Why a communication concept is important
Nothing works without a concept. The communication concept is the basis for all communication work and for every campaign. It sets out how we see the challenge we are facing and how we want to solve it.
In the concept, we formulate our common understanding of the problem and define the guidelines for solving it. We agree on a specific strategy and tactics with which we want to tackle our challenge. We define the “why” for all our measures and create a reference. This forms the linchpin for their ongoing evaluation and further development.
The communication concept is the fundamental prerequisite for our collaboration within the team and with our customers. It ensures that everyone involved can unite behind a common idea and mission.
What does a communication concept include?
Basically, a communication concept must fulfill three important criteria:
It must be understandable. For everyone involved in the campaign, but also for partners and multipliers. Ideally, your family and friends should also be able to understand the idea behind it, provided you are allowed to disclose the information about a campaign. This is of course possible with a public tender like this one.
Secondly, the principle of simplicity applies: you should be able to explain your concept in a few minutes. This is best achieved with a briefing for the concept.
The third criterion is the most difficult: despite its simplicity, your concept must still be at least as complex and comprehensive as the problem it is intended to solve. In other words, you must have a crystal-clear understanding of the challenge and all its facets in order to be able to come up with a suitable concept.
In order to fulfill these criteria, a communication concept traditionally contains three areas:
Analysis: The analysis section always forms the cornerstone of your concept. It describes the challenge you are facing and also contains insights into your target groups and all other factors that are important for describing the problem. This includes the analysis of the current situation, the USP (Unique Selling Point = the special feature of your offer) positioning and communication goals.
Strategy: In the strategy section, you define your goals and target groups, formulate your central idea in terms of content and your communication messages. This section is about the storytelling and design of your campaign. You primarily ask yourself the following questions: What should be communicated and how? Who and what should be achieved? Once these questions have been answered, you have completed the core of your concept.
Implementation: In the last part of the concept, things become more concrete. This is where you decide on the tactics, measures and budget planning that match your strategy. You also determine which performance indicators (we call them KPIs = Key Performance Indicators) you want to use to measure your campaign. Because every active or completed measure benefits from reporting. It measures your success and shows you which adjustments may still need to be made.
In our blog post, you can find out how we implemented the communication concept for the teacher recruitment campaign. We explain this in a practical way with a five-step guide.
How did we tackle this challenge? What were the key steps in devising, planning and ultimately implementing effective communication measures? We'll take you into our think tank and show you how we create campaign concepts at PIO. If you want to find out more about our client, you can read the interview PIO Projects: Teacher recruitment campaign.