Examples of Strategic Communication

This article comes from my master's course, Writing for Strategic Communication, at American University. The objective of the assignment was to give a solid example of strategic communication and how it was affective. The example I chose was AU's own advertisement for their master's program.

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In my search for a strategic communications program, the first thing that caught my attention on Google was American University's online graduate program. This happened because it was literally the first thing that I saw when I typed in my query.  AU had ownership over the words strategic communication, which shows that not only did they practice what they preached, but they had invested money into the program.

The next thing that impressed me was the website's layout (UX/UI). Right away, when I clicked on the website, I saw the information I was searching for clearly laid out and explained. Available were also relevant tabs and links, such as the cost of the program, concentrations, essential dates, and application procedures. The ease of finding this information made it feel easy to absorb, and therefore, it made me more comfortable with the idea. To add to the marketing strength, I also saw banner ads for AU when I was looking at other programs.

When it came to the other programs, they seemed lacking in marketing prowess. One of the schools, Saddleback College, has a certificate of completion for digital marketing, but it was difficult to tell which school your desired field fell under. Once I did find the course description, there was limited information on what my experience would be like. For a course whose objective is understanding marketing and messaging, it certainly didn't feel like they took it very seriously.