As the holidays approach, we’re entering the time of year that one of our clients, a school communications director, always found the most challenging.
I like to call it her season of “ANDs.”
As in: the holiday appeal AND the year-end email AND the distribution of the holiday performance recording via YouTube AND Facebook AND Twitter AND email AND the blog. AND did I mention, she was a communications staff of one?
Maybe you can relate, even if your staff is a little larger. Even if your season of ANDs is a little more year-round.
Maybe you’ve finally figured out how to juggle all the communication balls you have in the air when your board wants to know why your organization’s not on Pinterest and Instagram (because Facebook, YouTube, LinkedIn, and Twitter aren’t enough).
Or your boss suddenly decides the target of your next appeal should be your usual Baby Boomer cat lovers AND Millennial dog lovers—to cover more ground.
The problem with the AND spiral is that it eats up valuable resources without an equivalent return on your investment.
It’s one of the roadblocks to skyrocketing participation that I always point to when I’m teaching our clients the five shifts in thinking needed to succeed like an eight-figure organization.
The solution to the “ANDs”? Finding your focus to leverage your effort.
It doesn’t matter how much time your staff pours into an endeavor if your audience just doesn’t relate—or just isn’t there. Which means your first, most important step is knowing your audience. We’ve covered that topic a lot and you can read more about it on our blog.
Once you’ve clearly defined who you’re talking to, the mantra “FOCUS” is your best friend.
Focus means messaging that speaks directly to your perfect audience and no one else. Promoting only the initiatives that are likely to interest them. Sharing in the places they like to interact with you.
How do you hone this focus? Pair a communications audit with a short-term action plan.
This is an exercise we take our clients through when we’re conducting a rebrand. However, it can be an incredibly powerful endeavor as a stand-alone exercise as well.
Chances are that by this time of year you have a neglected document at the bottom of your drawer or buried on your server—gathering real or digital dust: your Communications Plan.
Now is the perfect time to pull it out, take a close look at what you are—or intended to be—doing. Take some time to evaluate what’s working, where you may have gotten sidetracked, and whether you’re even likely to find your audience in the places you’re looking. Review the materials you’ve produced and the campaigns you’ve conducted over the last year, noting whether it all comes back to one focused center and identifying the efforts that produced the greatest returns.
Armed with this new perspective, you’ll be able to start laying out your new, streamlined plan, without all the baggage that’s been weighing you down.
For even greater focus, try using our approach: write a short-term Action Plan that focuses on the next 3 things you can do that will have the greatest impact. This will help you to continuously reevaluate what you’re doing and where you’re going. Besides, with the speed that today’s world moves, what’s big now could already be old hat in six months.
If this task sounds daunting, you’re not alone! Many find it helpful to have an objective eye take look at their plans, because when you’re on the inside, it’s easy to get too close to the details—or too caught up in execution to have the time.
For an outside perspective on your communications plan, or to get help with where to cut and what to streamline, give us a call at 267-468-7949 or drop us a line at info@iriscreative.com!
