5 Tips for Great Stakeholder Communication

Our last Best Practices piece made the case for communications strategies aimed at engaging, rather than managing, stakeholders.  Using communications to make transparency and responsiveness a part of your brand will foster trust and understanding essential for building productive long-term relationships.  Let’s talk about what makes for effective and transparent communications.

1. Plan, plan - when you can

Not all communication can be planned in advance.  Immediate and emerging issues – inquiries from the media and stakeholders or the introduction of unanticipated state or federal legislative or regulatory proposals – often require reactive responses.    

For the things that are known in advance, however, planning ahead limits the likelihood of missed opportunities and allows time for thoughtful development of communication strategies.  Use a timeline of key events as the foundation on which to build a communication plan.  Key events could include board meetings (if a board or commission has been established to oversee the work or study related to a state-facilitated retirement savings program), legislative hearings (if there are legislative proposals to establish or make changes to your program) or any other public events where the proposal or program will be discussed. 

2. Message and methods? Variety is the spice of life

Building variety into your communications strategy is important.  Groups or individuals you target vary in terms of their interest and knowledge.  They also vary in terms of how they receive information.

A press release is a great way to target the media with information you believe reporters might find newsworthy.  For stakeholders interested enough to seek out information on their own, however, a well-maintained website and an email listserve can be effective for sharing relevant information in greater detail than a press release allows. 

If you’re trying to target potential vendors or experts in the financial services industry to solicit responses to requests for proposals or information, consider targeting industry publications by contacting reporters or even placing announcements or advertisements if your budget allows.

And don’t forget social media.  Speak to representatives of your stakeholder groups to find out which platforms they use.  Then do some research, or hire an expert, to determine the strategies that work most effectively for various platforms. 

Twitter tends to be a good way to target reporters and others seeking newsworthy bites of information.  Short updates or links to interesting articles posted on LinkedIn will reach industry experts in your network.  For stakeholder groups active on Facebook and Instagram, stories and pictures can generate interest and inform. 

3.  The Goal - “No surprises”

Making transparency your brand means ensuring stakeholders do not feel they have missed key information or been caught off guard by not knowing something well enough in advance. 

So how do we know what to communicate to make sure there are no surprises?  The big things – e.g., upcoming legislative hearing and board meetings – are obvious.  Other things, less so.  I’ve learned the hard way that stakeholders also want to know about procurement or personnel decisions related to your program or proposal in advance. 

Get to know your stakeholders.  Have candid conversations about what is of greatest interest or concern to them and how and when they prefer to be informed.  Use that understanding as you plan your communications. 

4.  Inform, engagingly

Don’t limit yourself to thinking of communications solely as a way to provide information.  Communications can also call stakeholders to action.  Share information about how to provide written or oral testimony at a legislative hearing or a board meeting.  If there are conferences or public forums where your program or proposal will be on the agenda, and where you think the conversation could benefit from the input of stakeholders, develop messaging to encourage attendance and participation.

5.  Call out the tailor for key stakeholders

Consider special strategies for key stakeholders.  Offer to make you and your team available for meetings or briefings they convene.  Keep an eye on their calendar of events and offer to participate or provide information at their meetings or conferences.  Ask if there are opportunities to partner with their organizations and use their communication platforms to reach a wider audience than you could on your own.

The extra effort with key stakeholders will pay off in terms of creating trust and good will as well as ensuring groups with the greatest interest and influence understand your goals and understand what is required for your proposal or program to be successful.   

What’s next?

• Deftly and diplomatically “managing the message” when necessary. 

• Listening to stakeholders – creating opportunities to cultivate productive dialogue.

Stay tuned.

This piece was featured in the October 22, 2020 edition of Retirement Security Matters. For more fresh thinking on retirement savings innovation, check out the newsletter here.