Blog Insights
A Solid Foundation to Maximize the Impact of Your Communications
When creating content, it can be tempting to focus on splashy campaigns, and push the less-glitzy communications fundamentals to the back burner. While these elements may feel like minor details that are easy to skip, they may in fact be very powerful in engaging your audiences and effectively sharing your organization’s story.
Dedicating time and resources to the following areas will create a solid foundation to maximize the impact of your communications activities.
1. Make time for copy editing
It may seem obvious to review work before sending it out to your audience, but when you’re rushing to meet a tight deadline, this step can be easily forgotten or skipped. Ensuring you have the time to copy-edit your work—and have at least one additional person look at it, as well—will help to catch both big and small issues. When copy-editing your work, it’s important to go beyond grammar and inconsistencies to ensure you’re meeting your content goals. In this step, ask yourself questions like:
- Is this content easy to understand?
- Does the message make sense to my intended audience?
- Are there any additional resources and information I should include? Is this content part of a larger campaign?
2. Improve your SEO
A solid SEO strategy is crucial. Taking the time to make sure your content is optimized can mean the difference between deep engagement with your content—or none at all. Our client, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, has prioritized building an SEO strategy for their Ask CFPB content. A deliberate focus on SEO allows them to maximize their reach to consumers searching for answers to financial questions in order to make more informed decisions about their money.
Here are some resources to help you get started with your organization’s SEO strategy:
3. Map content to your communication goals
Each piece of content you put in front of your audience should make an impact. Before doing anything else, make sure you have a communications strategy that clearly outlines your goals, audiences, key messages, and relevant platforms. This can help you to make better, more informed decisions. When putting together a new piece of content, first make sure that it fits within your communications strategy. If it doesn’t, this may be a sign that you need to move this content in a different direction and/or re-evaluate whether it’s necessary.
4. Prioritize delegation and training
Having to change or update priorities is a common challenge for communications teams. A blog priority today may quickly shift to a press release tomorrow before you have time to finish. Before long, your blog post’s window of opportunity may have passed. To help with this, set aside time to train colleagues in your processes so that they can step in as needed. When times are busy and new campaigns and events come up, you’ll have a support team ready to go that you can delegate to.
Looking ahead
As you embark on a new cycle or year-long plan, evaluate your communications efforts with a focus on (re)embedding these foundational elements to ensure they’re always incorporated into your work. A solid communications foundation will help you meet your goals, better engage your audience, and grow your impact in the world.
