Last week, a founder told me her company wasn’t ready for communications. “We need more to talk about first.”
Her team was thinking about communications as announcements and headlines. Press releases. Media coverage. Big milestones. But some of the most important communications work happens long before any of that.
It’s a lot like training for a marathon.
When a runner crosses the finish line, the crowd is cheering. Friends and family are holding colorful handmade signs. People are celebrating a milestone that took months, sometimes years, to achieve. But those supporters didn’t appear at the finish line by accident. They knew there was a race. They understood the goal. They followed the journey, and they showed up for the big moment.
The same is true for corporate communications.
The announcements that matter most, a major partnership, clinical data, regulatory progress or a financing round, are only as powerful as the audience that’s prepared to receive them. If investors, partners, clinicians, patients and reporters haven’t been brought along on the journey, even groundbreaking news can land without the impact it deserves.
Before people can appreciate a solution, they need to understand the problem. Before they become advocates, they need context. That education takes time.
You don’t need a steady stream of partnership announcements or product launches to engage your audience. Start by helping people understand the problem you’re working to solve. The gaps in today’s standard of care. The questions patients, clinicians and investors still need answered.
That’s why early communications isn’t about generating headlines. It’s about laying the groundwork for the moments that matter most. It’s aligning leadership around a clear narrative, mapping the road ahead and creating opportunities to build awareness, credibility and anticipation long before a major announcement arrives.
You don’t build an audience on announcement day. You build it mile by mile, educating and preparing people along the way, so they’re already lining the course when you arrive, ready to champion what comes next.
