{"id":45280,"date":"2019-01-10T14:36:34","date_gmt":"2019-01-10T19:36:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.sogolytics.com\/blog\/?p=5095"},"modified":"2023-03-16T18:29:19","modified_gmt":"2023-03-16T22:29:19","slug":"5-key-questions-for-your-external-communication-audit","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.sogolytics.com\/blog\/5-key-questions-for-your-external-communication-audit\/","title":{"rendered":"5 Key Questions: External Communication Audit"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Once you\u2019ve <a title=\"5 Key Questions for Your Internal Communication Audit\" href=\"https:\/\/www.sogolytics.com\/blog\/5-key-questions-for-your-internal-communication-audit\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">got your own house in order<\/a>, it\u2019s time to turn from the internal to the external communication audit. Whether you\u2019re connecting with clients, prospects, partners, vendors, or any other community members, your organization is best served with a strong strategic communication plan.<\/span><\/p>\r\n<div class=\"div-spacer\">\u00a0<\/div>\r\n<h2><b>Why run an external communication audit?<\/b><\/h2>\r\n<p>If there\u2019s no method behind the madness, your audience can react in any number of ways. In the interest of space, we\u2019ll stick to three here:<\/p>\r\n<div class=\"div-minispacer\">\u00a0<\/div>\r\n<ul>\r\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><b>Confused<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">: What is this organization all about, anyway? What\u2019s with the inconsistent visual and language style, the sporadic delivery, and the uncertain purpose? I guess it\u2019s okay, because they seem to know their business, but it\u2019s a little odd.<\/span><\/li>\r\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><b>Annoyed<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">: Does this organization really have it together? Why are they wasting my time with these kinds of unfocused and irrelevant campaigns? Where\u2019s the unsubscribe? This company should just stick to what it does best, because something here isn\u2019t working.<\/span><\/li>\r\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><b><b>Critical<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">: Do other people see what\u2019s going on here? Looks like it\u2019s time to take my business elsewhere, and anyone who asks will get the full negative review!<\/span><\/b><\/li>\r\n<\/ul>\r\n<p>Point being: If your communication\u2019s getting through, it\u2019s definitely creating some kind of impression. If it\u2019s not getting through, you have a different problem entirely!<\/p>\r\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">You already know that we love <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.sogolytics.com\/create-anonymous-survey\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">the anonymous survey<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> for this purpose, but it\u2019s your project! Do what you need to do, and be sure your external communication audit covers these key items:<\/span><\/p>\r\n<div class=\"div-spacer\">\u00a0<\/div>\r\n<h2><strong>1. How satisfied are you with the communication you receive from X?<\/strong><\/h2>\r\n<p>If you can only ask one question &#8212; maybe you just really <a href=\"https:\/\/www.sogolytics.com\/make-online-poll\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">love your poll tool<\/a>! &#8212; this is the one. You can keep it broad with a single satisfaction rating scale, but you\u2019ll gather more insight if you drill down a bit. Elements like frequency, channel, content, and style can all be incorporated here.<\/p>\r\n<div class=\"div-spacer\">\u00a0<\/div>\r\n<h2><strong>2. How effective is the communication you receive from X?<\/strong><\/h2>\r\n<p>What makes effective communication? Clear content, consistent and appropriate visual and language choices, an identifiable purpose, and perhaps a focused CTA or two. Again, this could be a single rating scale, or you could break down the parts. Perhaps a Symbol Rating Scale?<\/p>\r\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-5102\" src=\"https:\/\/www.sogolytics.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/symbol.png\" alt=\"symbol\" width=\"800\" height=\"283\" \/><\/p>\r\n<p>This drifts into the next question a bit, but another option here would be to ask how timely the communication is. Maybe your participants don\u2019t typically open the offers you\u2019re sending until they\u2019ve expired, and that\u2019s no good for anyone.<\/p>\r\n<div class=\"div-spacer\">\u00a0<\/div>\r\n<h2><strong>3. How useful is the communication you receive?<\/strong><\/h2>\r\n<p>Good communication is beneficial to everyone involved. Sure, you want to get a message across, but what is your audience getting out of it? If the communication isn\u2019t useful, your audience may shrug off future communication as irrelevant or time-wasting. Depending on your industry, you might choose to ask whether content is relevant to a recipient\u2019s work, life, or interests.<\/p>\r\n<p>A variation on this question might be to ask how \u201csmart\u201d the communication seems to be. Does the recipient perceive messages as curated and customized, a randomly scattered assortment, or somewhere in between?<\/p>\r\n<div class=\"div-spacer\">\u00a0<\/div>\r\n<h2><strong>4. What kind of content would you prefer to receive, and how frequently?