Your business is growing and so are your communication needs. Do you have a plan for how you are communicating with your audience? A plan for communicating new product launches, store openings, or expanded lines of business? How are you communicating changes to your employees? Do you feel like you are reinventing the wheel every time you send an all-staff email or customer update? A communications plan is in order!
A communications plan will organize the people, messages, and tactics you need to effectively communicate with your various audiences. Here are five steps to get you started.
1. Define Your Goals and Your Team
What do you want to achieve? These goals should be specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-bound (SMART). For example, your goal might be to increase brand awareness by 20% in the next six months or to expand to a new geographical market by the end of the year.
Also, who is going to support the execution of this plan? Make sure all your players are on the same page as you build the plan.
2. Identify Your Audience
Identify your target audience. Hint: you probably have multiple audiences!
This can include your current customers, potential customers, stakeholders, employees, or investors. Each audience has different needs and ways they prefer to be communicated with.
3. Develop Your Key Messages
Develop key messages that are consistent with your brand and resonate with your target audience.
Your key messages should be clear, concise, and focused on the benefits of your product or service. Include the messaging in your plan so everyone can use and reference it.
4. Select Your Channels
Choose the communication channels that are the most effective for reaching your target audiences.
This may include social media, email, advertising, events, or your website. Consider the strengths and weaknesses of each channel and how they can best be used to achieve your goals.
5. Bring It All Together, Formalize Your Plan
Create a plan of action that outlines the specific tactics you will use to achieve your goals.
You don’t need sophisticated software to manage your plan. Use a basic shared document that allows the responsible parties to easily see deadlines and allows you to assign responsibilities to team members to ensure your plan is implemented effectively.
Monitor your progress and adjust your plan as needed to achieve your desired results.
Remember to measure the effectiveness of your communications plan regularly by tracking key performance indicators (KPIs), such as website traffic and social media engagement. Use this data to refine your plan and improve your results over time.
Andrea J. Sok
Andrea J. Sok is the Founder and CEO of Sok Influencer PR. She brings more than 15 years of experience in marketing and communications from a career that has taken her around the world seeking great stories and sharing them in new and different ways. Andrea’s foundation is in journalism- storytelling across print and broadcast media before eventually transitioning to the nonprofit sector designing national and global campaigns.
In her work at Sok Influencer PR, Andrea embraces new mediums to reach untapped audiences and deliver the most value to her clients. The media landscape has drastically changed in the last decade which is why Andrea developed the Influencer PR™ method to help small businesses, startups, and nonprofits craft their message and find the best voices and vehicles to deliver it authentically.
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