Strategic Communication

Strategic Communication

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Strategic Communication

Over the last two decades, the term “strategic communication” has gained immense attention and popularity. It aims to infuse the communication efforts with an agenda or a plan, that aims at creating value in an organization, urges people towards specific actions or advocates specific legislation. Strategic communication essentially refers to imparting communication efforts with the help of an agenda or a plan. Businesses typically create their own communication strategy or hire the services of a strategic communications consultant who can create a strategy to promote their brand or organization, so as to get the desired outcome.

Strategic communication involves communicating the right message, through the right mediums or channels, which are measured against properly considered and timed goals, specific to the organization. Typically, a strategic communications consultant helps you convey a deliberate message through suitable mediums to your target audience. Furthermore, strategic communication allows organizations to create and distribute messages which may differ in purpose and style but have inner coherence (Argenti, Howell, & Beck, 2005). It also involves several application objectives such as:

· The organization’s strategic plan

· Communication with key stakeholders

· Development of actionable objectives,

· Prioritizing potential strategies and tactics

· Creation of metrics, timelines, and responsibilities

The term strategic communication indicates the high-level concerns behind an organizations’ communication efforts to attain its mission and objectives. The significance of strategic communication can be drawn from the fact that this term is related to the vast array of fields such as advertising and marketing, public relations and management. Owing to the significance of strategic management in an organization, Hallahan, et al. 2007 argues that the use of this term ought to be expanded to cover more participating communication practices (Hallahan, et al. 2007). Strategic communication is thus becoming an important part of the communication efforts of an organization. Furthermore, the increasing complexity of global organizations creates a need for strategic planning in communication across the organization.

Strategy within the communication is imperative to convey the link between the “what” and “how” of the content being communicated to the stakeholders. It is not reasonable to say strategic communication as inappropriate, as it forms an essential element of strategic planning. Due to the increasing significance of strategic communication in the contemporary business world, Zerfass and Huck 2007 argue that the range of strategic communication must be expanded to include leadership and innovation as well (Zerfass & Huck, 2007).

The field of communication is very broad, and it encompasses professionals who create and deliver information through various channels to the right audience. Strategic communication fuses the delivery of content. It guides the appropriate delivery of the message, at the appropriate time to the appropriate audience. A well-designed communication strategy is for the company’s strategic plan to be communicated to the other stakeholders. Furthermore, it not only informs the employees of the organizational goals and objectives but also about the business needs, priorities and products and services. Strategic communication ties the organizational objectives with its core values and helps employees and stakeholders understand how they are linked with the success of organizational aims.

Hence, as the new forms of communication increasingly interconnect the world, the role of strategic communications is to assist organizations comprehend how their message can be effectively delivered to key audiences. However, in order for the strategic communication to be effective, it is imperative for the senior management to embrace the core message, rationale, and the communication strategy. Leaders have to play a pivotal role in the success of the strategic communication strategy by giving attention to the concerns, needs, requirements, and objectives of each audience.

References

Argenti, P. A., Howell, R. A., & Beck, K. A. (2005). The strategic communication imperative. MIT Sloan management review, 46(3), 83-89.

Hallahan, K., Holtzhausen, D., Van Ruler, B., Verčič, D., & Sriramesh, K. (2007). Defining strategic communication. International journal of strategic communication, 1(1), 3-35.

Zerfass, A., & Huck, S. (2007). Innovation, communication, and leadership: New developments in strategic communication. International Journal of Strategic Communication, 1(2), 107-122.