By now, many companies are in full swing with their 2010 planning and budgeting. For those companies that are still plotting their strategies, this final blog of my three-part blog series provides considerations for effective brand communications and marketing.
My first blog (“Defining Your Brand”) discussed why it’s important to start a strategic planning session by looking at your brand first. My second blog (“Considering Your Business”) discussed the various hard-hitting questions that need to be answered to ensure your communications program is aligned to your business goals.
Now, this blog asks the questions needed to create a communications program that is effective and fully integrated with both your brand identity and business goals.
1. What Have You Learned About Your Brand and Your Business?
Before embarking on your marketing communications plan, take a few moments and consider the key elements of your brand (See Blog #1) and your business goals (See Blog #2). For example, it’s always good to keep in mind your brand’s core strengths and its unique selling point (or claim of distinction). These are things that make your company great and why you have customers. To create a marketing program that deviates or does not take these elements into consideration would erode the brand equity you’ve spent so hard building.
It’s also important to keep in mind your overarching, long-term business strategy. Don’t let a short-term marketing program take you away from your bigger business goal. Also, remember your customers. They are the ones buying from you now and are more predisposed to buy from you in the future. Why would you lose focus on these people with a flashy new marketing program not aimed at them too?
2. What Kind of Marketing Has Been Done Before?
Any good marketing communications campaign should seek to build on the one before it (if it was effectiveJ), since that can drive greater brand awareness, conserve/maximize resources and build brand equity. So, a careful analysis of the tools and strategies used in the past is needed. Your PR firm should ask you what strategies have worked, what didn’t and why. Beyond this, they should be asking you tactical questions such as what are your key message points, what and where is your online presence, and what are the media outlets you’re trying to reach (and have reached before).
3. What Do You Have to Work With?
It’s great to have grand plans to get to the top of the mountain. But if you don’t have the resources to take that trip, you’ll never get there. When it comes to a public relations or marketing program, a realistic “audit” of resources – budget, personnel, etc. – should be a requirement. For an effective PR program, your PR agency should be asking you questions such as:
- Who are your company visionaries, product experts and spokespeople?
- What are your upcoming major company initiatives, product launches, company achievements and/or milestones, and how do plan to promote those?
- What are some of the great customer success stories you should be sharing?
- What are your competitors saying about you, where and why?
- What kind of budget and personnel do you have allocated to supporting your marketing initiatives?
4. Why Does it Matter? 
Finally, it goes without saying – but I’ll say it anyway – that all this work should matter. Therefore, it’s essential that you and your PR team develop realistic metrics to measure results. Yes, tracking the number of media placements and calculating a readership can be one form of measurement. However, if you’ve engaged your PR team from a larger brand and business standpoint (as I’m recommending in this blog series), then those elements should be considered as well. For example, did your PR firm enhance and/or protect the image of your brand? If so, how? Was it through the brand-centric programs they created, the messages they delivered, the customer service they employed when interacting with your customers? Did your PR firm keep your business goals in mind and re-direct or bring new activities designed to support those goals?
Using “traditional” models of PR evaluation are important. However, the value of a PR firm should not be measured by those alone. At the end of the day, the best communications partner is helping change or create behaviors and perceptions that can strengthen your brand.
Now that you’ve read all three blogs, what are your thoughts? What do you agree or disagree with? Or, what else would you add? I’d love to get your comments!
