Three simple questions to make you a better communicator
Stop me if you’ve heard this one.
You’re working on a project, planning your tactics, when someone comes to you and says, “Let’s do a podcast!”
(Or a microsite. Or a TikTok. A pop-up activation. An Instagram filter.)
So you do. It means sourcing talent, buying and learning new equipment, or maybe outsourcing the whole thing, but when you launch the project, it’s got a podcast!
…the podcast gets seven listens, and you’re pretty sure four of them were from the person who originally suggested it.
When you ask them why they thought it was a good idea, the answer is always, “I just thought it would be more interesting than what we normally do.”
So, what went wrong? How did you end up sinking your precious and limited time, energy and money into something your audience pretty clearly didn’t want?
I wish I could say every time I’ve had these conversations, it’s been with a client who got excited by something they saw on LinkedIn. But in truth, most times I hear this answer it’s from a communications colleague who really wanted to do something cool for a change.
Outputs vs outcomes: which should you focus on?
The problem comes when, as communicators, we get caught up thinking about outputs, rather than about outcomes.
It’s an easy trap. When you’re doing your twentieth fact sheet, fiftieth web update and hundredth media release just this week, you want to make something interesting. LinkedIn, Instagram and, yes, TikTok, are full of people doing exciting, cutting edge-looking work. You want to be doing that too!
Output is fun.
Whereas outcomes can seem complicated. People start talking about program logic mapping and audience fit analysis and value proposition (and then, for some reason, at the end of the day it still always seems to end up as a media release anyway). If your outputs are good, the audience will find them anyway.
Right?
I’m here to tell you it doesn’t have to be that way. Because as complicated as outcome-driven strategic communication can seem, it really just comes down to three questions.*
1) Who are we talking to?
2) What do we want them to do, or to know, when we have?
3) Why should they care?
(*Okay, my first mentor wouldn’t forgive me if I didn’t mention there’s a fourth question, too: How will we know we succeeded? But that’s a longer topic for another day.)
If you can answer those questions, you’ll know whether you need to be doing a TikTok, a billboard, a webpage, or yes: even a media release.
But more importantly, you’ll communicate with more impact, allocate your resources better, and - believe it or not - get to do more of the fun stuff, too.
Let’s talk examples
Case study 1
Industry: Manufacturing
Audience: High school students
Objective: Increase TAFE enrolments
How?: Shift perceptions of manufacturing as dirty, dangerous work
A few years ago, I was leading a project with the manufacturing sector. They had a problem: not enough people were choosing manufacturing careers. Skill shortages were acute. And the situation was only getting worse.
We had budget for a campaign, but not a huge one. So we asked some questions.
The biggest single audience thinking about their career and positioned to pick up skills? That’s high school students thinking about uni and TAFE courses. There’s our who.
We want them to consider pursuing education in manufacturing-related skills and going into the industry. That’s our what.
And why should they care? Stable careers are important, but that’s not just a drawcard for manufacturing. But our market research told us the biggest impediment was that most teenagers saw manufacturing as dumb, dirty, dangerous work that only blokes do. That’s not the real state of the sector, so if we could bust that myth, we could move the dial.
With those three answers in hand, we could answer all the questions that followed.
How do we reach that audience? This was pre-social media age restrictions, so TikTok and Snapchat were big opportunities. But so were career fairs. Getting local manufacturers to open their doors to schools. Commissioning a documentary series about women in manufacturing and spreading it on social media.
When do we reach that audience? Well, the peak time for picking subjects and qualifications is in the lead-up to graduation, so let’s launch in September.
And what message will work for that audience? Simple: Manufacturing is so much cooler than you imagined.
Best of all? It worked. From just a one-off, early stage campaign, we saw a bump in TAFE enquiries for manufacturing courses. And we got to work on some really fun stuff.
Case study 2
Industry: Agriculture
Audience: Queensland farmers
Objective: Get feedback on water management policy
How?: Use offline and face-to-face channels
They’re not all like that, of course. When I’ve led projects to get farmers (who) to provide feedback on changes to water management policy (what) because it would affect their businesses’ bottom lines (why), we didn’t do TikTok. Plenty of regional Queensland still doesn’t have reliable internet, and detailed policy changes are hard to explain with a dance.
But they do have Queensland Country Life, agriculture fairs and markets where they can take a fact sheet, and mailboxes we can send letters to.
That worked too!
How to stand out in an attention economy
Even this blog is a piece of strategic communication. I’m writing it for every early and middle-career comms person (who) wanting to level up their career (what), because while output-focused comms can be good, outcome-focused comms can be great (why).
Comms is part of the attention economy, and that economy is even tighter than the monetary one. Getting a return means investing wisely.
So let’s recap:
Asking the right questions at the start leads to better results at the end: Comms is the business of packaging ideas in a way that your audience will best receive them, so by defining your ideas and your audience up front, you’re already halfway there.
In the era of shrinking budgets, you need to make the most of your limited time and resources: I’ve had people try to sell me on doing a video because maybe someone, somewhere, would prefer to receive the information that way. That might be true, but with comms budgets tightening, I’ll always choose the tactic I trust will get the message across, even if it’s not as exciting.
Never miss an opportunity to prove your worth: Comms is always a business cost – never a revenue stream. Demonstrate that you’re worth that cost by proving you’re moving the needle on business outcomes.
Take control of your work plan: We’ve all had those clients who’ve written their own comms plan and want something completely different – and usually much harder to deliver – than what you’d recommend. Being able to explain why your pitch is the right one keeps you in the driver’s seat.
You’ll get to do more fun stuff! When my project team proposed the manufacturing TikTok campaign, we got pushback. It was too new. It was too risky. It wasn’t how our organisation communicated. Being able to demonstrate why we wanted to do it meant that we were able to do it.
About the author
Sam Morrison is a comms leader, strategist and self-described 'professional words guy' with more than 15 years' experience in communication, engagement and media with government agencies across Australia and the United Kingdom. He is currently the Director of Engagement and Partnerships with the Queensland Crime and Corruption Commission and member of the IABC Queensland board.
