Communication campaign - in line with the company's goals

A single message to the media is not yet a communication campaign. On the examples of the largest companies, from this text you will learn, among others how to actually build it, and what is the difference between an internal and external communication campaign. 

Today, little can be left to chance in the media world. If a company does not conduct conscious communication, the competition does so on its behalf, emphasizing its advantages over a less active competitor. Therefore, the question is not whether media communication should be implemented, but how and when to do it? 

What is a communication campaign? 

A communication campaign with the use of specific promotional tools is designed to change awareness, attitudes, behavior and attitude. It is aimed at a specific, planned group. It works through marketing and various advertising techniques. It can use a variety of marketing communication channelssuch as email marketing PR campaign, press, radio and much more. Its purpose is to inform or persuade.  

W. Głodowski, in his work "Interpersonal communication", also distinguishes intrapersonal, interpersonal, interpersonal-media, public and mass communication. Thus, we can speak of a campaign aimed directly at politicians or decision-makers, as well as one that reaches individual recipients or masses. J. Muszyński ("Lexicon of political marketing") considers the political communication campaign to be "a kind of link between politicians and society". By analogy, it can be said that a marketing communication campaign is a link between a company or organization and society. 

Internal and external communication campaign 

Inside communication campaign this is a more pressing topic today than ever before. If all your employees meet in the office every day, then perhaps you don't need to explain to them what the company's work culture is like. What if some or most of them work remotely! Then the internal one, i.e. focused on employees, is the key to keeping the team as a coherent whole. 60 percent companies do not yet have appropriate systems and tools for communication with employees (Workforce data). And the benefits can be measurable. At the most abstract level, employee engagement and identification with the company increases. Translating this into practical matters, knowledgeable and engaged employees open emails from their bosses more often and are more committed to their tasks.

According to Medium, only 13 percent. employees use their company's internal communication systems on a daily basis. They are often outdated or not very intuitive. Modern tools like Asana, Trello if Wrike slowly changing this reality. Some companies invest in their own personalized software. 

An internal communication campaign can consist of concepts and tools. The concept is an identified target group, message as well as an action plan. Tools are e.g. applications or systems that facilitate communication within the team.

Planning a communication campaign 

The conceptual and implementation process may differ slightly between companies or industries. Overall, however, it always starts with the design phase. It can fold on it marketing audit and research. During the work, tools such as group brainstorming and moodboards are useful. At this stage, the assumptions and the target group are formed. It may be useful to establish a baseline and set expectations.  

Today only 60 percent. people eat breakfast. The goal for breakfast cereal producers could be to increase this percentage and increase the number of people who reach for breakfast cereals. These assumptions can be built on the basis of contrasts (unhealthy lifestyle - healthy lifestyle; badly started day - well-started day; lack of fiber in the diet - source of fiber in the diet, etc.). All this helps to clarify communication channels and the most suitable tone. This leads to general concepts, e.g. billboards all over Poland, interviews with experts on TV, etc.  

Such concepts can be tested on a small segment of the target group. The test communication campaign is inexpensive and allows you to select the most effective assumptions. Once you know what the campaign will look like, it is enough to implement it on selected media - e.g. social campaigns in social media.

Communication goals are extremely important for any organization that wants to reach its customers effectively. That is why so many companies decide to carry out communication campaigns to increase brand awareness and interest in its products or services. However, these types of campaigns require not only ingenuity, but also knowledge of the media and how to use them to make the message as convincing as possible. Therefore, it is worth paying attention to the goals of your communication campaign and using the right tools to achieve the intended results.

Examples of communication campaigns 

The easiest way to understand a communication campaign is to use examples. The entire communication of the Dove brand aimed at women is expressive. It shows a clearly defined target group and a problem: not accepting your body. On this basis, you can build the entire Dove value system focused on female beauty regardless of the shape of the body. In the past, advertising on television, and today also on YouTube, advertising in the press and social media - these are the main, but not the only tools to achieve this goal. 

Another example is Volvo's communication campaign, specifically the V90 Cross Country model. “You can't live life to the fullest if you don't live in the present moment. - said philosopher Allan Watts in 1959. This slogan was chosen in the course of conceptual work for the motto of the new car campaign. Volvo is associated with predictability, and for some people - with boredom. Communication strategy about a car intended for off-road escapades had to be well thought out. A sober look in the style of a Zen master was chosen. Realizing that Volvo buyers are mostly wealthy middle-aged men, they were asked to consider whether they were making the most of everyday moments. A spot was created presenting a typical representative of the "Volvo family", who thanks to the car can fulfill dreams for which there was never enough time. It accompanies the whole ATL campaign in various media and, of course, the voice of the philosopher Allan Watts.

