Communication Is Key!

Getting Started:

Communication tactics are the visible parts of a strategic plan. You can think of them as "what people see and do: websites and news releases, tours and billboards, ads and special events, tweets and blogs, and so much more" (Smith, 2020). There are endless communication tactics available along with the fact that they are constantly changing and growing further because of technological advances. Tactics should only be used and "considered in light of your goals and objectives, evaluated in relationship to each other, matched to the taste of the organization and the publics, and chosen with an eye toward time and budget constraints" (Smith, 2020). You should not try to use as many tactics as possible, but instead evaluate carefully and select what is necessary.

Conventional Tactics

Conventional communication tactics are various but do contain some limits (Smith, 2020). This category of tactics includes: organizational control, organizational link, audience size and reach, audience type, audience interaction, media access, media production, and, lastly, media orientation. A lot, right? Organizational control and organizational link can be thought of as similar because control is based how well an organization is able to control all of the aspects of its messages and link outlines the relationship between the organization and media. The next three that can be thought of as similar are audience size and reach, audience type, and audience interaction. Audience size and reach is just as it sounds, while audience type outlines differences between media available to a narrower versus wider audience. The last out of the three, audience interaction, discusses the differences between one-way and interactive media among audiences. The last three conventional tactics are media access, media production, and media orientation. Media access is defined by an audiences accessibility to public/nonpublic media, media production is based on how media is produced (print, electronic, etc.), and media orientation is defined by media's relations with the organization.

Strategic Communication Tactics

A way that has helped me break up the meaning of strategic communication tactics is that "communication strategy is the 'what' you are trying to achieve [while] the tactics are the 'how' you are going to achieve it" (Elevate). There are communication tactics in five categories, also a non media set of communication channels, and followed by four categories that reflect the PESO model. The 5 categories are: interpersonal communication, owned media, shared media, earned media, and finally, paid media.

Interpersonal communication gives face-to-face opportunities for personal involvement and interaction. Owned media is usually produced by the organization itself as they control everything accessible to their audiences. Shared media is known as communication channels not controlled by an organization, earned media are communication channels that provide opportunities for the credible presentation of organizational messages, and paid media is communication channels that are purchased by an organization.

How Can This Be Used In Favor Of An Organization?

These 5 different categories I have just outlined give organizations numerous opportunities for communication with their publics. And while I have already touched on this, given that there are so many choices, organizations must choose carefully what tactics to use in order ton effectively communicate with their audiences. Effective strategic communications tactics can not only drive creative ideas but also encourage employee engagement, which is also helpful in the grand scheme of things (FIU, 2020).