There’s a phrase that comes up constantly in marketing meetings: “we need to communicate more.” More posts, more content, more presence. And it’s usually followed by an unspoken but implicit question: more of what, exactly, and for whom?
That’s where the problem lies.
Communicating more is not a strategy. It’s an activity. And the difference between the two is precisely the difference between a company that builds a clear, recognisable image in its market and one that simply generates constant noise without anything it does ever really landing.
The Most Common Confusion: Tactics Without Strategy
Most companies have communication tactics. They have an Instagram account they post to three times a week. They have a blog that gets updated when there’s time. They have a newsletter that goes out on the first Tuesday of every month. They have a LinkedIn profile that shares industry news.
What many of them don’t have is a strategy that gives all of that any meaning.
A tactic answers the question “what do we do?” A strategy answers the questions that come before it: who exactly are we talking to? What do we want that person to think, feel or do when they encounter our brand? What position do we want to occupy in their mind relative to our competitors? Which messages support that position — and which ones undermine it?
Without those answers, tactics operate in isolation. The blog says one thing, social media says another, the website says something different and the salesperson describes the company in a fourth way entirely. The result is a brand that doesn’t stand out, isn’t remembered and doesn’t build trust.
What a Communication Strategy Actually Is
A communication strategy is the map that guides every decision about what is said, to whom, when, in what tone and through which channels.
It’s not a hundred-page document that sits in a drawer. It’s a set of fundamental decisions that, once made, make the day-to-day work of communicating easier, more coherent and more effective.
Those decisions cover, at minimum, five elements.
Positioning. What place the brand wants to occupy in its audience’s mind and in relation to its competitors. It’s not about being “the best” or “the most innovative” — those are generic attributes that differentiate nobody. It’s about identifying what genuinely makes this company different and building every message around that difference.
Audience. Who exactly is being spoken to. Not “businesses in the sector” or “professionals aged 25 to 45”, but specific profiles with real needs, particular doubts and concrete moments of decision. The more precise the audience definition, the more effective the communication.
Core message. What the brand wants its audience to understand, remember and associate with it. This message doesn’t change from one channel to the next or from one season to the following — it’s the stable core around which everything else is built.
Tone and voice. How the brand speaks. Formal or approachable, technical or accessible, direct or reflective. Tone is as much a part of a brand’s identity as its logo or colours — and maintaining it consistently is equally important.
Channels and frequency. Where communication happens and at what cadence. Not every brand needs to be on every channel. The decision about which channels to invest in should be based on where the audience actually is and what kind of content makes sense on each platform — not on being there “because you have to be.”
Why Many Strategies Don’t Work (Even When They Exist)
Having a written strategy doesn’t guarantee it will work. There are two mistakes that come up repeatedly and that cancel out the value of even a well-designed strategy.
The first is a lack of consistency across channels. A communication strategy only works if every touchpoint of the brand speaks the same language: the website, social media, emails, commercial proposals, presentations, the way the team describes the company in a meeting. If each one goes its own way, the strategy exists on paper but not in reality.
The second is the disconnect between communication and business. A communication strategy that isn’t aligned with the company’s commercial objectives is an aesthetic strategy, not a functional one. Communication doesn’t exist so the brand can “have a presence” in the abstract — it exists so that the right people come to know it, trust it and eventually choose it. If that chain isn’t mapped out explicitly, it’s difficult to know whether what’s being done is working or not.
The Moment When Everything Becomes Easier
Something happens when a company has a well-defined communication strategy: suddenly, decisions that used to take time and energy become simple.
Do we post this or not? What do we say in the Instagram bio? How do we present this new service? What tone do we use in this email? All of these questions have answers in the strategy. There’s no need to invent anything from scratch each time. The criteria have already been defined — they just need to be applied.
That frees up creative energy for what actually matters: doing the work of communicating well, with consistency and with purpose.
And it has a cumulative effect that no isolated tactic has: over time, the brand becomes recognisable. The audience knows what to expect from it. Trust builds without needing to convince anyone at each individual interaction, because the work of convincing has already been done by the communication accumulated over time.
Where to Start
Defining a communication strategy doesn’t require months of work or a large budget. It requires asking the right questions — and taking the time to answer them honestly.
What makes this company genuinely different from its competitors? Who cares about that difference and why? What does that person need to know, feel and believe in order to choose us? What are we communicating right now that reinforces that — and what contradicts it?
The answers to those questions produce the map. And from the map, everything else follows.
At Fairplay we work with companies to define their communication strategy and translate it into concrete actions. If you feel your communication isn’t being as effective as it could be, let’s talk.