<\/strong><\/h2>\r\n<p>Honesty might be a bit scary, but it&#8217;s pretty useful. Think about the kinds of unsubscribe options you see whenever you\u2019ve finally given up hope of receiving something useful. Very often, companies want to be realllly sure you know what you\u2019re missing: special offers, monthly newsletters, product or service updates, trend alerts, webinar invitations\u2026 Sometimes you can pick and choose what you want, as well as how frequently you\u2019d like to hear from the organization. Of course, sometimes, it\u2019s simply all or nothing&#8230;<\/p>\r\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter wp-image-5096 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/www.sogolytics.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/simple-unsubscribe.png\" alt=\"Simple external communication audit tool ;)\" width=\"599\" height=\"297\" \/><\/p>\r\n<div class=\"div-spacer\">\u00a0<\/div>\r\n<h2><strong>5. Based on the communication you receive from X, what\u2019s your perception of this organization?<\/strong><\/h2>\r\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">This is a pretty big question, and it could be the segue to a whole brand identity study, <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.sogolytics.com\/survey-templates\/market-research\/brand-awareness-survey\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">brand awareness survey<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, or stakeholder perception survey. If you\u2019re trying to keep it simple, though, you might just ask for a few words (word cloud, anyone?), or present a series of options that participants can choose from. If you do offer a series of options, be sure to set answer constraints and leave an \u2018other\u2019 option &#8212; that is, unless, you already know what everyone\u2019s thinking. \ud83d\ude09<\/span><\/p>\r\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Okay, one more bonus question:<\/span><\/p>\r\n<div class=\"div-spacer\">\u00a0<\/div>\r\n<h2><b>Are you the right person to receive this communication?<\/b><\/h2>\r\n<p>Very often, databases are filled with the contact information of someone in charge of billing or even shipping. If your recipient isn\u2019t actually your end user or intended audience, your messages have a much lower chance of being seen, let alone being appreciated.<\/p>\r\n<p>Ready to get started with your own <a title=\"5 Key Questions for Your Internal Communication Audit\" href=\"https:\/\/www.sogolytics.com\/blog\/5-key-questions-for-your-internal-communication-audit\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">internal<\/a> or external communication audit? <a class=\"lct_radbtn\">Let&#8217;s connect!<\/a><\/p>\r\n\r\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\r\n\r\n<div class=\"div-minispacer\">\u00a0<\/div>\r\n<div class=\"div-minispacer\">\u00a0<\/div>\r\n<div class=\"schedule-demo-container\">\r\n<p>Ready to get started? Learn more about Sogolytics today!<\/p>\r\n<a class=\"green-button green-button-demo\">Schedule a Demo<\/a><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Once you\u2019ve got your own house in order, it\u2019s time to turn from the internal to the external communication audit. Whether you\u2019re connecting with clients, prospects, partners, vendors, or any other community members, your organization is best served with a strong strategic communication plan. \u00a0 Why run an external communication audit? If there\u2019s no method behind the madness, your audience can react in any number of ways. In the interest of space, we\u2019ll stick to three here: \u00a0 Confused: What is this organization all about, anyway? What\u2019s with the inconsistent visual and language style, the sporadic delivery, and the uncertain purpose? I guess it\u2019s okay, because they seem to know their business, but it\u2019s a little odd. Annoyed: Does this organization really have it together? Why are they wasting my time with these kinds of unfocused and irrelevant campaigns? Where\u2019s the unsubscribe? This company should just stick to what it does best, because something here isn\u2019t working. Critical: Do other people see what\u2019s going on here? Looks like it\u2019s time to take my business elsewhere, and anyone who asks will get the full negative review! Point being: If your communication\u2019s getting through, it\u2019s definitely creating some kind of impression. If it\u2019s not getting through, you have a different problem entirely! You already know that we love the anonymous survey for this purpose, but it\u2019s your project! Do what you need to do, and be sure your external communication audit covers these key items: \u00a0 1. How satisfied are you with [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":15,"featured_media":5070,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[204,6],"tags":[220,232,176,60,62],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v19.7.1 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>5 Key Questions: External Communication Audit - Sogolytics Blog<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"An external communication audit delivers data to improve your strategy, drive engagement, and give the people what they want. Start here!\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.sogolytics.com\/blog\/5-key-questions-for-your-external-communication-audit\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"5 Key Questions: External Communication Audit - Sogolytics Blog\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"An external communication audit delivers data to improve your strategy, drive engagement, and give the people what they want. 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