La capsula Informativa: frankly… Episode 83: Integration Doesn’t Need More Budget, Just Better Strategy

The transcript below is AI-generated and may contain minor inaccuracies. Tune in to the episode audio to hear the full conversation! 

Transcript

Rachel

Hello and welcome to frankly. You’re going to hear my voice as normal. And then Dan Horn is enjoying a very sunny vacation. So I have Emily Hebert with us, who has been on before.

Emily

Hi.

Rachel

And we’re going to talk strategy.

Emily

Yeah, we’re enjoying a very snowy day in Detroit. Yeah.

Rachel

What else would I do on a snow globe day in downtown Detroit? So it is mid-December and this is a really easy time to check out. And you know, the old circle back in the new year message really comes through.

Emily

So tempting.

Rachel

So tempting. But while everybody else is circling back in the new year, we feel like this is kind of a perfect time to actually use maybe some more of your free time, hopefully as you wrap up some things at the end of the year to evaluate your strategy, how you’re approaching it, what next year looks like. What kind of prep work or groundwork can you do right now that January you doesn’t hate December you?

Emily

Yeah, I think a really good way to spend this time is some reflection.

Rachel

I like that.

Emily

So going back, like what did we like this year? What worked really well? What do we wish went a little bit differently? I think even asking like some of the bigger questions about your brand and your organization, who are we? Like, is the messaging that we’re using still resonating? Like, has something changed this year? What do we need to kind of like adjust?

Rachel

Has your industry changed? Is there new messaging you might need to cover where where it’s going or where it’s gone this year that you just didn’t have time for?

Emily

Yeah, so I think like kind of gathering some of that data, if you will, both like qualitative and just like anecdotal things that you hear from you and your team and all of that, I think that will help like lay a good foundation. Exactly. Yep. That’s exactly what I’m doing with a client right now. I feel like this is the perfect time. You maybe, you know, people are on vacation. You have that time to kind of like focus and like dig in and like take a couple of hours and like really get immersed in this one thing. So yeah, I would definitely recommend that. I think that will lay a good foundation and then you can hit the ground running in January.

Rachel

You also look like the hero in January.

Emily

Oh yeah, if everyone’s so ahead of the curve.

Rachel

Yeah, and you’ve been doing some of this.

Emily

Everyone get their ducks in a row, you said, I got it, yeah, exactly.

Rachel

And, I think one thing that you said that’s important is kind of looking at who you are, what you’re doing is your messaging there. And we don’t suggest, like, I don’t want you to reinvent the wheel, right? I really don’t think now is the time to look at your mission, vision, values and see if those align, right?

Emily

Right.

Rachel

Like, we’re not talking that kind of work. We’re talking about you had a strategy going into 2025, or maybe it was your second-half of the year strategy. And actually like evaluating it, if you haven’t had time to go back and look at, the optimizations and the metrics, spend some time deep in those and understand what it’s telling you, right? All of that data is telling you some kind of story. It’s not even that was your plan successful or not successful. I don’t think that’s necessarily it, but it is what worked. What did we double down on that worked? Because we love taking a risk. We love when we can innovate and someone that allows us to try new things because we know it’s not always going to work and that’s okay, but that’s why you did it to figure out that outcome. And does it go into next year or not?

Emily

Yes, I think that’s key and something we’ve been doing even for Franco, looking at your wins and your losses and like, okay, why did those happen? What worked well here and how can we replicate that in 2026? What didn’t we do so well this year and how will we change that to turn some of those losses into wins? I think having that, again, just reflection is huge.

Rachel

What lessons were learned from the losses? Because from some of those losses can come a lot of growth and just what do you do better next time.

Emily

All the growth. I mean, that’s 90% of the learning is in those losses.

Rachel

I think too, something you can do, and I just asked this to somebody on a new business call yesterday, we’re talking about some work we might do together next year. And I asked their C-suite that was on the phone, I said, if we implement not just the program that we’re running, but they’re trying to, you know, they have multiple vendors coming in, they’re really shaking things up. I’m glad they’re trying to do something like this. But I asked her, if 2026 ends, what does it look like for you to say this was a success?

Emily

Yes.

