What projects are you working on? Is your organization planning a specialized campaign for an awareness week coming up, or something larger like a full rebrand? Whatever you’re planning for, stop.
Stop whatever ideas you’re generating, brainstorms you’re scheduling, or titles you’re noodling on and answer this question first: what does the data say?
Organizations — especially mission-driven organizations that are under-staffed and over-stretched — have a tendency to jump straight into producing content, launching campaigns, or choosing channels without first establishing what the organization and its audience already knows, what it needs to learn, and what the actual proof suggests.
KNOW BEFORE YOU GO
Here at The Good Lemon, research is the foundation of everything we do. Why? Because the best communications strategies start with evidence, not assumptions.
We need to understand where you are before recommending where to go. When we begin working with new clients, we kick off our engagement with a thorough, tailored communications assessment. When we say thorough, we mean thorough.
We examine your online presence (both your own channels and where you’re mentioned elsewhere), competitive landscape, audiences, messaging and voice, media coverage, leadership communications, and team capabilities. We go through any metrics we find along the way with a fine-tooth comb. And we look at the connections between these areas to understand not just what's working or where gaps exist, but why they matter and where the greatest opportunities lie.
FINDING THE TRUTH
If you printed our assessment findings, they would land on your desk with an actual thud. Thoughtful and thorough assessments should give you all of the context, clarity, and direction to make informed decisions and move forward. (It’s a lot, we know, but we always include a TL;DR at the top with short- and long-term recommendations!)
They also should highlight weaknesses in your organization that can be challenging to hear. Sometimes we have to deliver bad news and tell clients that the messaging that they love internally isn’t resonating with external audiences. Or that their executive leader needs to be less involved with the day-to-day content production or more involved in thought leadership on LinkedIn. It’s not necessarily a fun message to deliver, but it’s an important one.
When you have all the information, you can make the informed decisions that are best for your organization, like what additional support you need or how to tweak your messaging to better resonate. We’re here to help you do that.
WHY IS THIS IMPORTANT?
For a communications professional who is already overworked, this might feel like something you don’t have time for. Our argument is that using data-informed approaches usually saves you time in the long run.
Imagine creating 10 long-form YouTube videos for an awareness-building campaign, only to look back at analytics and find out that your audience is more engaged in short-form videos on Instagram than on YouTube across the board. You could have saved yourself hours of time by creating shorter, snappier videos instead of deep-dives if you had spent one in the analytics.
For most of our new clients, reviewing their analytics regularly tends to fall to the bottom of their lists. They might have some old reports or a well-meaning template, but often they tel us, “We just haven’t looked at this in a while.” We get it; when you’re so busy creating content for today or planning for next month, reviewing what happened in the past doesn’t seem so urgent.
Looking at what works and what doesn’t enables organizations to build on successes to replicate them, and avoid making the same mistakes again. Without this information, you’re going into brainstorms or planning sessions with no foundation. The information is there: you just have to look.