Whether you’re trying to sell a product, convince someone to take advantage of your service, persuade franchisees to take action or influence your employees to change their ways, at some point you’re going to have to deliver a message. Here are some guidelines I always follow when crafting a communications plan. These are easy steps you can leverage to engage your brand with your target audience.

In the traditional world of Internal Communications, we’ve always focused on one thing - drive yearly business goals through effective executive communications. This started with memos and presentations decades ago, then we added in videos once production costs decreased. When Social Media was added to our arsenal of tools, many tried to duplicate the same thing by seeing it as another Push Communications channel. For the most part, this methodology failed. Users saw it as “one more thing to check” and many times the communications there were the same that was emailed and posted to the home page of the Internet.

If you’re trying to create a great culture at your organization, the first step is always to define what it is. Determine what your brand means to your customers, your community and your employees. Once you’ve figured that out, you need to talk about it - all the time. Never stop. Every interview, orientation, manager meeting, restaurant visit and pre-rush huddle, talk about it. Year after year. That’s how you build decades of a strong culture.