Strategic Communications Planning: Setting Effective Communication Goals
Explore the importance of communication goals in strategic planning sessions to align with institutional objectives. Learn how communications can integrate, serve, and support overall goals, distinguishing them from institutional goals.
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Presentation Transcript
Strategic Communications Planning Session 2: Communications Goals Instructors: Robert Hornsby & Cassandra Nathan
General discussion -- Review of Session 1 Situation Analysis: How did it go? What was easiest piece to define or explain? What was the hardest piece to define or explain?
Refresher: Elements of a Communications Plan 1. Situation Analysis 2. Goals the WHY 3. Strategy the WHAT 4. Tactics the HOW 5. Metrics 6. Evaluation
Communications Goals: In your Situation Analysis section, you considered the general institutional goals of your school, dept, institute, center or unit. In your Communications Goals section, you show how communications can integrate, serve and support your the institutional goals of your school, dept, institute, center or unit.
Review: Institutional Goals: Institutional Goals are usually about growth or increase, but could be about stability or other attributes. Institutional Goals most often deal with quantifiable attributes, such as numbers of students, faculty positions, and funding of research projects or construction projects Q: What are a few examples of institutional goals from class members?
Review: Institutional Goals: Institutional Goals are usually about growth or increase, but could be about stability or other attributes. Institutional Goals most often deal with quantifiable attributes, such as numbers of students, faculty positions, and funding of research projects or construction projects Q: What are a few examples of institutional goals from class members? Q: How Communications Goals different than institutional goals?
Communications Goals: Communication Goals (Comms Goal) deal with information, news and persuasion or conversion (marketing). A Comms Goal sets a target that correlates to an Institutional goal. Comm Goals are tied to communications metrics. We gather and use communications data, such as media impressions, video views, or social media shares to measure the relative impact or success of a communications product. Tip don t suggest a Comms Goal you can t quantify or qualitatively measure. Conversely, we do not allow available data to limit our goals, that is, we do not start with the metrics and let the data define or limit our goals.
Communications Goals: Samples To reach a wider general audience, increase subscriber growth to [institute] newsletter and achieve an increase of website traffic growth by 2% during next 12 months. Stabilize applications of graduate students to [academic degree program] by in the next admissions cycle. Strengthen the reputation of [school] by securing positive press coverage of its faculty, leadership, research, programs, students and alumni in media that target those audiences. Communicate the opportunities of [research center] and the demonstrated applications or outcomes of its research to persuade donors to fund our initiatives.
Communications Goals: Samples To reach a wider general audience, increase subscriber growth to [institute] newsletter and achieve an increase of website traffic growth by 2% during next 12 months. Stabilize applications of graduate students to [academic degree program] by in the next admissions cycle. Strengthen the reputation of [school] by securing positive press coverage of its faculty, leadership, research, programs, students and alumni in media that target those audiences. Communicate the opportunities of [research center] and the demonstrated applications or outcomes of its research to persuade donors to fund our initiatives. Note that these goal statements emphasize verbs.
Communications Goals: Discussion questions: 1. Are there different goals for different audiences? 2. What goals are reasonable and achievable? 3. What can communications do to persuade your target audiences to help your school/dept/institute/unit? 4. What would be best outcome? 5. Is creating a website or a newsletter really a communications goal? Why or why not?
Communications Goals: Breakout session Situation of the Day Your supervisor thinks your office needs a new and improved newsletter. Go. Define the institutional goal. Devise at least one Communication Goal about the newsletter. Remember Audience/Purpose/Outcomes.
Communications Goals: Breakout review Homework: Make substantive comments on Situation Analysis drafts by your teammates. 1-page (minimum) Communication Goals due EOD next Thursday.