Rachel

We implemented this entirely new program. We brought in these new vendors. We had different goals and tactics than we’ve ever used before. But what does success look like to you? Like as the person who says like, this was a good ROI, this was a place that we invested, this was good. And her answer was very realistic. It was like, I know we’re starting at the ground and it’s going to take us six months to build that groundwork. So by the end of 26, I want to have benchmarks, right? I just want to make sure that we’ve started kind of implementing. We’ve seen initially what works and what doesn’t. And then I want to go into 27 and actually then implement this work and have those benchmarks to compare it against and actually show that growth. And I just thought that was such a good response because A, like I said, it was realistic.

Emily

Yep.

Rachel

We weren’t going to implement this program next year with all the groundwork we have to lay and have it be a raging success immediately. It’s just not going to happen. And so I think when you sit down to look at next year, I like the approach of saying, what is it that I want to achieve by the end of the year because then it allows you to break it down backwards, quarter by quarter, half year by half year, and understand what it is you need to do to get there.

Emily

And you’re starting at the highest level, right? You’re kind of laying out like a vision almost if you were thinking about strategic planning for your company, but more on the communications marketing, like department side, you’re setting a vision for the department. And then, I feel like the world of communications is changing so rapidly, just our world that we live in is changing so rapidly. So even laying out that one year strategy, It’s not as realistic anymore. We need to be more flexible in our strategies. But if you have that foundation of, okay, we know we want to achieve this is not going to change.

Rachel

And we know who we are and what we’re saying and who we’re talking to, because you’ve done that work now.

Emily

We know what our goals are. Then, we’re all smart, we know communications, we can change the tactics to kind of match what’s going on externally to align with that and still stay really focused on that bigger picture.

Rachel

Yeah.

Emily

So, I think spending… the majority of your time there and then getting, half year or first quarter, even 90 day tactics built out, that makes sense. But don’t like invest, I think, too hard in, okay, in November of 2026, we’re gonna do this. We have no idea what is the world’s gonna look like.

Rachel

What events, right? What yearly things that happen every year at the same time, whether you own the event, you attend an event, you speak at an event, whatever that might be.

Emily

If you have a big product launch or an announcement. Of course, those are going to be some cornerstones and key pillars of your strategy. But overall, I think getting too into the weeds of tactics later on into the year isn’t where I would put my focus right now.

Rachel

No, because you’re going to wear yourself out and end up redoing this three times throughout the year.

Emily

That’s how strategies die.

Rachel

From experience.

Emily

Right! And then, yeah, exactly. That’s how strategies die and just go to sit on the shelf is when they’re not applicable anymore. And so rather than investing all of that time, I think, again, doubling down on what you want to achieve, who you are, and then some of those initial tactics. And then, you know, again, in June, revisiting, okay, we’ve done this so far in 2026. We know that This is our big picture goal. This is what we want to achieve. What are the things we need to do in the second-half of the year to get there?

Rachel

And something we talk about a lot that I think is super fitting here is content maximization, right? It’s not letting one piece of content live and die somewhere. So if it’s a blog that’s written, make sure, could it be submitted as a byline before you post it as a blog? Could it be used as a LinkedIn article? Could one of your executives share something about that topic? It’s then going to go on your social channels, right? I mean, and I can go on and and on and on. It should be in a newsletter that you have internally and externally. That’s a whole other ballgame. But it’s this idea of like an integrated approach or a multi-channel doesn’t necessarily mean everywhere either.

Emily

No.

Rachel

But it means putting it in the right place with the right messaging around it. And so as you’re planning out these strategies and the deliverables, the actual things that you’re going to create, I think it’s important to understand that it’s like the right channels have the right moments. So, audience behavior is changing. Understand which audience is on which channel that you have. Your e-mail newsletter, that’s an own channel. They are captive. They are much more ingrained in who you are. You have to do less explaining for them to get the big picture versus maybe your socials, people are finding you that don’t follow you. You’ve got to give a little bit more, right? So just thinking about that. And don’t forget, the rise of these like private channels, right? So slack groups that are out there, Discord, Reddit, all these different newsletters, like there are so many tactics or, you know, levers to pull that didn’t exist even five years ago. So don’t forget those when you’re thinking about what channels things are going to go on as you’re putting these tactics together.