Nowadays, it is not enough to just sell products and services, you also have to be like the society that buys them. This fact made social advertising campaigns an inseparable part of communication campaigns in business. These campaigns are aimed at encouraging customers to try a new product, and at the same time contribute to the formation of a positive image of the company. Therefore, it is worth spending time and money on planning and implementing communication campaigns, because a good design can attract potential customers and increase company sales.

Communication campaign and its benefits for the company

The communication campaign, as mentioned before, is divided into external and internal. Each of them brings many benefits to the company, but on a completely different plane. The external campaign is aimed primarily at customers, the political community or business partners, while the internal campaign is aimed primarily at employees. Each is equally important, and many companies choose to act in two directions at once. What are they able to achieve in this way?

External communication campaigns may be product-based or lead to the achievement of specific social effects. The main advantage of conducting communication campaigns is building trust among recipients. It is much easier to sell your products or services to recipients who trust you. In addition, communication campaigns that are consistent with each other, carry the same message and the same values, make the recipients know exactly who they are dealing with, what is the company's mission and its overarching goal. It should also be mentioned that communication campaigns are usually not limited to one medium, but use several at the same time. This, in turn, means that you are able to reach a very wide audience in a relatively short time.

Internal communication campaigns can complement or support internal communication activities. As an employer, you are able to build a committed team that knows exactly what their responsibilities are and how they should do their job. Internal communication also helps in identifying employees with the company. And this, in turn, translates into understanding and identifying with the values that the company wants to proclaim. However, the greatest benefit of a communication campaign used inside the company is the creation of an integrated team that wants and likes to work together.

Communication campaign - the most common mistakes

Carrying out an effective communication campaign is a very complex process, so it's not difficult to make mistakes. Each campaign should consist of four stages, and it is easy to make a mistake in each of them. The first phase, which is planning, is the most important. If you make a mistake here, it will be difficult to correct it once the campaign is launched. It may be a poorly planned schedule, difficulties in defining goals and problems that you want to raise in the campaign, or poor selection of communication channels.

An equally common mistake is creating brand-oriented campaigns. This is somewhat of a paradoxical situation, because that's what we are creating the campaign for. However, it should not be forgotten that the recipient is the most important, so the content should also have some value for him. In a campaign, we often forget about empathy and the emotional layer, and the way it is received depends on it. It is also worth mentioning the language adapted to the company.

When you sell lollipops for kids, you are unlikely to want to hit the corporate and very formal tone. We mentioned that information campaigns can be carried out using many different communication channels. This is a fact of course, but you must not forget that it is not quantity but quality that determines success. You don't have to use all of them to reach your audience.

One of the common mistakes is the lack of clearly defined campaign goals. It is also worth mentioning that many companies do not draw any conclusions from the campaigns they have already carried out. And there is really no better source to tell you what you did wrong or could have planned better than a thorough campaign analysis that you have carried out. On this occasion, it is also worth mentioning controlling. Imagine you have already launched it and one of the channels is email marketing where messages are not displaying correctly. If you react quickly - you have the opportunity to rectify your mistakes. When you are not in control of the campaign, you are not even aware that something has gone wrong.

10 elements every digital campaign should contain

An effective digital information campaign must consist of the 10 most important elements.

1. Do not advertise or promote yourself directly. A much better solution is storytelling, i.e. storytellingthanks to which you will evoke emotions in the recipient and make him or her identify with the values you want to give him and follow them.
2. Short but meaningful messages are worth their weight in gold. Do not play tricks with the recipient, do not use difficult and complicated words. Get his attention thanks to short messages that he will be able to read and understand in less than 10 seconds.
3. Be original and don't be afraid to stand out. Regardless of whether you weave humorous or touching accents into your story, try to make yourself remembered.
4. Don't be afraid to use visuals. Graphics, infographics, short films and animations are your greatest ally. They not only attract attention, but are able to strengthen the message.
5. Match your message to the medium. E-mail marketing requires a different form and a different communication through social profiles. You cannot use the campaign in the same form in different communication channels.
6. Define your goals. This way, it will be easier for you to prepare a communication campaign strategy that is to produce a specific effect. Consider how the campaign will accomplish your company's goals and objectives.
7. Think about what you want to achieve by running an information campaign. Increase recognition, sales? Can it attract visitors to the website? If you've already done it, measure the effectiveness.
8. BUT remember that numbers aren't everything. The measure of success may be, for example, how often the campaign becomes the topic of conversation, perhaps it sets new trends?
9. Put yourself in the shoes of the recipient. Give him the value he seeks and needs. Think about the problems you can help them solve.
10. Put yourself in the lead role. Give your audience content that will be valuable industry knowledge and keep them eager to come back for more.

The above examples show that a well-thought-out communication campaign can focus larger ideas around a brand or product. The kind that will attract crowds. Commplace experts have the knowledge and experience of how to do it - contact us and check what we recommend for you.