Change is the only constant. But this COVID-19 avalanche has almost put the communication channel in the disruption mode. It has become more essential than ever even for the government to speak loud and clear to attract global investment. Especially when the country is tussling between Unlock and Re-Lockdown looking at the growing coronavirus cases, clear communication between government & public and corporate houses becomes increasingly important.

When social distancing is the only resort till the vaccine is ready, many companies will keep face-to-face interaction under the carpet. Digital communication will drive the future of marketing, advertising, events and PRs, especially when work from home is gaining solid grounds. Adapting to the new communication strategies, corporate communication officers have a wider role to play. This crisis has added responsibility on communication professionals to pull various parts of a company together through effective communication. They need to tone and channelize their strategies aptly to produce positive outcomes in the time of crisis, and adapt more flexible ways of working.

However, when the operations team is on field and corporate functions operate from home, supporting business continuity and preserving trust & reputation becomes the top most priority. Communicating with virtual employees and the outside world in the most balanced approach is just like balancing the coin –every communication officer’s ultimate goal. In such critical situation, the role of PR and communication

communication strategies will become the pillars on which the entire corporate communication will be designed and hence whatever we do now retune and unlearn & relearn will decide the future of our companies.

experts become more eminent. They need to outshine in the dark clouds and tune-in their communication strategy with respect to digital as it would be the ultimate communication channel going forward. From virtual meetings, virtual product launch, to webinars, the way to interact with internal stakeholders, external stakeholders and customers has all gone digital. No wonder the digital appetite is rising amongst communication specialists driven by cloud, big data, analytics & AI.

However, as all communication will be delivered digitally, messaging will be the most sought after capability/key to connect with their customers. Such messages will have to be extremely concise and focused. Behavioral data of your target customers will help your communication specialist draft most targeted message. As the budget will further shrink, communication specialists need to put their time, energy and money in the most channelized way. But communicating digitally has its own drawbacks. Safety needs to have an extra premium to ensure their channels remain secure of any attack. Hence when moving to cloud or adapting digital channels, ensure there is no leakage.

This is just a learning phase for even the communication experts. Going forward, these communication strategies will become the pillars on which the entire corporate communication will be designed and hence whatever we do now, retune and unlearn & relearn will decide the future of our companies. So keep returning yourself and your communication strategies till it fits the bill!