How can you integrate media relations and public affairs into your communications strategy?

Know your purpose and audience Before you start writing, you should have a clear idea of why you are writing, what you want to achieve, and who you are writing to. Your purpose and audience will determine the tone, style, and content of your letter. For example, if you are writing to inform a client about a new product feature, you should use a positive and enthusiastic tone, explain the benefits and value of the feature, and avoid jargon or technical details that might confuse them.

Message Precision: Crafting messages that are not only clear but also resonate with your audience and reflect your organization's objectives authentically. Let me explain with example - Tesla emphasized the Model 3's affordability, long-range capabilities, and contribution to reducing carbon emissions, aligning with their mission to accelerate the world's transition to sustainable energy. Or let’s say Coca-Cola launched the "Share a Coke" campaign, personalizing Coke bottles with popular names and encouraging consumers to share a Coke with friends and loved ones, fostering a sense of connection and happiness.

Todo lo que trasciende en la comunicación, afecta positiva o negativamente en la reputación de una marca (ya sea personal o comercial); por lo que siempre es necesario considerar como primer paso ?Cuál es el objetivo de hacer o decir tal o cual cosa?; el objetivo debe ser claro. Es necesario que el objetivo tenga una medición, pues, lo que no se puede medir, no se podrá mejorar.

One thing I've found very helpful when developing a communications strategy is to know the pulse of the organisation. Know where it wants to go, what's stopping it and what can help. Once we know that integrating public affairs and media relations within the overall communications strategy become easier. At the end of the day, we all work for the same company and want to achieve whatever the business has set out to achieve.

Siempre debemos tener presente el objetivo que buscamos y con ello el tipo de personas a quienes deseamos impactar positivamente. Por ello hay que buscar tierra fértil en donde el mensaje haga eco y trascienda. De ahí la importancia de tener muy identificados a los grupos de interés. En una era en la que las redes sociales parece que son el todo... siempre hay que tener materiales para contenidos más tradicionales. Lo anterior con el objetivo de estar siempre preparado.

A comprehensive and evolving stakeholder mapping and classification is important while determining any strategy. When integrating public affairs and media relations into a communications strategy it is important to understand the teams requirements, how they help the business and where communications can be a dovetail for all activities.

Messaging is critical. Often it lacks two essential components - facts driven and reach oriented. Organisations are now increasingly focusing on the facts but they lack the translation of these facts to the impact, often mistaking the impact with a fact or issue. The impact, and ultimate reach of the messaging is something that we neglect to account for, often leading our messaging to not be as effective as it could.

An example at times I've seen work is to deploy multiple channels. Each channel will have its own reach, impact, timelines, messaging and people driving it. Ultimately, it's the composite effect that you want to see and gauge. Most of the times we see efforts or activities through different channels in isolation, we completely forget to add up and see the composite effect of them all combined.

The most flawless execution of a plan is when the plan allows for fluidity, evolution, shifts and changes. A plan is best planned knowing there will be certain extraneous variables out of our control and what we can do is to possibly try and map them out and develop mitigation strategies in advance.

El plan es la guía que te dirá qué paso seguir, a través de qué mecanismo y en los canales que se hayan definido para poder logar tu objetivo. Sin embargo, los planes en casi todas las ocasiones sufren cambios (muy peque?os pero que desestabilizan la ruta trazada previamente); para ello, siempre es importante adaptarse a las circunstancias con el mayor apego posible al plan, pero siempre teniendo la flexibilidad que se necesita. Nunca debemos perder de vista el objetivo y sobre todo que los resultados nos ayudarán para preveer en futuras ocasiones situaciones de riesgo que pudieran presentarse.

Often misunderstood as the same because they are so closely linked - it is important to collaborate and necessitate cross-functional integration with marketing, public relations, government affairs, and other relevant areas to align messaging, share resources, and leverage expertise.