Last month, public relations professionals met in Denver for the annual PRSA Colorado Chapter Summit. Speakers and attendees alike shared lessons learned, best practices and tips for leading successful communications programs for their companies and clients.

Here are three key learnings:

  1. Planning always comes first: Creative tactics catch the attention of audiences and may lead to award-winning work down the road, but it all starts with planning. Why are you recommending that tactic? What goal does it support? Is there research guiding it, to help the team feel confident it will work? Solving any strategic communication puzzle takes diligent planning and an internal inventory of recent efforts to determine what worked and what didn’t. Taking the time to plan and research will lead to business-driving strategies and smart tactics that bring those strategies to life. Identifying the audience, timing, and all-important “why” first will prevent any potential backtracking.
  2. Don’t reinvent the wheel: Well-loved brands didn’t get there overnight. Successful communicators realize successful reputation building requires diligence and a consistent message. Telling your story over and over is the key to effectively reaching and influencing audiences and moving them to action.  
  3. Provide a memorable experience: In a time of limited consumer attention spans, look for opportunities to provide clear differentiation through a memorable experience – small or big! Whether it’s a strong campaign tagline that makes the consumer benefit unforgettable, fresh packaging that touts your brand mission, or a new storytelling video for your website that celebrates your hard-working team members behind the scenes, these aspects can go a long way toward standing out from the crowd and encouraging your audience to come back for more.

Impactful, engaging work is bred from brainstorming, planning and patience. If you need help crafting a strategic communications plan that maps to business goals, refining your brand messaging or creating experiences that stick, reach out to our team.