The Ins & Outs of Corporate Communications
Graduating with a degree in Advertising and Public Relations opens the door to a wide range of career paths to explore. You could join a PR or advertising firm, or try out digital marketing, event management, publicity, and so many more avenues. It took me until junior year to finally hone in on one specialty… corporate communications.
Corporate communications covers a lot of ground. In my experience, it includes copywriting, document production, event management, social media management, speech writing, internal communications, marketing, and brand management. Long story short, it covers a lot.
What drew me to corporate communications was the idea of having one “client” whom I can pour all of my efforts into. Don’t get me wrong, this field is not for those that can’t multitask, which is normally associated with firm life. I want to use multiple different PR skills while working towards a goal for one client. And that’s what I get to do in my current Corporate Communications role at The Perrigo Company.
Be Prepared to ‘Wear Many Hats’
My supervisor often reiterates that our department can be a catch-all of sorts… one moment we are drafting a press release, and the next we are writing speaker notes for the CEO’s next town hall meeting. Our team handles it all. That’s one of the things I love about corporate communications compared to more specific specialties, we get to work on a variety of projects.
Nail Down the Company’s Voice
In this career path, a majority of your writing will not come from you, but from your company. It is important to study your brand guidelines, mission statements, and core messaging. This helps to make sure that messaging is clear and concise throughout the company. One responsibility of yours may be to proofread messaging from other departments to make sure they adhere to company standards. Regardless of the client, Grammarly is my best friend.
Know Your Audience
You will have to cater to a variety of audiences. These may include investors, employees, potential hires, consumers, and senior leadership. It is important to recognize these different publics are separate entities. Although the message you're wishing to deliver is the same, you may have to adjust how you deliver your message depending on which audience you are focusing on.
Get to Know the People Around You
The best way to speak on behalf of your employer is to get to know its people. Take the time to meet your coworkers. Get to know them, and ask how they prefer to be communicated with. This will make your job easier when you need to chase down Jennifer from Accounting for a photo release form. Take your coworker out to coffee, this is a great way to improve your relationship and also grow your professional network. You never know when those LinkedIn connections could come in handy.
Corporate communication can be an intimidating field, but for the right person, it can be an exciting challenge. I’m looking forward to entering this industry and taking everything I’ve learned in the past three and a half years and put it towards my future employer’s mission. Take a deep breath, look at problems from a different perspective and do what you’ve been training to do… be awesome!
About Payton
Payton Peltomaa is a senior studying Advertising & Public Relations. This will be her second year with GrandPR, where she previously served as an Account Executive, Design Associate, and Account Associate. This year, Payton will be taking on the role of Media Coordinator. She has experience working for the Grand Valley State University Development Office as a Communications Intern, The Meraki Agency as a Social Media Intern, and currently works for The Perrigo Company as a Corporate Communications Intern. After graduating in December, Payton hopes to stay in West Michigan and work for a company in-house.