Emily

Yeah, I think another consideration going back to the integrated piece and why that’s going to be so important again in 2026 is We know a lot of organizations are facing like budget constraints. Absolutely. marketing and comms, we feel that heavily. We’re often first to feel that effect, which is unfortunate. But we always say that integration doesn’t require more budget. It requires better strategy.

Rachel

Wow. That’s the title right there.

Emily

Yeah, there you go. So it’s exactly that, just that planning, that creativity, how can we make the most of this content? And it does doesn’t mean, we have to make a bigger investment. It’s just using what we have, repurposing it, really like thinking all the way around things. And again, that’s not just blasting the same piece of content out on every channel, but it’s that aligning your messages and like having these cohesive campaigns and, you know, all of the things that you mentioned and really like seeing the most of your efforts through that. that integrated approach.

Rachel

Yes. That also is like we’re talking about how it’s not used at the same place in the same way. Let’s talk a little bit about kind of storytelling, because I mean, you’ll hear a lot of people in comms and marketing say that’s who we are at our core, our storytellers, right? We’re trying to take something that our company does, that a customer has done, that a client has done, and spin it in a way, right, that tells a broader story that shows an impact. So If you’ve listened to this podcast at all this year, you’ve heard a lot of discussion around people want to talk to people, not brands. So how do you humanize your brand, right? How do you humanize your storytelling approach to get your brand message across? And so I just encourage you as you’re building these strategies and thinking about your tactics or putting messaging together, keep that in mind. It can be really easy to fall into taking exactly what ChatGPT gives you when you put something in that does not sound human. It just doesn’t. That’s the nature of the platforms.

Emily

And consumers, audiences are getting really smart to that. And I think that’s…

Rachel

See right through it.

Emily

Yeah, that’s really driving this call for authenticity and human-focused storytelling. respond negatively to things that feel artificial.

Rachel

Absolutely.

Emily

And of course, the AI is going to feel artificial. So I think that messaging, again, is something that AI doesn’t do as well because it’s so incredibly nuanced. And So doubling down on that messaging, I think in the beginning of the year is a place.

Rachel

Spend the time there.

Emily

Yes, exactly. That’s where you can really have an impact. And it’s what I think brands across all industries, their audiences are calling for.

Rachel

I have had multiple people say to me recently, and I think this is like really important and a trend we’re going to see going into 26, so many brands want to build trust. They know that in order for someone to give money, give business, whatever it is for that company, their end user or their audience has to trust them, has to trust that they have their best interest in mind, that they’re not leading them down a path, right? That, you know, they’re not selling them something that isn’t good. They’re not selling them a service, a product, or whatever it is. And I’ve had in multiple industries, people say, like, we want to build trust. And how do we come across as like a trustworthy brand where people feel good about spending their money? And I just think like that it stems from in this world of brands kind of just speaking out in like a monologue versus having a dialogue with their consumers and answering the hard questions and appearing human in a world of not authentic AI content. It’s so important.

Emily

I think it goes back to like this kind of overall theme of community. People are searching for community. And I think like having that sense of community instills a lot of trust. Like if you, know, have these people that they are like you or you rely on for information and they say this product, this service, this is something you can trust. Like that’s huge. And we’ve seen that a lot in our clients and in new business recently is that kind of this like pendulum shift back to the more traditional like earned media relationships really focused in like community relations. How are you showing up in your community? How are you showing up in these smaller channels like Substack and Reddit and all of these things that are really focused on like cultivating that community and connection on like a smaller scale. So I guess don’t overlook some of those more kind of like grassroots efforts in 2026 too. It’s tempting to really focus in on the digital, but I think people are calling for this.

Rachel

Well, in using your digital to amplify those things, people can find those communities, I think is a really good use of them too, right? Instead of tooting your own horn about the community that you’ve started and built.

Emily

And yes, it’s that third party credibility instead of you saying, trust us. Hey, you can trust us. We promise.

Rachel

Yeah. You lose authenticity very fast. And authenticity isn’t an option anymore. It’s A non-negotiable. I mean, that is, you’re going to run into situations. There’s going to be crisis communications where you do have to, you know, watch what you’re saying or whatever it is. There’s always going to be a time and place for that. But in your day-to-day evergreen communications work, really, really focus on aligning your brand voice with your message, with being authentic. That’s a word that’s hard to say repeatedly.

