In this world of increasing competition, the success of a firm can hinge on communication, which is directly driven by content strategy, says Tanya Khanna
Stuck in the everyday rut of work, meetings, deadlines, Zoom calls, and ensuring the deliverance of any services or product, we often get caught in the never-ending, ongoing battle of brand-building, especially in a post-pandemic, highly digital world. In the vicious cycle of getting and delivering work, we are, usually, unable to step back or tap into our business strengths to optimise them towards a path of growth and success. Brand building, outreach, and communication are activities that we only consider when we are unable to pace ourselves for growth or do not see tangible milestones in attracting new business.
In the socially-distanced world, where there is a digital overload of information, how does an individual, a brand, or a designer stand out or be known for who they are and what they do? How does one distinguish oneself amid social media algorithms and generic content that are stepped over by ads and internet paraphernalia? Often, we do not recognise that in this world of increasing competition, the success of a firm can simply hinge on communication, which is directly driven by content and content strategy. So, how does one use content as a key to communication? Here are a few key ideas:
Build the brand brief yourself, or together with the client
It is important to understand, learn and sometimes unlearn the client’s objectives. Employ a strategy that services across the right platforms and is at the right scale to derive relevant results from the market. Competitor research and specific targeted goals can lead to an impactful strategy, despite limited resources and budgets. In today’s marketing-driven world, one must have a distinguishing factor, a USP, through which people can recognise the brand.
Be your brand’s voice
There is no manual or set guidelines that can enable an effective communications plan. Each individual, brand, or firm is unique with a distinct ethos and an inimitable style and approach. The content must resonate with the ethos and, of course, capture the essence of who you are. What is critical is to ascertain what that uniqueness is, and utilise it as both the means and end of a communication plan.
Do more with less
Tools for communication today are evolving from static print media of profiles, brochures, and publications to social media, virtual and visual tools. To keep pace with rapidly changing practices and be at par with the new values of the global economy, it is important to innovate. Instead of being all over, and trying to build a following and community across all social media platforms, focus on a few that are appropriate and pertinent. Remove all the clutter — re-align, re-prioritise and re-position. Having a plan is not a bad idea, after all, it helps you focus your outreach on the kind of business you want to attract in the long run.
Move beyond media
Original content and innovation are more important. Be the expert in your own domain. Without these being in sync, no outreach or engagement can be meaningful.
Prep PR as a tool for outreach
Redefine PR as the premise for all communication activity. In today’s digitally connected world, simply PR is not enough. Use it as the foundation for discourse, dialogue and exchange of ideas. By distinguishing yet connecting the dots between PR and communications, stories can be easily created.
Carry your credibility forward by creating value
Visibility across diverse media automatically leads to new business by simply establishing credibility, aided by communication and outreach activities. Move beyond the glory, the aesthetic and focus on creating value by conveying intent and the narrative, being authentic to who and not just selling a product or service. New business comes from a better understanding and value perception of services.
Design your content to go digital
Adapt it to suit the varied platforms available online. The information exchange both locally and globally is happening at a rate that is hard to fathom. There is some really good information being put out using digital media and the internet. In this era, not taking advantage of this window to both learn as well as share knowledge is almost futile. We all must use it to our advantage.
Look at ROI beyond lead generation
While word of mouth is the conventional way to attract work, sustained visibility is essential to establish credibility as it enables better discourse/engagement, while significantly improving prospects. As communication activities, focus on HR and recruitment equally and include everything that occupies the brand mind space in the digital world. Focus on all aspects as even recruitment is directly related to reputation.
Experience and engagement
Often, storytelling is highly undervalued and undersold. Instead of investing in ad-hoc PR — which is a futile exercise — or a social media profile with 10 k followers, focus on creating experiences through communication activities. With good content, engagement is bound to happen.
Pick your battles, or rather tools, wisely
Going online has the merits that extend just beyond connecting to a large audience. Picking and investing in the right tools is what makes all the difference. Sometimes, an online mailer helps facilitate information flow, knowledge-sharing, brand recall, and promoting visibility while establishing the bridge between internal and external communications. In another situation, it could be only Instagram or only LinkedIn that would help in building thought leadership for the brand, and encouraging sales simultaneously. Pick tools that are cost-effective and not resource-intensive such as newsletters and align them with your sales processes.
Content is king
Instead of hard-selling the product or services, focus on striving hard to create dialogue, encourage community-building and showcasing research that facilitates the enterprise through a single, unified means of content. The fundamental key, of course, is to ‘be creative and be rich in content’ in order to ‘be known’.
(The writer is the founder and director of Epistle Communications.)