Mission Communications specializes in:
- Communications Planning
- Branding
- Online Strategy & Development
- Media Relations
Communications Planning
When choosing from among the wealth of options for communicating with today’s media-savvy public, you can’t afford to make it up as you go along. You need a strategic plan for building relationships with your target audiences and for advancing your organization’s agenda.
Our communications planning process begins with a comprehensive audit including interviews with your internal and external stakeholders and a review of your Web site and print collateral. We analyze your position among peer organizations and help to identify your unique value. Then we develop a strategy for communicating that value and map out specific tactics for reaching your target audiences. The tactics typically include an integrated mix of online and traditional marketing, PR, and advertising. Much more than a list of recommendations, the plan is finalized in consultation with your leadership to ensure that the budget, staffing and outsourcing needs are practical and will allow you to implement the plan and achieve your goals.
Branding
Branding is about much more than updating your logo. A strong brand tells people what you stand for and what differentiates you from peers or competitors – all of which is key to attracting donors, members, students and the support of influentials.
We believe that the core of any branding process is positioning: identifying who is your most important audience and articulating how you would like them to perceive your organization. Based on this positioning, we first develop a set of key messages for use in all of your communications – ensuring that the way you talk about what you do matches who you truly are. Sometimes a tagline or even a name change is in order; sometimes not. Then our designers get to work, drafting initial concepts for a logo and delving deeper into the concept that resonates most with your team. Ultimately we will produce an identity system that includes digital logo files, a color palette, typeface, message platform, and guidelines for implementing the new identity across media.
Online Strategy & Development
Having a great Web site that is attractive, intuitive to navigate and filled with compelling information is a critical communications tool, but it is no longer the only way that audiences engage online with your organization. Your digital footprint may extend from articles found in Google searches to a Facebook fan page set up by one of your supporters. The trick is not to be everywhere but, rather, to figure out where your target audiences are and what they value, and then develop a strategy for delivering relevant content to them.
Adding knowledge of current trends to more than a decade of experience in the online space, Mission Communications offers a range of services including:
- Online audit and peer review
- Information architecture (wireframing)
- Content development
- Interface design
- Search engine optimization (SEO)
- Social media strategy
- E-newsletter development
- Search engine marketing (SEM)
- Blog coaching
We also provide technical consulting to help you select a content management system and arrange site hosting.
Media Relations
While the social media revolution has enabled organizations to create and distribute their own content, this opportunity has not replaced the importance of coverage by established media outlets. Whether it be a top-tier publication like The New York Times, a 24/7 news source like CNN.com, programs on National Public Radio, or the local newspaper of record, leaders in all sectors still get most of their general news from traditional sources. The difference today is that professionals also pick up information from high-profile bloggers, mentions on popular Twitter feeds, and links in niche e-newsletters.
Since the key to success is addressing a journalist’s need for fresh, timely information, we start by evaluating your assets – upcoming events, publications, noted speakers, success stories, new initiatives, etc. – and then look for ways to tie your information into the news cycle. We identify target outlets for your story that may include national newspapers and magazines, regional newspapers, network television programs, public radio shows, local broadcast stations, Web sites, trade journals, blogs, and even celebrity Tweets. Our PR execution includes: writing and distributing press releases; pitching reporters, editors, producers and bloggers; drafting opinion pieces; and training spokespersons.
