When considering a marketing or corporate communications initiative, follow this simple checklist. The more you incorporate from this list, the more effective your communication will be.
Dare to Be Clever
Human brains adapt quickly to consistent patterns then filter them out. Traffic noise, elevator music, and PowerPoint presentations are examples of events so commonplace they are rarely absorbed or recalled. To get the attention of your audience, your approach must be unexpected or mold breaking. To maintain their interest, you need to engage their intellect and satisfy their curiosity.
Keep it simple
Your audience won’t absorb more than one or two concepts so resist the notion to include extraneous details that clutter your message. Your goal is impact, not completeness – you want to ignite conversations that support your objectives.
Make it concrete
A statement like “maximizing shareholder value” is abstract, and not surprisingly, difficult to visualize. “Make a customer smile every day” however, is tangible, universal and understood by everyone. Being concrete allows your audience to focus on what you want them to. Everyone will feel comfortable that they’re on the same team and pursuing the same attainable goal.
Add the human touch
Weaving human elements into your message will help your audience find context and common ground. If you hope to connect at a deeper level, your characters must be real and believable. Models, actors, and professional announcers, satisfy practical challenges but rarely build trust in the minds of your audience. If you want to truly engage people around a topic, recruit a real customer, or frontline employee to deliver the message.
Stir in some emotion.
People follow their hearts. For your audience to take action, they have to care. Have comfort in knowing that you don’t have to trigger anger, laughter, fear, or sadness, just to get them to care. The emotional chord might be as simple as “What would I do in a case like this?”
Tell a good story.
People will emerge from a 45-minute PowerPoint presentation unable to recall the main points, but they’ll remember a 2-minute story they heard a week ago. Stories are part entertainment, part instruction, and help to simplify complex concepts. Couch your idea in a story and you’ll have a tool that provides your audience with the knowledge of how to act and the motivation to act - in one convenient package.
Don't forget about Delivery.
You would be surprised how many communicators overlook the importance of back-end distribution when designing their message. If the message isn’t effectively distributed, the opportunity is lost. Assuming you have at least one primary distribution vehicle, let’s look at other ways to maximize your communication effectiveness.
Make it visual. Incorporate a strong visual design. People absorb 85% of their information visually. If it looks boring at first glance, your audience may ignore it.
Make it digestible. Make your message short and concise, or break it up into bite-sized chunks. Let your audience decide how they want to process the information.
Spread it around: Have a plan. Take advantage of audience touch points that already exist including online channels, email lists, meetings, and live events.
Boost the frequency. Your audience is like grass - a frequent watering produces deep roots. For example, a small, memorable ad every week is far more effective than a full page every six months.
ROIdea.
If you want to ensure lengthy shelf life or leverage multiple distribution opportunities for your communication tactic, consider framing your message with a customer or employee story. A well-designed story that promotes your products or services will also communicate your brand in a memorable way. Stories like these can be easily repurposed for other audiences. Digital signage, town hall meetings, sales conferences, recruitment initiatives, internal training and development, are ideal venues to reinforce corporate culture and values. The universal themes your story communicates will remain relevant for years to come.
