By nickjohnson - June 3rd, 2013

Over the last month, we've invited executives to vote on the agenda for the forthcoming Incite:Marketing and Incite:Communications co-located Summits.

We've done so because we want to ensure that our agenda best reflects the needs of our community. 

On the first Monday of every month, we'll release the voting results - and if necessary, we'll change our agenda to ensure it reflects the trends we're spotting. You can have your own say by voting here.

What's the overall picture for Communicators?

483 Corporate Communications executives voted this month. Here are the sessions they care about the most:

  1. From campaigns to engaging stories: Telling stories is more engaging than traditional campaigns. Shift your focus.
  2. Improving data collection = better customer understanding:  Marshal multiple data sources for better decision making.
  3. Right time, right place Communications: Talk when and where your stakeholder is listening
  4. Get friendly with the right people: Effective advocacy, and how to get influencers onside
  5. Prove your worth: Measurement to show your job makes a difference

So, what does this tell us about the state of corporate communications?

  • Storytelling is rightly the buzzword of the moment for Corporate Communicators: Ok, so it's not exactly a revolutionary term, but it is becoming more and more important. The relationship between companies and customers is changing. Through the advent of social media, the customer has more power, and the company has less. Companies can't afford to simply distribute messages. They've got to engage a customer more deeply. And the best way to engage someone? Tell them a story.
  • Measurement is ALWAYS critical: There are two sessions on measurement in the top five. It's unsurprising - it's a constant bone of contention. The communications landscape has changed radically. There are a LOT more things that one can measure. But measuring too much means you learn nothing. Second, in a time of economic challenge, companies are taking a closer look at spend, and ROI. A lot of corporate communicators tell us that it's especially hard to measure the impact of corporate communications on the bottom line. So it's unsurprising that our session investigating this topic is a popular one.
  • Increasing complexity is an accepted fact of life: Hundreds more communications platforms, new technology giving more opportunities to engage, a customer rapidly maturing in terms of social media savvy. All these factors mean that corporate communicators can't afford to rest on their laurels. The pace of change is great. And things aren't getting any simpler. Your customer can fast forward through TV ads, and are rapidly 'un-liking' brands that fill their Facebook feed with irrelevant brand messages. One of the key challenges in this new environment is ensuring you approach your customers at a time they're likely to listen to you, and in a place where they're receptive to your message. Hence our session on "right time right place communications" being so popular.

This is only the first month where we track votes, and we're only scratching the surface in terms of insights from this new data. There is far more analysis and insight to come based on what you're telling us.

We'll do our bit by pulling together data, spotting trends, and sharing statistics and analysis with us.

You can do yours by collaborating. Vote on our existing discussion sessions here. You can also suggest specific questions within each discussion here.

 

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