Matt Oakley
Global Head of Data & Analytics
The average office worker receives 121 emails each day as well as many other forms of comms via social media and messaging platforms – so it’s normal for a high number of these to slip through the cracks. Existing in a digital world with notifications and pings coming from every direction, how can you ensure that the right information is reaching the right people?
When looking to elevate your organization’s corporate communications strategy, harnessing the power of data and analytics can support efforts to gain an edge on the competition. In this article, we will discuss the types of data to pull, how data tells a story and how to incorporate those elements when designing a plan to increase ROI.
What is corporate communication and why it’s important
Corporate communications serves as an umbrella term for the variety of ways a business can communicate with both internal and external audiences. These particular forms of communication are pivotal to the reputation and success of an organization. A well-executed corporate comms programme includes brand reputation building, issues management and crisis comms with proactive content creation – film, white papers, articles, blogs – being at the centre of this, as well as customer and employee engagement. It is how you speak to your audiences to tell your business story and create a connection with those stakeholders that really matters.
In an increasingly competitive landscape, your business’s unique selling points not only separates you from your competitors, it plays the central role in influencing audience consideration of your product/service, stakeholder support and increasing retention of existing customers.
So what are data and analytics?
Put simply, data and analytics refers to the broad collection of metrics and values, and the process of extracting actionable insights from these to drive business processes and actions
“Data” refers to almost any number or field. These can range from engagement metrics on social media, the number of products sold or the bounce rate of a website landing page.
However, it’s not enough to have data available. Data is only truly valuable and transformational in optimizing business processes and decision-making outcomes when it is thoroughly analyzed in order to map out the “story” of how your internal and external output is performing. If you understand the narrative your data is revealing, you can take a more targeted approach to troubleshoot issues such as improving customer experience.
Here are the four main types of data analysis:
- Descriptive – what happened?
- Diagnostic – why did it happen?
- Predictive – what is likely to happen in the future?
- Prescriptive – what is the best course of action?
Corporate Branding & Identity
Data and analytics can help decision makers understand what resonates best with an audience and shape how an organisation engages with that audience. It can also help identify where and how to cut-through with your messaging – find that white space – that will resonate with a specific audience. Over time, your brand is associated with a unique style and tone of voice that moves with time.
Employee communications
Using data collected from employee interaction tools and channels can help assess the impact of current internal messaging. Time is precious for any business, and while it might be quicker and easiery to send out a mass-produced email, content needs to be personalized if you want to remain relevant and take your corporate communications to the next level.
One way is to use analytics studied to segment a target audience into subgroups, based on location, intent, age or any other demographic. Organizations should then tailor their content to deliver more targeted messaging and increase engagement.
Target the right audience
Targeting the wrong audience doesn’t just waste valuable resources and time, it can also damage your brand. It’s essential to ensure that your business’s communications are reaching the right audience, and data analytics can help.
Existing data from the ‘right customers’ (e.g those who are already engaged) forms the raw material for deriving greater insights through data analytics. Data could include customer’s behavior, preferences, or even a target age demographic. This data can then be used as part of a wider marketing strategy to ensure that your corporate communications are going straight to your target audience. In time, companies could even set up predictive and proactive frameworks based on gathered data.
Gain deep market insights
Data measuring impressions, interactions and conversions can be a good indicator of how effectively corporate communications is connecting with your target audiences. Analyzing this data can then highlight patterns about your corporate messaging which can be used to improve future communications.
Market research is key to any successful communication strategy, and data and analytics are one of the best ways to discern between relevant and irrelevant data
Stay ahead of the competition
Businesses have to drive innovation based on hard and relevant data in order to stay ahead of the competition. Data science and analytics can be used to improve a company’s own processes, but it can also discover key drivers of success in rival companies. This insight can then be used to tailor communication strategies accordingly and build upon the methods of competitors.
Our corporate communications services
Looking to elevate your corporate communications? Get in touch with Hotwire for brand strategy, narrative messaging development, and creative brand planning to unleash the potential of your story.
We use robust research, analysis and measurement to inform, optimize and measure the impact of our communications, for proven impact that gets results.