We tend to attribute the success of well-known companies to the popularity of their products or the business acumen of their CEOs. However, their corporate communications strategy is just as crucial to their success. After all, the best product in the world would not sell well if nobody knew about it.
How a company communicates both externally to consumers and internally to its workforce significantly influences its prosperity. If you enjoy enlightening others, thinking on your feet and problem-solving, a career in corporate communications is worth exploring. Southeastern Oklahoma State University’s online Master of Business Administration (MBA) with a Concentration in Strategic Communication program provides you with the skills and expertise to excel in this fascinating field.
What Does a Corporate Communications Professional Do?
As a corporate communications professional, you will strive to influence how the public, investors and company personnel perceive and relate to an organization. A skilled corporate communications professional understands not only a company’s consumers but also its workforce. The following are some of the main functions of a corporate communications department:
- Developing an overarching communication strategy
- Prepping executives for media interviews
- Preparing media releases
- Disseminating relevant information to investors and staff
- Overseeing a company’s intranet, internal memos and blogs
Crisis communication is another demanding facet of the job. When a company’s reputation is at stake or a public safety issue arises, it’s up to the communications department to manage the situation via carefully crafted, truthful and timely messaging.
Branding, Social Media and Corporate Communications
In recent years, a communications expert’s job has evolved to include managing an organization’s public persona and brand. Consumers are speaking up on social media, so corporations can’t remain the silent, faceless entities of days past. As branding becomes a crucial component of marketing and public relations, organizations must develop identities and voices. This involves engaging consumers responsively and proactively throughout social media and other digital channels.
Whatever your specific tasks may be, as a corporate communications expert, you’ll have a major impact on a business’s reputation. Through enhancing this reputation and customer engagement, you can have an outsized impact on overall profitability.
The Future of Corporate Communications: Salary and Advancement Opportunities
Corporate communications executives are gaining more influence. Chief communications officers (CCOs) now occupy a prominent leadership role within many organizations.
Not only is the field of corporate communications gaining in prestige and power, it also offers remunerative career choices. ZipRecruiter reports that the average annual salary of corporate communications specialists is $78,697, as of December 2025. With experience and an MBA in strategic communications, you can pursue top-level jobs that offer more lucrative compensation. For instance, chief executives like CCOs made a median annual salary of $206,420 in 2024, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS).
Corporate Communications Degree Options
While the scope of a communication strategist’s job is impressive, it also warrants performing at one’s peak. Few graduate education options can help you prepare for the competitive job market better than an MBA degree. The right MBA can help you hone the soft and hard skills you need to excel in modern business.
Southeastern’s specialized MBA in Strategic Communications can further develop the targeted expertise you need to succeed in corporate communications. Core MBA coursework provides you with a firm foundation in financial management, accounting, data analysis, research methods, marketing and strategic management. Concentration courses offer you the opportunity to explore strategic communication topics in depth.
For example, in the course Strategic Communication, you’ll learn how to plan, execute and evaluate a strategic communication campaign aligned with an organization’s mission and strategic initiatives. The course Effective Crisis Communication covers approaches and best practices in planning, creation and deployment of risk and crisis communication.
Achieve Your Career Goals With an Online MBA
An added benefit of Southeastern’s strategic communication MBA program is that it’s available 100% online. If you are a working professional or have other challenging time obligations, you can use the flexibility online education offers to manage your studies however best fits your schedule.
The field of corporate communications offers exciting opportunities and lucrative job prospects. With the right education, you can hone your communication, social media and crisis management skills to prepare yourself for leadership roles in the field.
Learn more about the Southeastern Oklahoma State University online MBA with a Concentration in Strategic Communication program.