How to Create a Sector-Specific Communications Strategy

Whether you seek to reach environmentalists, seniors, early childhood education activists, or individuals/organizations connected to other specific socio-economic sectors, the more tailored your communications strategy is, the better.

When you’re speaking to a specific audience, it helps to lean into the pain points or priorities they share. While there are some tried and tested systems to effectively communicate, creating a sector-specific strategy can help you achieve your goals faster and with more efficiency.

Understand the ecosystem

Become familiar with the organizations, nonprofits, stakeholders, leaders, and elected officials who are major players in the sector. This will help you make better decisions about strategy and focus. Identifying the decision makers and consensus builders helps you better leverage opportunities to achieve your goals. Mapping out the important players can allow you to be more strategic in your planning and execution by identifying shared goals to help collaborate and accelerate your timeline.

For example, if you’re working to advance a piece of legislation about environmental policy, identifying several prominent lobbyists who understand state or federal regulations might be one of the best places to start. Pair this with outreach to relevant legislators or large organizations that wield significant weight in government. Conduct power-mapping if needed to help understand the ecosystem and to inform your strategy for outreach and partnership.

Define your goals

It’s critical to determine what success looks like for you or your organization. While the stakeholders, organizations, and partners in an ecosystem may share some goals with you, they likely have slightly (or largely) different priorities. Understanding this can be helpful to ensure efficient and effective collaboration.

If you are an environmental group focused on outlawing the use of plastic bags, you may have a different idea of near-term success compared to a group working to advance legislation that mandates a reduction in CO2 emissions. While these two organizations would have plenty of overlap, the overarching goal is different and should be considered when thinking about partnership and collaboration. Sometimes, it’s an unlikely partnership that leads to success, which is why power-mapping can be a valuable tool to envision a strategy from a 30,000-foot perspective.

Leverage your sector

Find what sets your sector of focus apart and leverage it to your advantage. For environmentalists, it will likely be peoples’ love for the outdoors. Use your audience’s passion for the mountains, ocean, forest, fresh air, or animals as a key part of your messaging and communications strategy. Incorporate it into your events or use it in materials.

Find what moves people within your specific sector and develop a plan to incorporate it appropriately to persuade your audience. Personalize the pitch so that it relates why your goal or call to action should matter to your audience.

Using stories is a powerful way to connect. Make sure to be respectful and professional when using peoples’ stories – get their approval and ensure they are comfortable with how you intend to present the information. But prioritize stories as a tool to illustrate to the public how your issue or candidate solves a problem.

Magnify your message

In addition to the specifics of your sector, you can also use the size and reach of others to assist in your goals. If you operate in a saturated space, see if you can partner with one of the largest organizations in your field. Use their megaphone, their email list, and their social media channels to advance your priorities.

If you operate in a sector that gets little to no attention, find an unlikely partner – perhaps someone on the outside. Or find an aspect of the sector you can use to get free media. Eye-catching, public-facing displays can often be a way to do this. You could rent a billboard or bring or create large imagery that will capture attention and create a photo opportunity alongside a call to action. This can bring more attention to an issue struggling to break through the noise.

Many sectors have niche publications that cover developments inner workings of the sector. For example, E&E news is an industry-specific publisher that covers energy and environment policy and markets. It’s a niche publication that many insiders and lobbyists consume in order to better inform their strategies in Washington, D.C. and across the country. Familiarize yourself with the reporters or editors of relevant niche publications to help strengthen your connection and name recognition.

Conclusion

Your sector can be a great way to build out a more tailored communications strategy. Understanding your sector’s ecosystem, clarifying your definition of success, leveraging your sector’s strengths, and magnifying your message via sector-specific outlets will help you create a communications strategy that raises awareness and helps you achieve your goals.