Startup Communications: Five Keys to Establish Success

Communications for Startups: Five Keys to Establish Success by John Theriault

For startups, developing a strategic communications plan at the outset is critical to helping position the company in an industry, provide continuity of focus for employees and stakeholders, and assure investors there is a clear path for execution against the vision.

A good plan will have a tight focus on audience and messaging and will build in regular, proactive updates in a variety of formats (online, in-person, multi-media). This supports transparency and consistency of messaging to employees, stakeholders, investors, and the media which will help build support and goodwill for the company and its leadership, an invaluable asset for when things inevitably don’t always proceed as expected.

While numerous areas should be considered for any comprehensive strategy and plan, the five items below are five key elements of a company’s corporate communications efforts that will help set the organization up positively for the future.

1.     Solve for Simplicity - Provide Clear Messaging and Talking Points: Develop concise, impactful messaging communicating the startup's mission, values, and targeted outcome. The investor pitch deck and key points that came up consistently during those sessions are a basis for this. In addition, for complex industries such as life sciences and technology, the messaging needs to achieve simplicity for complex information to ensure it is accessible.

2.     Get the Basics Right - Audit the Website and Online Presence: The company’s website and online presence need to be well-designed, current, and consistent with the messaging. It should include team bios and affiliations, achievements, investor relations information, and an access point for contacting the company. Additionally, an “online newsroom” with links to a company backgrounder, past articles, social media sites, and more is helpful for journalists.

3.     Embrace the Brand - Train Leaders to Personify the Brand: The leadership team and employees need to fully understand and embrace the messaging for it to be successful. That means achieving buy-in across the start-up and using the messaging as a key element for being intentional about what the culture of the organization will become. The leadership team should consistently be reiterating the key messaging and it should be reflected in all brand assets.

4.     Expect a Crisis - Have a Crisis Communications Plan and Team: Hopefully, this is something that won’t need to be used but having a clear crisis response plan and assigned team will save a lot of time and headaches if something breaks. The plan should include an evaluation and potential response for known risks, with clear lines of authority around who will communicate and to what audiences (investors, media, etc.).

5.     Be on Target - Evaluate the Messaging and Plan’s Effectiveness: This can be done both formally and informally. Proactively asking for feedback from employees, stakeholders, investors, customers should be a consistent part of the team’s work. This could be as formal as an employee survey to assess sentiment, or as informal as taking a group of key stakeholders to lunch to have an informal discussion about how the company is being perceived.

By focusing on these elements, as part of a detailed communications strategy, approach, and execution, a startup can establish positive relationships and brand perception among a range of key audiences needed to ensure the company’s success.