Have you thought about investing in communications and then given up? Starting to invest in your business can be scary when you don’t have a clear idea of how to do it. And even more so when it comes to investing in your communications strategy, something that will probably have an impact in the medium term and not immediately. That is why it is key that you understand what impact a good digital marketing strategy can have on your sales.
In this article we will explain the benefits that investing in communications can bring to your brand. Keep reading!
First of all, let’s recap… What is a communication strategy?
In order to understand the real benefits of investing in a communications strategy, we must first remember what it is. A communications strategy is a guide, a plan, that will allow you to have a clear direction to achieve all the goals you set for your business. And, in that sense, it is important to be clear that in order to obtain real results, having good intentions will not be enough.
A communication strategy will be that plan that will allow you to:
✅ Organize all communicational actions around the proposed objectives.
✅ Ensure that your brand values are aligned.
Our 5 favorite benefits of implementing a communications strategy
The concept of “communications strategy” may seem abstract at first glance, and in some respects it is. However, you cannot lose sight of the fact that the difficulties of creating and implementing a strategy will far outweigh the benefits it will bring. Here are some of the benefits of having a clearly defined strategy. 👇👇👇
#1 You will have clear objectives and uncertainty will be reduced
Sometimes, building a business from scratch can seem a bit chaotic. There are so many things to do and resources are so limited at times, that it’s extremely easy to lose track of what we need to do to grow. But, believe it or not, developing a good communications plan that follows the three essential steps (defining objectives, mapping out a plan and creating a communications calendar) will help you reduce the uncertainty.
#2 You are going to concentrate your efforts on what really matters
Developing a strategy is not just saying “I want to do this”. To devise a strategy, you have to define objectives, draw up a plan and create a communications calendar. Developing these three things will allow you to focus on what ultimately matters for your business. On what will make a difference and make it grow.
#3 You will be able to create and communicate a consistent brand story
Making your brand stand out in a world as digitized as the one we live in is no easy task. Just think that in the last year alone, 424 million users started using Social Networks. That’s 13.5 new users every second! 🤯 But don’t be alarmed! One of the key elements to stand out from the massiveness of social networks is to have a strong, consistent and attractive brand story. Do you know what will help you communicate that story consistently across all your digital communication channels? A good digital marketing strategy.
#4 You will multiply your visibility and relevance
One of the most important points to achieve your ultimate goal -weather is to sell a physical product or promote an idea- is that your brand is visible and relevant to your target audience. Nowadays social media users are continuously bombarded by information and thousands of brands that want to get into their top of mind. Therefore, to make your business grow, one of your main goals has to be relevance. Today, being genuine and delivering value is what will make you relevant. Therefore, it is essential to be clear about who you are, what you want to communicate and how you want to communicate it
#5 Reduce your costs and increase your revenue
Yes, a good digital marketing plan will help you increase your revenue. At first it may seem that creating this plan is an unnecessary expense. Or, that the time or money you spend on it may give you a greater return if you spend it on other tasks.
But what you have to keep in mind is that this is not an expense, but an investment.
Investing in defining your objectives and having a clear plan will generate long-term benefits. If this were not true, companies would not spend 46% of their budget on creating content.
Here we tell you why:
- You will save time and money because you will have clear goals and a step-by-step plan to achieve them. Therefore, your resources will not be spent on unnecessary tasks.
- You will have a consistent story that will allow you to reach more people.
- Reaching more people will allow you to find quality leads, that is, potential customers who are interested in your product or service.
- Remember that having a quality lead is much more likely to turn into a loyal customer than those who are not.
How much investment does a communications strategy require?
Creating a successful communications strategy requires some investment. However, how much to invest in communications will depend on many factors. Among them, the size of your business, your objectives and the budget you have.
The most important thing when outsourcing this task is to find someone, an agency or individual freelancer, who resonates with you and understands in depth the value of your brand. Remember that you will be entrusting them with your company’s positioning. So they will have to communicate to the world what you have to offer. 👀.
Steps to create a communications strategy
When creating a communications strategy, there are certain steps that are basic and very important for success.
- Analyze the current communication situation. Determine the starting point and possible improvements.
- Determine the organization’s objectives in the short, medium and long term.
- Define the brand’s target audience. This will allow us to focus the strategy on who we are really interested in.
- Establish a budget for the implementation of your strategy.
- Define the main ideas/ concepts of the storytelling. This can change from month to month and will always be aligned with the objectives.
- Determine the communication channels that best suit your plan. They can be social networks, mailing, website, among others.
- Specify the timing. Establish goals with deadlines to know whether or not the objectives are being met.
- Measure the results of your strategy. From time to time you should measure the results of the strategy and how they are reflected in the company’s business environment.
How do I measure whether the communication strategy is having the desired impact?
Generally, the measurement part of the communication strategy is one of the most difficult. However, here is a simple formula that can be very useful in this step.
Do you know what ROI or Return on Investment is?
ROI or “Return on Investment” is a formula that will help you measure the performance of your strategy. Basically, this indicator will compare the money you invest in your strategy with the income it helps you generate.
However, it is important to keep in mind that a good ROI varies depending on the Industry you are in and the type of strategy you are implementing.
How is ROI calculated?
Very simple, the following formula is used:
The result of this formula is a percentage, but what it will finally tell you is how much you earn for each peso invested in the communication plan.
So, for example, in a campaign in which you invested USD $1,000 and which generated income of USD $5,000, your ROI will be 400%, that is, for every dollar you invested, you obtained a benefit of USD $4.
Now, although the formula is simple, in digital marketing calculating ROI is sometimes a bit more complicated. This is because there may be other data that enter into the equation.
For example:
- The formula for ROI estimation is [((number of leads x lead-to-customer rate x average sales price) – ad spend) ÷ ad spend] x 100.
While this form seems much more complicated, when you break down the equation you will realize that it is the same formula we saw initially. The first part (number of leads x lead rate x average selling price) will be your revenue. Meanwhile, the second part (advertising cost or investment) will be, as its name says, your investment. In case you want to calculate your ROI in a simple way, Hubspot has a calculator that uses this same formula.
In any case, it is important to keep in mind that to measure the performance of your strategy, analyzing ROI alone is not enough, especially when you have non-financial data involved. Also, it is possible that part of your communication strategy is not focused on sales, but on a more abstract objective such as raising awareness of your brand. In these cases, calculating a return in monetary terms is more complicated. Therefore, other KPIs are used to measure success, especially in social networks.
We have just reviewed everything related to implementing a communications strategy, from its main benefits, to what is most important when outsourcing its implementation, and how to measure its success. I hope you have resolved your doubts about why to invest in communications in your company.