Circle of Fellows #79: Engaging Stakeholders Through Strategic Communication

“Strategic” communication is differentiated from other communication by one simple concept: It is “the communication principles, strategies, and initiatives used to further an organization’s goals,” according to one communication-focused website. (It’s not a bad definition, though it fails to mention “measurable,” which is a critical element of strategic communication.)

The target of an organization’s strategic communication efforts is the organization’s stakeholders, those individuals, groups, or organizations directly involved with — or indirectly affected by — the organization and its work. This includes employees, people who live in the communities where the company operates, investors, the financial community, partners, vendors, suppliers, government at all levels, and more.

Communication — strategic or not — is multi-directional. (Crafting communication collateral and distributing it to an audience is not communication. It’s messaging.) As a result, effective strategic communication almost always is designed to produce engagement with the stakeholders for whom the communication has been crafted.

How to do this effectively was the focus of the March episode of IABC’s Circle of Fellows.Continue Reading →

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