Hello Fans of Plans! It seems a bit counterintuitive to be writing a blog titled ‘hot topics’. As I sit here typing, it’s minus five degrees outside – even the fish pond has frozen solid. 

Let’s take a couple of minutes to bathe in the warmth of hot topics. By that I mean topical subjects that are going on outside our organisations. How do we choose which ones are relevant to our organisation? How do we decide which ones we should be messaging or opening up communication channels on? 

What everyone’s talking about

Topics of mass conversation can vary widely across different target audiences – from the latest TikTok fad to the serious news headlines. Companies need to be in-tune with what is affecting their customers and employees, be that positive or negative. We need to be able to react and adapt to keep current and quell any concerns or jump on any engagement opportunities.

How to stay on top of topics

Here are a few tips on how to stay on top of the hot topics:

• Know your audiences – from whom you employ to who your product is aimed at, it’s a great idea to undertake stakeholder mapping. There are many online tools you can use to do this. Think about your stakeholder’s preferred news channels and what their influences are. 

• Listen – generally, people’s favourite topics of conversation is themselves. So listen to what they say when you ask them a question. This way you won’t be assuming their hot topics, you’ll know them.

• Meetings – involve your colleagues in the hot topics, ask them what is currently big in their area of the business, be that hot topics in health and safety, product development or even head office functions like HR. Think how these can tie into keeping up to date on key topics. 

Making hot topics relevant to your business

Think about all the different communication outlets your company has. Everything from your social media channels, to mailing lists, to your website, and of course your internal communication channels. This will also involve the best medium to communicate – you may think a short video, an infographic or a statement from the CEO is the most appropriate, it really depends on the topic. 

When you have identified a hot topic that your organisation would like to get involved with or communicate your company’s views on, then think of not only which stakeholder groups this is relevant to, but also the best way to communicate your message. 

Make your response appropriate and in keeping with your organisations tone of voice. This by no way means you can’t have fun with a more light-hearted topic. It means keeping true to your brand. You may have a slightly different tone of voice to your audiences on TikTok compared to your audience on LinkedIn, for example.

Measurement

Finally, make sure you measure the response to your hot topic communications. Has your involvement made a difference to your target audiences, or has it missed the mark. This will help you going forward by knowing what works and what needs more thought. 

I hope you have enjoyed basking in the warm glow of hot topics, for more excellent blogs by the Plantastic team and guest bloggers for Make Me A Plan, go to: https://www.makemeaplan.com/news/