Communication plan: concept and relevance

Nowadays, it is essential that communication is made through the right channel, at the right time and to the right audience. Thus, it is imperative to develop a communication plan that contributes to the achievement of your company’s goals.

What is communication?

In simple terms, communication is the act of transmitting ideas and information. In the business context, for communication to be effective, it must be in accordance with the company’s values and goals and it’s language and content must be adjusted to the target audience.

What does it consist of and the importance of a communication plan?

A communication plan is a guide that guarantees the coherence and uniformization of the communication on all channels. In general, it is formulated only after the marketing strategy plan is designed and, as its name implies, it is a plan of actions that assures that the message we intend to convey is clear and perceivable by all the receptors over time. This results in a greater proximity between the company and it’s stakeholders. In this regard, the communication plan is particularly important as it ensures the transmission of the message in an efficient, effective and long lasting way, enabling the company to improve time management and contributing to building long-term trust based relationships as well as assisting on increasing the company’s visibility.

8 simple steps to develop an effective communication plan:

1. Context analysis?

The internal and external environments in which the business operates should be analysed as it makes it easier to formulate an adequate plan.

2. Setting goals

Setting-up the communication goals that the company intends to achieve, meaning the purpose of the message.

3. Identifying the target audience ?

The target audience which the company intends to get the message to should be defined in this step.

4. Designing the message ?

The company should delineate what’s the message it wants to get across and how it intends to do it.

5. Channel selection ?

Taking into account the target audience previously defined, now it’s time to choose the adequate channels to effectively get the message across.

6. Resource analysis ⚖️

It’s important that the company analyses and lists what are the resources it needs in order to put the communication plan into action.

7. Action plan

For each defined goal, one or more scheduled actions – that will allow the company to achieve those goals – have to be set.

8. Measuring results

In order to measure the effectiveness of the communication plan it is necessary to set evaluation parameters in advance and compare them to the obtained results. When necessary, adjustments or improvements should be made.

At last, we can conclude that communicating is no longer enough, it is now mandatory to know the right way to do so in order to achieve the company’s goals. It is of no use to the company having a good product and/or service if it does not know how to communicate them in an efficient way, this is why it is crucial to formulate a communication plan.

Do you want to formulate a communication plan but are unsure of how to do it? Do you need help communicating your products?

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