In research on strategic communication, approaches that focus on the organizational type "company" dominate. Additionally, there is a strong orientation towards business-related issues and problem interpretations, even in communication science-based approaches. This business orientation typically comes with a pronounced instrumental understanding of strategic communication, which almost completely disregards its social or societal context. The authors of this contribution adopt an expanded research perspective on the phenomenon of strategic communication. Strategic communication has societal relevance as an impetus for public communication and regularly touches upon - intentionally or unintentionally - the interests and action possibilities of various societal groups.