Emily

It is.

Rachel

It just, it’s incredibly necessary as like the first layer of building that trust, I think building that trust.

Emily

And I think everything we’ve talked about really ties back into like knowing your why, what is your mission, why does your organization or brand exist, what are you trying to do? And we as communicators might not always be like determining that, might come from the C-suite, but we are the stewards of that mission. So having that really crystal-clear understanding is so critical for all of the, you know, things we just talked about.

Rachel

I want to wrap us with this one thought too, and I think you’ll latch onto this, but this idea of we’re talking about a brand being authentic to their external audiences, but do not forget your internal audiences, your employees who also are a steward of that mission, right? So we do it in a very structured way. There’s a strategy behind it, but they are broadcasting the truth about culture and people don’t, again, back to trust and authenticity, people don’t want to work with companies or buy from companies when they know they’re not treating their employees well or things are tumultuous inside the company and that can be broadcasted in two seconds within the world that we live in now. So there is transparency internally that’s needed to make sure your external reputation stays intact.

Emily

Yeah. Strong, and reliable internal communications is a critical business investment. Like it impacts your ROI 100%. Like you said, your internal team are your ambassadors. They’re often the people interacting with your customers or end users on a day-to-day basis.

Rachel

Every day, yeah.

Emily

So they need to be able to A, carry out your message and B, and feel inspired to represent the organization and feel connected to it. And that comes from like really consistent and authentic and just like trustworthy communication. So yeah, it’s, I think it’s something you see passed over frequently because there might not be like a direct tie to, you know, revenue or ROI, but it comes back around and it’s really.

Rachel

I just delivered an internal communications strategy for a rebrand that a company is doing. And it was just as much work, if not more, than the external.

Emily
Yeah.

Rachel

We know how to do integrated communications externally. How you though prepare your team internally and not even to receive, like you’re preparing your executives to give that message, but you’re then preparing for how it will be received and trying to meet in the middle and get ahead of those questions or things they’ll want to know. It’s such a fun challenge, I think, and it has to be done correctly in the right timing. And it That company invested in that, and I loved to see that. We spent so much time on that, and then we also executed the materials to give to them. And so when you are doing something like that, it can be so exciting if you’re an executive or comms and marketing person that you worked on that rebrand. You were in every meeting. You had a say at the table. You forget that they’ve never seen, you told them we’re going to rebrand, but they haven’t been a part of the data, the conversations, working with the vendor that’s doing the work.

Emily

What does this mean for me? That is always the number one question we start internal, any internal communications with. That’s what any employee listening is going to be wondering. And then you’re the most loyal, dedicated to the organization, invested in the organization. It’s just human nature. What does this mean for me? How does this impact me?

Rachel

And then how do you arm them with the tools to keep carry out that message. Because then what it means to them, if they can buy into that, great. And then arming them with like, what does it mean for their customers or clients or the people they’re talking to day-to-day? That’s imperative. They need, that’s the bare minimum of what they need to be informed of. So just keep that in mind too, is your employees and your internal staff and your vendors are a very, very, very, very important audience. that when you are planning for next year and all of the exciting things you’re gonna talk about externally, that there’s a plan to give people that kind of inside scoop internally too and make them feel a part of those.

Emily

Don’t forget them. I love that you ended on that note. We love internal comms.

Rachel

We love it. I just think more people, there’s, we don’t see as much, as many people coming to us with internal comms as they should. I mean, how many times do we get in to work with a company and we’re like, whoa, can we start internally? Like, I know that that’s not what you came to us for, but we’re telling you that’s what you need.

Emily

And we’ve seen so many times, I mean, it is so much harder to backtrack. And like, once a message is out there, you really can’t take it away. So delivering that message one time and delivering it right, and so that it resonates and there’s really strong, clear understanding, it’s so important and imperative.

Rachel

All right, everybody enjoy your holiday season.

Emily

Happy holidays.

Rachel

Happy holidays from us to you. Get your strategies in order. I’m working between the holidays. It’s going to be quiet. I can’t wait to kind of focus in on some of these things and just get prepped for the new year ahead. So if you do, let us know and we will talk to you next time.

Emily