How to Apply Your Knowledge of Strategic Communications 

Hallahan et all defines strategic communications as the “purposeful use of communications by a business or organization to fulfill its mission.”

Strategic communications is a fundamental framework by which the 21st century communications professionals need to work to be effective in achieving business/organizational goals. It is also a practice area that is applicable across different sectors.

Being strategic and purposeful in your communication and aligning it with organizational objectives means you won’t end up sending mixed signals. 

The above extract is from an article by Forbes on Why Strategic Communications Must Have A Seat At The Executive Table. It explains communications as key in ensuring that the business/organization’s messaging does not differ from the experience the audience get. This alignment can only happen if communications practitioners are where the decision is made, they understand the reason for the business strategy and offer advice where necessary.

Trained communications practitioners remain strategic by ensuring that their communications activities and plans align with the general business objective of the organization. This is made easier when they understand the strategic communications framework

However, because the concept of strategic communications is applicable in every business context, its use-case or application often seem unclear to those who have not undergone a corporate training to advance their communications competencies.

How is Strategic Communications Applied in Different Contexts

• • Corporate communications: Strategic communication is an integral part of corporate communications. A corporate communications strategy will help amplify business credibility and public reputation
  • Brand Strategy/Marketing communications: The strategic communications framework is also important for people occupying marketing communications and digital marketing roles. It is applied with the context of brand strategy and marketing communications in mind. It helps in creating new business opportunities to generate leads, launch/position your brand within the sector and to create demand and fulfill it.

• Political communications: Those in this sector require political communications campaign strategy which again has to be rooted in strategic communications in order to ensure it is well tailored for the specific political agenda. It is useful to change perception. 

• • Policy or Public Sector Communications: In this sector, the framework of strategic communications is useful to influence policy, attract investments, create public support for humanitarian services.

• Crisis Communication: Brands are at risk of having a crisis for several reasons but some brands and sectors have higher risks of getting involved in a crisis. The strategic communications framework ensures that approach to communication can protect reputation in times of crisis
• Internal Communications: The strategic communications framework helps businesses and organizations build strong brands through employee engagement.

For these contexts and others not listed here, the same communications principles are in use alongside the strategic communications framework. However, it is then applied based on its unique business or organizational context to meet the differing brand objectives.

Sola Abulu & Associates (SA&A) is a strategy and communications consulting and training firm focused on enabling businesses, brands and organizations to achieve their desired objectives through strategic communications, organizational effectiveness and reputation management.

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