Three Big Words to Shape Your Communications Strategy

There are plenty of big words to throw around when it comes to communications, but three have been rattling around in my head all day…

Cohesive

It’s not that all of your messaging has to be the same, it’s that your voice needs to be one voice. Each piece of your approach should interweave and support all of the other pieces. We used to talk more about brand consistency. Now add to that messaging consistency. It’s tough to do this when we think from a new and open media mindset, but it’s not impossible.

Ubiquitous

Somewhere along the way, the church developed a sense of entitlement toward its community. We have the idea that people should drop what they’re doing and tune in. Why? Well because we are the church? How about this novel idea – why don’t we get the message into the warp and woof of the lives people are already living every day? In other words, let’s find ways to communicate everywhere, especially if you want people living the message 24/7.

Recommended Reading: I learned a lot about marketing and communications from Tamar Weinberg’s The New Community Rules: Marketing on the Social Web.

Agile

So it’s not a big word, but it’s an important one. Be ready to change on a moment’s notice. It’s great to be innovative and cutting edge, but as soon as we think we’ve arrived, we’re toast. Why? Because we begin to believe we have little else to learn. When we’re at the top of our game, we get to tell everyone else how it’s played – until the game changes a little and then we’re yesterdays’ news.

Choose agile platforms and be flexible with your methodologies. If the message matters enough, it’s worth it to stay off of our center of gravity and be ready to shift in a moment’s notice.