How can we make our corporate communications more engaging?

Corporate communications help businesses communicate with their internal and external audiences.?They support organisations in promoting their brand identity and building relationships with stakeholders.

Corporate communications include:

• Internal communications: Sharing information within a company, such as through newsletters, handbooks, staff intranets, company memos and meetings
• External communications: Sharing information with people outside of a company, such as customers, investors and the media, through press releases, press statements, website copy, social media, external notices, advertisements and media features

Here are a few tips to consider if you want to make your corporate communications as engaging as possible:

Consider your audience:

It is important to understand the needs of your audience and be clear on what you are setting out to achieve.

Tailor your messages to the specific interests and concerns of those you are addressing, producing different versions of your communications for different audiences if necessary. For example, if your company is opening a new site, an external press release on the launch might focus on the company strategy and delivering excellence to customers while an internal company memo on the launch might address staff questions about site operations, car parking and colleague contact details.

It helps to tailor your language to your audience, avoiding jargon, abbreviations and technical terms. Consider whether you want to adopt a formal or informal tone.

Choose the right channels:

Select platforms your audience actively use. With staff communications, are you most likely to reach people via email, the intranet, printed notices or in-person meetings? You might want to use multiple platforms to make sure you reach as many people as possible.

If colleagues already have an incentive to use a particular channel, for example an intranet platform because they can use it to view payslips and book annual leave, they might be more likely read your content if you post it on there.

Consistency is key when considering communications platforms. If channels are not updated regularly, people might stop checking them for new content. Create a realistic content schedule that will enable you to keep content fresh on all the channels you intend to use.

Bear in mind that a lot of people will be reading your content on mobile devices, so it helps to make your communications mobile-friendly where possible. Testing your communications on different devices, using large fonts, providing simple navigation and reducing image and file sizes can help.

Craft compelling content:

Keep your communications concise. Get to the point quickly and avoid unnecessary information. Short paragraphs and headings can help to break up text, and images and infographics can make your communications more visually appealing. Occasionally, a video might be an option to make your communications more engaging and enhance understanding.

Another tip is to regularly feature members of your target audience in your communications. People love to hear from their peers and spot others they know in photographs.

Try weaving narratives into your messages to make them more memorable and relatable, and where possible relate your words back to your company’s values and culture for a consistent message.

Continue to read more on the Osborn website: https://osbornpr.com/how-can-we-make-our-corporate-communications-more-engaging/

If you’d like support with building or improving your corporate communications, we can help. Osborn’s clients benefit from our years of experience generating positive content for different audiences. Drop us a line?to book in a chat.