Over the last 4 years I have had the privilege of working with Australia’s leading remediation and environmentally-focused services business, Enviropacific – JT Comms’ Foundation Client.
The growth and transformation of Enviropacific during that time has been impressive – it has also taught me a thing or two about the importance of B2B communications.
1. Identify who you are and what you stand for
Developing a set of values, a mission statement and a key messaging framework takes time but it’s worth the effort.
Identifying those intrinsic aspects of the business will help develop a strong, positive culture.
From a comms perspective, this work will end up underpinning all activities – from marketing collateral and advertising campaigns to key talking points and social / website content.
2. Align comms to business objectives
Comms should be a key business development tool, raising awareness and communicating relevant and engaging information that helps generate business leads.
Having a clear understanding of business objectives will ensure messaging is nuanced appropriately and well-targeted.
If the communications strategy is not in alignment, those corporate objectives will be a whole lot harder to achieve.
3. Social media
Social media is cost-effective: it’s free and enables businesses to target messaging.
Social media also enables the leveraging of paid content marketing and advertising, ensuring businesses get bigger bang for their buck.
As an aside, it is important to discern the most appropriate platforms to be operating on – those where key stakeholders are most likely to be. Generally, two or three platforms at most should be sufficient.
4. Align internal and external messaging
All messaging needs to be consistent.
Inconsistency creates confusion and doubt that eat away at morale and productivity.
Note, whatever you say internally will invariably find its way to your external stakeholders – so be consistent and honest always!
5. People First
Even in a project-focused business like Enviropacific, it’s the people behind the projects that are most important.
People create culture, culture attracts good employees, and good employees attract clients and suppliers.
As a result, comms – internal and external – should prioritise the people behind the business.
Good communication is not rocket science – it is about understanding the business and the audience.
I’m grateful to Enviropacific for the opportunity to be able to contribute – even in a small way – to its success.
