From our personal sphere to our professional circle, communication plays a vital role. In the competitive modern landscape, corporate communications are the backbone of every brand. The consistent, clear, and unique identity of every business relies on the success and effectiveness of its corporate communications.
Corporate communications is a business segment that performs many roles and undertakes several kinds of tasks. This is why outlining one primary function of this business segment is hardly ever possible.
However, in nutshell, one can define corporate communications as that crucial component that helps develop, maintain and enhance a brand image or corporate identity. Every corporate communications team undertakes the responsibility of facilitating engagement between the sectors of an organization and helping it connect with its audiences.
With an integrated system of corporate communications, a brand is better able to define and express its objectives, characteristics, and visions. In this article, we will discuss how corporate communications impacts your organization’s day-to-day operations and showcases the brand’s identity to internal and external audiences.
Corporate Communications- What it is
It is not possible to outline just one primary function or objective of corporate communications because it is a very broad field. However, we can say that at its core, every corporate communications team exists to facilitate its organization to engage in a variety of ways with its various audiences.
But who are the internal and external audiences of a business you may ask? The following are the audiences every organization is likely to engage with:
- General public
- Government bodies
- Suppliers
- Partners
- Media
- Stakeholders
- Investors
- Employees
- Leads and customers
Back in the days when technology had not advanced so significantly, corporate communications was more a company handbook. It included processes like introducing new staff members to other teammates, hosting and promoting big company events, and similar functions.
Today, we are living in a highly digital age and corporate communications expand over a wide range of materials. Corporate communications are far larger than merely the company handbook now. It encompasses everything: from emailing employees, blog posting for promotional purposes, sending messages about a broken coffee or fax machine, and lots more.
Today, corporate communications handle engagement on entirely other levels, from press releases to product development and campaigns. This communication process now focuses on condensing every single way your company will engage with the masses. Today, it is a crucial contributor to shaping your brand identity.
Corporate Communications- Primary Functions
Every business organization, regardless of its size, has a corporate communications department in this age. This department is primarily responsible for a wide range of activities, all of which center upon communication in some form.
Within the communication, a department is a classified group that performs specific corporate communication activities. Let’s take a look at them below:
1. Marketing and Customer Engagement
Over the years customer engagement and marketing have become a somewhat integrated function. These days, every corporate communication strategy has some or a lot of impact on the marketing strategy and the opposite too.
Corporate communication department members now generate marketing materials while engaging in customer communications. You will see the following tasks happening in this department:
- Website copy
- Newsletters
- Flyers
- Brochures
- Marketing emails
- Social media strategy
2. Public and Media Relations
This department designs how the company will communicate with the general media and public. The different communication ways for this include:
- Addressing misinformation and unfavorable press coverage with strategic plans
- Having corporate communication professionals monitoring news streams for mention of the company its managing members, stakeholders, key employees products, etc. in the media
- Garnering coverage through press releases
- Organizing events such as interviews, product launches, conferences, and more with relative materials
3. Internal Communications
We mentioned that corporate communications these days does not refer to a brand’s engagement with its external audiences only. Today, a corporate communication department also prioritizes effective communication of the organization with its internal audience, meaning its own employees.
Hence, professionals of this department play a role in:
- Managing publications, newsletters and internal blogs
- Organizing sessions for group brainstorming, training, and others between employees
- Crafting printing materials, such as flyers, employee handbooks, etc.
- Putting together employee resources including employee benefits and similar information
- Updating employees about company initiatives and news through memos and emails
4. Crisis Communication
The crisis is an inevitable occurrence and most companies experience it at least once throughout their tenure. Other organizations may be magnets for more crises, considering the fiercely competitive environment of the corporate industry.
Hence, a corporate communication department puts together a special group of professionals who devise specific messages from the company in crisis. An organization needs to maintain a competitive yet diplomatic front in the face of a crisis.
For that, it needs to craft special messages that portray its stance in this problematic situation and help protect the company’s reputation and existence. It is the primary responsibility of this special group of corporate communication professionals to:
- Generally, protect the company’s reputation with carefully worded press statements and enable to continue business
- Communicate with government regulators, attorneys, politicians, and emergency responders to avert or fix the crisis
- The professionals must also guide company representatives in such a time on what to say and how to say it when speaking for the company with media
- Setting up events like news briefings and interviews so that company representatives can discuss the ensuing crisis and express their stance to the public
Final Thoughts
One cannot overstate the importance of effective corporate communications for a company’s success in today’s world. A competitive and high-performing corporate communications team is the backbone of the success, positive image, and respectable reputation of the brand.
A strong corporate communications strategy helps an organization cement its personality in the eyes of external and internal audiences. It is also the key that drives up the development and sales of services, products, and ideas.
