How to celebrate the highlights of the year

EMAILS/NEWSLETTERS

Targeted method of communication

This form of communication targets an audience identified through the process of filling out a form (on the showcase site, a pop-up or a landing page) or database extraction.

Strategy: increasing content customisation

Email communication techniques have evolved since the early 2000s. Gone are the days of impersonal communication. The GDPR, which became effective in May 2018, also helped to increase the personalisation of e-mails and limit mass email campaigns by restrictive legislation on the use of databases.

In addition, mass email campaigns have been rendered useless by the use of blacklists and anti-spam filters. But it’s still the most popular channel for inbound marketing strategies: 76% of newsletter subscribers say they’ve already bought a product or service by clicking on a link in an email. Email is the most popular channel for user interaction with brands (52%) compared to social media and apps.

What kind of content can be shared?

Email can be used for marketing or informative communication. This format is appropriate for any kind of highlight. But for promotional or news content, you should share unique and interesting content that meets your audiences’ expectations. Be especially careful when presenting the purpose of the email and highlight why your content is valuable to increase the number of clicks.

Another trend in 2019 is the delivery of emails with rich content. The idea is for your content to stand out both in substance and in form. This form of communication includes teasers in the form of pictures, graphics, GIFs or videos, which redirect the customer to informative articles, videos, studies or even web-documents. Email continues to play a gateway role, but this time to different content from that of your showcase site. It also allows access to much richer and more diverse content than the snack content posted on social media.

What are the advantages of this format?

Communicating on a highlight through email can increase traffic to your site and your blog. Each email campaign generates engagement, which is reflected in an increase in the number of visits following each campaign.

THE PRESS RELEASE

Less targeted form of communication

We’ve decided to separate email campaigns from press releases. Press releases actually differ from conventional email campaigns in that they target two kinds of people: journalists and influencers. These two audiences aren’t approached in the same way. Journalists ideally need to apply certain ethical standards requiring them to confirm that your statements are truthful by cross-checking the shared information while an influencer generally needs to run a business and generate likes and shares. So the way they use your information won’t be the same.

Strategy: winning over journalists and influencers and doing the hard part for them

Press releases should be written using all the language tools that help you connect with your audiences. In doing this, as previously discussed, you need to be patient and adapt each email to the editorial line of the media outlet or influencer in question.

Don’t hesitate to do the hard work for them by attaching to your press release HD photos of your highlight, additional interviews or any other content that can be easily shared and used.

What kind of content can be shared?

There are certain rules to be followed when writing a press release to draw the attention of journalists. It’s important to properly structure the text by adding the words “press release” at the top of the document. A logo, date, title and lead-in are also essential. For the lead-in, be concise but straightforward, i.e. don’t leave the reader in suspense. It wouldn’t be appropriate in this context. Instead, succinctly announce the most important parts of your press release. End the press release with a redirect link to your site and precise contact details (in particular, avoid addresses like “contact@ . . .”) to be reached easily or allow the journalist to learn more about you.

What are the advantages of this format?

Press releases allow you to deliver key information quickly. If you can, consider adding an infographics or figures to your communication. These are elements that can be easily shared in the media. So consider digitising your press release with redirect links or downloadable hyperlinks.

SOCIAL MEDIA

Targeted method of communication

With this kind of communication, you need to adapt your speech (your tone and form) and your content to the target community. The main pitfall to avoid is sharing the same kind of communication on all social platforms. Don’t forget to use hashtags to reach communities that are interested in certain content specific to their area.

Strategy: expanding communications to include all departments

Highlights are no longer reserved exclusively for community managers. New communications practices are leading different company departments to communicate on social media.

For example, a company’s sales force can thank a long-time customer on the company’s anniversary. The HR department can also communicate about a company highlight to promote the employer brand as part of a recruitment drive. In short, all company departments related to communications, marketing, sales and IT now want to communicate on social media. These communications could also be the subject of an article on your site, your blog or even partner sites that will redirect audiences from social media.

What are the advantages of this format?

This kind of digital content is designed to increase loyalty, engagement, sharing and even virality. It’s the perfect complement to your email strategy for your content marketing, both in substance and in form.

