Strategic Planning for the Year Ahead: Questions Every Brand Should Ask

When was the last time you set some time aside to reset, refocus, and realign your communication strategies with your business objectives?

Even if you don’t consider yourself a planner, communications strategy planning is necessary for organizational success. In fact, 71% of the fastest-growing companies have strategic plans or similar long-term planning tools in place before diving headfirst into a new idea or advertising campaign. Proper alignment ensures the best use of resources, after all. 

Mapping out an effective corporate communications strategy can feel overwhelming, but with the right consulting and content curation team (such as what we offer!), you can simplify this seemingly complex process and establish clear, effective strategies that deliver real business impact.

Why Annual Communications Planning Matters

Being proactive about your company’s communications planning is essential. For brands and organizations that want to maintain a competitive advantage in an increasingly complex and crowded media landscape, investing time into strategic planning could make-or-break the year ahead.

Industry research shows us that 44% of communications professionals struggle to align metrics to revenue or business KPIs. A strategic corporate communications strategy directly addresses this challenge by naming clear objectives and the matching measurements from the outset. 

Additionally, when every team in your company is aware of your communications strategy planning, it:

• Strengthens brand consistency
• Supports organizational goals
• Positions your company to better respond to emerging opportunities
• Makes measuring the ROI of your communications easier

A strong brand communications strategy will keep everyone on the same page when it comes to business objectives, messaging, and key audience targets.

Key Questions Every Brand Should Ask

Developing an effective brand communications strategy requires honest reflection and strategic thinking. Before getting started, ask your team to consider the following questions:

‍What are our key business priorities for the year, and how does communications support them? As you work on your communications strategy planning, be sure to frame it as a driver of business opportunities, rather than simply improving visibility.

‍Which audiences need more focus, and which channels will reach them most effectively? Not all audiences are created equal, and not all channels perform equally across different segments. Identifying your current gaps in audience reach will help you determine which platforms and formats to focus on. 

‍What are our current communications strengths and weaknesses? An honest assessment of your existing strategy is essential for identifying opportunities for improvement. Take a look at which channels and tactics are performing well and which ones need improvement.

‍How will we measure success and demonstrate ROI? Don’t just focus on vanity metrics; instead, look at KPIs such as audience reach, message penetration, sentiment, and reputational risk to determine whether your strategy has been successful.

‍Are we prepared for both planned initiatives and unexpected challenges? If you’ve worked in marketing for any length of time, you know that fluid strategies work better than rigid ones. As you plan out the year, develop additional plans for when you need to pivot from the initial corporate communications strategy.

Leveraging Consulting Services to Clarify Strategy

While having an internal communications team is very beneficial, even the most experienced group can benefit from an external perspective when establishing a brand communications strategy.

Our corporate communications consulting team can partner with your internal team to:

• Develop an objective analysis of current communications efforts
• Identify gaps in communication and reach
• Uncover hidden opportunities

While our services are tailored to each client’s specific needs, every consultation begins with a comprehensive audit of existing messaging, content, and channels. We become immersed in your communications ecosystem to fully understand the nuances of your culture and how you relate to your audience.

We also interact with members of your various teams to identify what messaging is most important for employee engagement and alignment, what behavioral shifts are needed, and what success looks like.

By looking from the outside in, we can uncover opportunities and blind spots that your internal team may overlook! We bring a fresh new perspective that will transform even the most fragmented communications efforts into cohesive, business-aligned strategies that deliver.

Turning Strategy Into Action with Content Curation

Strategy without execution is simply aspiration. The right content curation services bridge the gap between strategic planning and effective implementation. 

Instead of simple content creation, content curation is more about developing targeted messaging that aligns with strategic priorities and managing multi-channel campaigns that deliver consistent brand experiences. 

One of the most important aspects of content curation is to develop consistent communication flows without the constant reinvention that drains resources. By batching, scheduling, and streamlining content creation processes, you’ll free up bandwidth. Proactive marketing always beats reactive scrambling!

Tips for a Successful Year-Ahead Communications Plan

Effective communications strategy planning requires more than just good intentions. Here are some tips to help you have a successful year:

• Set measurable goals that tie directly to business outcomes.
• Establish clear benchmarks that allow for month-over-month tracking.
• Schedule regular check-ins to assess progress and identify needed adjustments.
• Build flexibility into your plan by creating processes that allow for scenario-based pivoting. 
• Encourage participation across all levels of your organization.
• Move beyond engagement statistics to transformation metrics to demonstrate how your communications are driving understanding, confidence, and alignment with business goals.

Partner with Gillespie Productions for Strategic Communications Success in Green Bay

The difference between communications that merely fill space and communications that drive business results lies in strategic planning. Whether you have an existing strategy that needs improvement or you want to start from the ground up, our Communication Strategy Services will combine strategic thinking with practical implementation support to deliver a plan that works for you!