How can a stakeholder journey be set up in a meaningful way?

How can a stakeholder journey be set up in a meaningful way?

Author: Klaus Treichel

The stakeholder journey describes how the complex relationship between a company and its stakeholders can develop – if communication measures are planned skillfully in the digital space. The goal must be to increasingly activate the stakeholder over time as part of communication campaigns. Initially, it is about making the stakeholder aware of a position or product. But the journey continues and after “attention” come the stages of “interest”, “impact” and “connection”.

But who are the actual stakeholders in communication? It can be observed that stakeholder groups are becoming increasingly differentiated. This has to do with the fact that companies and organizations have to justify themselves to an increasingly attentive public. One important reason is the need to operate sustainably and achieve a balance between economic, ecological and social issues.

Stakeholder groups differentiate themselves from each other

At the same time, companies are being forced to become clear about their ‘purpose’ and actively communicate it, both internally and externally. The massive increase in the importance of purpose and sustainability must be reflected in the positioning of companies. And it inevitably leads to the emergence of a larger number of stakeholder groups who expect a dialog. Stakeholder groups are not only differentiating themselves, they are increasingly increasing their influence via social media, for example environmental activists.

The growing number of stakeholder groups interacts with an increasingly broad range of media: In the course of digitalization, a veritable media explosion has taken place. In addition to the rapidly increasing number of traditional online media, blogs and forums are also finding their audience – and in an increasingly diverse composition. The individual stakeholder can be reached more and more easily digitally. Stakeholders are not only recipients of messages, they sometimes also communicate themselves, they send and form a counter-channel.

All of this is good news for communications, because communications is the only function that can focus on the entire range of stakeholder groups. Marketing looks after customers, Investor Relations looks after investors, HR looks after current and future employees and Public Affairs looks after political decision-makers. Only communication has a holistic view: Starting with employees, through customers, opinion leaders in politics and society, to the general public. Companies must align their organizations – and above all their resources – in such a way that their messages are conveyed from a single source and to all stakeholder groups equally. ‘One voice’ is the domain of corporate communications. This is why communications often takes the lead role in orchestrating messages, stakeholders and channels in companies, e.g. in a newsroom.

If you don’t take just one stakeholder group seriously enough, you lose support and limit your room for maneuver. CommTech supports diverse dialog. Suddenly it is possible to reach stakeholder groups much more precisely and take their interests into account much more accurately. Ideally, the communication strategy of tomorrow will no longer be aimed at the masses, but at individuals – and with scaling, the masses will be reached after all. But with the corresponding individual impact.

Data: Fuel for the stakeholder journey

In data-driven communication, the most important thing is to generate data in a targeted and systematic way. Anyone who moves around in the digital space, who spends longer or shorter periods of time on websites, who clicks on links or even provides input or feedback, leaves data traces behind. The more data is generated along a stakeholder journey, the smoother an automated campaign will run. Each data trace is an indication of the stakeholder’s interest and follow-up actions can be derived from each of these traces.

It therefore makes sense to include a call-to-action (CTA) in every important communication measure. Reactions to this CTA enrich the reservoir of data. In fact, the systematic use of a CTA is the biggest ‘disruptive’ change in the context of data-driven communication. While PR today still largely operates at the awareness level according to its own self-image, it is the CTA that makes the stakeholder journey possible in the first place. It is a necessary link between all stages of the stakeholder journey, from awareness to interest, impact and connection as the ultimate goal of communication. It is the fuel of every stakeholder journey.

Digital tools take on the task of both transporting CTAs and recording the reactions to CTAs. They are, so to speak, the sensorium of a digital campaign. The charm of data-driven communication lies in the fact that all data is automatically collected, visualized and evaluated. Large amounts of data can be processed in real time and are available for the further interpretation of campaigns. Unfortunately – or fortunately – it is a fallacy that digital campaigns optimize themselves to a certain extent. They certainly provide an important basis for decisions, but the creativity and imagination of communication teams is still needed to analyze the data appropriately and to give a campaign the right push. A clever idea still makes the difference, while an algorithm remains the means to an end.

About the author

Klaus Treichel is the founder of Klaus Treichel Kommunikationsberatung and Interim Manager. From traditional press relations and digital communication to crisis communication and support for transformation and change processes, he covers a broad spectrum. Before founding his consultancy firm, he worked for the ABB Group in Mannheim and Zurich for more than 20 years, including as a member of the Executive Board and Head of Corporate Communications for Germany and Europe, Head of Public Affairs and Global Head of Communications for the Energy division. He has also gained consulting experience on the agency side.