What kind of content can be shared?

A picture followed by a text produces a better engagement rate than a simple written post. A video is more engaging than a picture with a comment. Live content also works very well on social media. Regardless of the medium chosen, the goal should be to stand out from the competition. The trend on social media is to post punchy content, like teasers, invitations, highlight reels, anniversaries, product launches, etc. It’s important to be concise to avoid losing your audience.

SPEECHES

Non-targeted form of communication

This kind of corporate communication is aimed at all stakeholders in the company and should generally be shared as widely as possible. It can even occasionally be shared with the general public when it’s related to seasonal highlights.

Strategy: choosing your highlights

Strategic announcements impact the entire organisation and can address sensitive matters such as crisis management or a benefit plan, as well as less sensitive topics such as an official communication to welcome a new year. In any case, the speeches should be thoroughly thought out. It’s important to choose the opportunities and topics of the communication very carefully and provide a clear corporate message. This requires proper use of the company’s language, which must be consistent with the values and identity of the brand.

What are the advantages of this format?

The infrequent use of the format guarantees its credibility and seriousness. Speeches allow you to embody and humanise the brand.

What kind of content can be shared?

Speaking to the public is never a simple exercise, especially because you have to be an excellent speaker to captivate a mass audience with a corporate announcement. So it’s good practice to enhance the speech with illustrations or an introductory, illustrative or presentation video.

The setting is also a key component in this type of communication. A podium that’s far from the first row will give the impression of a certain distance from the people there (and is sometimes used for this purpose). The lack of a platform will give the speech a less solemn tone. In short, every part of the announcement must be consistent with the content of the announcement that will be made.

EVENTS

Targeted method of communication

To participate in an event or to organise one, you first have to identify the audiences that interest you. Beyond the curious and journalists, your event is aimed at prospects or employees for internal events.

Strategy: increase the lifespan of your event with digital media

Before or after the event actually takes place, digital media can increase event lifespan by announcing and inviting people to it in emails or on social media, and thanking people for attending the event afterwards. Your post-event video should also remind your guests of the event or your participation in it by highlighting its significance.

What are the advantages of this format?

An event provides rich content. It’s a highlight in itself composed of several highlights. So it’s a means of expression that can include a speaker, a presentation or an unforeseen occurrence that goes viral to increase brand awareness and expand the reach of your communications and your presence.

What kind of content can be shared?

The type of content used to communicate on special events is highly variable. It can include the announcement of the event, highlights from the event, a post-event video, feedback on the details of your participation in the event, etc. All this can be done by email or video or through social media.

PRINT

Non-targeted or less targeted form of communication

This is corporate content that can be read by the press as well as by company partners or employees.

Strategy: provide memorable, atypical content

By print, we mean beautiful printed objects and these include company books.

Why design a corporate book? Because it’s a memorable corporate gift. It can be provided on different occasions: when an employee arrives or departs, for the year-end holidays, and on the occasion of symbolic company anniversaries, such as 10-year, 20-year, 30- year or 40-year anniversaries.

Corporate books help to strengthen your image through an internal and external communication tool. The latter presents the company history, its activities and its values. It also can also serve several purposes, such as highlighting your employees, sharing your passion for your business and retaining customers, partners and suppliers.

What are the advantages of this format?

Beautiful books or beautiful print objects are a premium medium of communication. The book format is a rare medium that has the longest lifespan in terms of format. Content and illustrations help increase brand recognition and recall.

What kind of content can be shared?

This type of content is perfect for storytelling. You just need to decide what story will be told. Print can be used to tell the family story like a saga for companies that are family businesses. Other companies may choose a business theme or an important value related to their core business, such as customer service (for certain tourism or hotel industry brands, for example) or innovation for industry. This will be the main theme of the book and can also recount the history of the brand. Lastly, this kind of book can focus on the company’s values or philanthropy and focus on sustainable development or actions taken to safeguard our heritage. How to include video in your communication about highlights

Whether it’s used for communicating on annual festivities, corporate highlights, internal success stories or social media celebrations or sharing personalized thank you messages, video is a means of digital communication that increases the reach of your message. In this article, we discuss the different formats that you can use to strengthen your communication strategy.