Make the Most of Your Big Announcement

Real tips from the trenches to maximize your moment

"We'll just send out a press release and do a social post."

I hear this far too often. And it’s how big announcements get wasted.  

An acquisition, a leadership change, a significant expansion… these are rare windows. Your organization’s major moment is a major opportunity. 

You can expand visibility in your sector, reinforce trust with current relationships, and reopen doors with dormant ones.

Unfortunately, a lot of organizations have tunnel vision on the tools in front of them. When you’re in the middle of a major change, you’re buried in the details. Strategic communications becomes an afterthought, so much so that it's no longer strategic. 

The communications decisions you make during a major organizational moment – who you tell first, which channels you use, how you sequence it all – determine whether the news just gets out or actually moves your organization forward.

Internal audiences come first. Always.

Before anything goes public, your internal audiences need to hear from you directly. If done well, your internal announcement can turn employees and partners into advocates. 

Staff - These are your front-line advocates. You want them informed and on message. Consider a town hall, cascading the information through managers, or both. This step can be as much about morale as anything else. If staff finds out via your organization’s public social media post, you’ve created an internal trust problem you didn’t need. 

Key Clients - This is a chance for a real relationship moment. Bringing clients in on the news before it goes public shows them the relationship is not transactional. When it lands publicly, they’ll appreciate having the inside track. Don’t forget former clients and prospects too.

Board / Major Donors - If you’re a non-profit, your Board and top-level donors need to be in the loop early for the same reason as clients. Make them feel like insiders, not bystanders. 

Going Public: A Coordinated, audience-specific strategy

This is where that press release and social media post come in, as part of a broader targeted approach. But they are far from the only tools in your tool chest here. The right tactics follow from your goals and your audiences. 

Here are some options, depending on what you're trying to accomplish:

• Segmented email outreach. Clients, partners, prospects, and dormant contacts each have a different relationship with your organization. Segment by relationship type to better tailor the message and timing for each. 

• Coordinated LinkedIn content. When your leadership team and staff post in their own voices, your message travels further and lands with more credibility. Draft suggested content to make participation easy. 

• Targeted media outreach. Identify the outlets your audiences actually engage with and send them a tailored pitch. This approach consistently outperforms sending a press release en masse.

• Organization social media. A well-crafted social announcement signals the news to your broader network. It also gives your team something to share and amplify. 

• Leadership or relationship manager outreach. For important relationships, a personal note or one-on-one call from their internal contact carries more weight. It’s also a fantastic opportunity to follow-up with prospects or dormant contacts.

These are examples, not a checklist. Depending on your goals, there are more options to explore. A printed mailer to top contacts. A launch event for face-to-face relationship building. An internal ambassador program that equips your staff to spread the news authentically. 

Every situation is different. The key is to be intentional. 

This strategy in action. 

We recently led the announcement strategy for an engineering firm with a nationwide footprint that had made a significant acquisition. This was a major step in their long-term growth plan. We built the plan around a single public announcement date, working backward through every audience. 

The CEO reached staff and the board before anything went public. Segmented emails went to more than 4,000 contacts. Leadership and staff had LinkedIn posts ready. Targeted pitches went to trade and regional publications that reached their growth markets.

The results were substantial. They earned media coverage in industry publications reaching hundreds of thousands, garnering visibility and credibility with their core audience. Their announcement email open rates were well above industry benchmarks, and their social media posts generated strong engagement. 

But what they told us was even more tangible and immediate: the relationship activity. Clients were reconnecting. Dormant relationships were reopening. They even booked a new project the day of the announcement, a direct result of the targeted outreach. 

That's what a coordinated strategy does. It creates openings.

Your announcement is a strategic opportunity. Treat it like one.

The organizations that get this right step back from the tactics in front of them long enough to see the full strategic opportunity. Then they build a plan that uses the moment to advance their goals, strengthen relationships, and expand their reach. 

Make your biggest moments count, across every channel, and for every audience.