Strategic communication

Key subject:
2. b. Understanding your goal and the role of communication

1. About this Course 1. a. Why communication often fails 2. b. Understanding your goal and the role of communication 3. c. Designing your change strategy 4. d. Executing your change strategy 5. e. Evaluating your change strategy 6. f. Develop your own strategic communication project

Topics:

Understanding the role of communication to reach your goal

Working hard on your goal distorts your perception

The harder you work for your goal, the more important it becomes. For you! Not automatically for the people you want to change. The result: you probably overestimate the power of communication.

Having too high expectations of communication leads to failure

When your expectations of communication are too high, you will fail. Before you design you communication strategy, you need a realistic judgment: can communication alone reach my goal? Or do I need other tools on the side to do the job?

Do you remember a situation when communication failed because the power of communication was overestimated?

Using supporting tools to reach your goal

Often you need other tools as well to change behavior:

Rules. To forbid wrong behavior or to prescribe right behavior.
Enforcement of rules. Without enforcement, rules are a paper tiger.
Money. To make right behavior rewarding.
Infrastructure. To help implement the right behavior.

OUR CASE OF SIMONA: Using communication in combination with other actions leads to success

Road block to direct traffic

Simona now understands her stakeholders and target audiences. She knows communication can only be a supporting tool. Next, Simona and her stakeholders select these tools:

-Infrastructure, rules and money: the municipality creates a new site where camping will not damage the rare flowers, puts a fence around the Natura 2000 site, closes the roads to the Natura 2000 site, offers parking in the village and offers free bus transport to the new camping site. The municipality is willing to help because visitors will be happy, not angry.

-Controlling of the rules: the police guards the road block, organizes the traffic and checks illegal camping. The police is now co-operating because they can point the people to the new camping site and the bar and restaurant.

-Infrastructure and money: the bar and restaurant of the park bought extra tables and chairs and offers food and drinks at special prices for all visitors during 1st May celebration.

-Communication: the mountaineering club and hunters club inform their members prior the 1st May celebrations. Now visitors know what to expect.

-Communication during the 1st of May: signs & instructions for park visitors and information stand about the protected area for the people who want to know more about biodiversity.

What role can communication play to reach your goal? Which other tools do you need to succeed?

What role can communication play to reach your goal?

To understand your stakeholders and target audiences: asking questions and listening during focus groups and informal talks in kitchens, offices and pubs.
To find your first doable and decisive step to success and to develop solutions with your stakeholders: open discussions, round tables, meetings.
To inform and educate: speeches and discussions, leaflets with behavior instructions, signs and directions.

CHECKLIST

What's the role of communication? Before your design your strategy, ask yourself:

Can communication alone influence my target audiences behavior?
Do I need rules to enforce new behavior?
Is there infrastructure for the new behavior?
Do I need money to stimulate new behavior?

Combining communication with other instruments

This is the last Topic of Key subject 2. Want more? Go to Key subject 3:
Designing your change strategy quiz-frog-retina

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Understanding your target audience: what do they know, feel & do?

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Designing your change strategy