What do we really mean by “communications” anyway?

And why you should care.

As we’ve been telling our family and friends about Wallace Marcom, we’ve been gratified by the outpouring of support and accolades. But we’ve also fielded some questions about what we actually do. Totally fair!

We have been so entrenched in marketing and communications as we’ve built our careers, that we forget our world (branding, design, communications strategy, writing and editing) is not the world. This has inspired a new blog post where we dig a little deeper into how we spend our days, how to make our work real, and possibly even beneficial for your business.

Definition and Purpose

Let’s start with an overview of “communications” and then a shallow dive into specific tactics. Please note, when we at Wallace Marcom refer to communications, we are talking about business communications specifically.

According to Indeed.com, “Business communication is the transfer of information between stakeholders, such as employees, clients, executives, customers and investors.”

Businesses use a variety of methods to convey and discuss information, including reports, digital content (online), email, newsletters and presentations. Understanding business communication channels – and the intended purpose and difference of each – is important to effectively impart information to all professional audiences.

Good news – this does not need to be complicated. Sometimes business communication can be as straightforward as colleagues discussing a project, leaders providing instructions and businesses describing a product in sales materials. Essentially, business communication is any information about a product, service, organization, or process. And why does it matter so much? From internal workstreams to marketing campaigns, communication is consistently among the most critical components of a successful organization.

Communications in business serve many purposes. Most importantly they:

·       Align employees to organizational goals

·       Improve employee engagement

·       Reduce workplace conflicts

·       Increase performance

Communications Categories

Broadly, communications can be categorized as upward, downward, lateral and external. Each serves a unique goal. The primary methods of communications delivery are verbal, non-verbal, visual, and written.

Upward communication refers to information flowing internally from employees toward the highest levels of leadership. This may be feedback and suggestions often gleaned through employee surveys.

Downward communication is the flow of information from senior leadership to employees. For example, this may be an email communicating changes in the organization from the top to be cascaded down to impacted employees.

Lateral communication takes place between individuals at the same level. It's collaborative across teams, such as workgroup meetings, brainstorming and shared workstreams.

External communication involves audiences outside an organization, including general public, and client and vendor messaging. This is vital for improving brand awareness, and increasing sales and customer loyalty.

Communications Tactics

Now, let’s get a bit more tactical. There is a wide array of options to deliver your message, including:

• Emails

• Letters

• Newsletters

• Landing pages/website content

• Product pages/sales pages

• Brochures

• Case studies

• Articles (magazine or web-based)

• News releases

• Blogs

• Social media posts

• One-pagers

• Infographics

• Postcards

• Videos

• Podcasts

• Presentations (PowerPoint slides)

• Speakers’ notes/talking points

• White papers

• Ebooks

Target audiences for these range from an individual to the vast general public. Communications may be business-to-consumer, business-to-business, internally across an organization, and from the executive level downward or laterally to internal or external audiences, and beyond. Most effective communications strategies involve several tactics to reach all impacted audiences with the appropriate level of information for each. It’s important to achieve the right mix and tone to ensure messages speak directly and clearly to each audience.

If you have any questions about what we’ve described today, or are interested in learning more about how we can help your business reach your clients in the right way, let’s talk!

Source:

https://au.indeed.com/career-advice/career-development/what-is-business-communication