Telling tales out of school

My friend, who is a teacher, has a new job. Of course, she wants to make an impact and is looking to set up ways to communicate to the parents, the staff, the Governors and of course the parents, in the most effective way for all audiences.

She has been thinking about blogs, social media, the school’s website and the other forms of communication most schools operate including the old fashioned but for some, only guaranteed way of working, notes in school bags. 

Her dilemma is this - a host of messages, often about the same thing , but to different audiences with different things they need to know and act on. For example, a typical event at all schools this time of the year - sports day. Parents need to know when and where for which class, whether their children come dressed in their sports kits or change at school.  Children, dependent on age, need to know whether they bring anything else in - extra water or running shoes - and whether they are undertaking a speciality - 100 meters, javelin or even throwing the beanbag into the hoops.

Teachers need to know how the sports day is being, literally played out, and what their role and their class’ is in it. And Governors need to know the health and safety boxes are ticked and the budget spent on it.

Recognise any similarities?  Communication, whether in an office, a hospital, a school or even within a family unit, boils down to the same tenets:
 

The Who, the What, the Why and the How.

Who needs to know
What they need to know
Why they need to know it
How they need to action it.

It sounds simple doesn’t it? But having a comms plan that can talk to everyone and anyone, in a way they understand, through the channel they like, and to engage them so they really hear what you are saying, is the challenge.

So what’s the solution?

Like the evolution of omni-channel marketing, comes omni-communication. Taking one message and tailoring it for each audience.  At Antelope we do this already for our clients. We take their gold dust and turn it into a message for their different audiences. This could be through a blog for the visitors to their site, through a PR editorial placement or guest blog to attract new customers, via a tweet or a post or through a newsletter to potential or existing customers. But we don’t just sent it through different channels. We tailor it accordingly. We speak the language they speak. So if they are a healthcare company, we might tailor the message for professionals, repurpose it for patients, edit and evolve it for carers and finally, make it accessible for those who don’t work within healthcare but might be interested to find out more. 

Back to my friend and her new job. She has told me her biggest challenge is to get buy in. From her new team and from the parents. To do this she says she needs to get them onboard and hear their views but also let them know her ideas and thoughts. Engage them, excite them and motivate them.  And really isn't that the ultimate aim of all marketers? To literally get buy in from their customers through engagement, to excite them with their brand and ultimately motivate  them to purchase? 

Is anyone listening?

Have you noticed that at the moment there seems to be a lot being said by a lot of people, all the time?

Is it me or is everyone a commentator? A voice for their industry? A spokesperson for things that they might, or might not, have the credentials to talk about?  Take Russell Brand who propelled himself via his social media profile @rustyrockets into the recent General Election debate with an interview with Ed Miliband on his Trews channel and in his latest bestseller- Revolution.  

Sharing knowledge and best practice has always been a great way of learning within organisations. Yet, if everyone is talking, is there anyone listening?  A recent piece of research by management consultants, Accenture in its strategy document, "Powering Profitable Sales Growth", recognises the rise of the "nonstop customer" who has constant access to knowledge and opinions, through more channels, than ever before. 

So what does this mean for brand guardians?  

Can anyone hear your brand messages over the noise around them?  

This is where experts such as Clara Shih, the founder of Hearsay Social and the author of the Facebook Era, says social media is going to flex its muscle.  By using your personalised networks (or friends/followers/connections) to filter relevant brands and services to you. With an integrated endorsement, if brands can get their tone and content right, it could be a way to block out the cacophony of the competitors' chant and a sure route to sales.

As we enter a new wave of brands finding their place in the cyberspace and with the changing sands of social media and Google algorithms, the job to be heard becomes harder and harder. At Antelope, we believe those brands that will be heard, oddly enough will be those who are listening. Listening to what their customers are saying, listening to their suppliers and making those relationships more partnerships than supply led.  And with this will come a transparency, a brand promise that will need to be authentic and consequently generate trust with their customers. 

In a world of where everyone has an opinion, make sure you are listening as well as talking.  With the nonstop customers comes the opportunity to have nonstop advocates and those brand guardians that champion the brand followers are the ones that deserve the largest share of voice.  

"If you always do what you've always done...

...you'll always get what you've always got."  Henry Ford. 

It's easy to keep doing the things you have always done, the way you have always done it. It feels safe, it often feels right.  

How many successful women and men of our time have been doubted in the beginning? Walt Disney "lacked imagination and had no good ideas" according to his previous employer; Anna Wintour was seen as "too edgy" and Bill Gates dropped out of Harvard before starting Traf-O-Data that folded.  Even Steven Spielberg was rejected three times by the University of Southern California School of Theatre, Film and Television.

Change often feels difficult. Looking at things differently, thinking differently and persuading people to do things differently - be it your manager, your team, or even your partner - can be an uphill battle. That's why many enterprises work with management consultants or with change management strategists to give them a structure and support through change.

At Antelope we believe in change. Life is changing constantly, with time never staying still and brands, consumers, suppliers and teams needing to evolve to keep up.

In the world of communications, we believe the change that has taken place with the onslaught of the Internet brings amazing opportunities for our clients. From the days of silos of communication with newspapers, magazines, TV and radio stations we now live in a world of omnichannel or integrated communications, heralded with social media feeds, visualised through images and infographics and endorsed, if you are lucky, through your customers on review sites and forums. 

That's why we offer an integrated approach to our communications. We take the essence of what you are, what we call your "gold dust" and then we use this as the crux of your messaging for your inbound marketing - writing your blogs, tweeting and posting your comments - and then repurpose this content for your outbound communications - newsletters, advertising, PR and media placement and email communications.

We believe what we do is different. And we believe the benefits of what we offer are different. Fancy a change? Let us help you be different.