based on things like which sponsored content campaigns in which outlets are driving the most prospect visibility, or which topics for social media posts are creating the most engagement.
Looking externally, data can also provide vital insights about how content is being consumed. Christian brought up an example from his work at Quickbase, where many of the people he’s targeting work on jobsites and manufacturing plants. Those people engage very differently than workers who sit in front of a computer most of the day. Data can illuminate those differences and help organizations adapt.
At the heart of the integrated concept is getting the most out of every campaign, but it can be tricky to get off the ground and execute properly. If you’re interested in learning about how V2 uses an integrated approach to make our clients market leaders, reach out to our Chief Client Officer, Katelyn Holbrook: [email protected].