By Brian R. Salisbury
Your company needs a corporate communications plan to help guarantee the success of your overall business plan. And the best time to develop a communications plan is during your annual budgeting or organizational planning process.
"Communications" includes all written, spoken and electronic interactions between you and audiences inside and outside your organization.
A plan will help you to organize and prioritize the communication tools and initiatives you use to deliver the right information to the right people at the right time. It will help you to keep your stakeholders informed and maintain their buy-in and support for your communications endeavors. It will solidify
* Your choice of communications methods, initiatives and materials
* What each communication program component must achieve
* Your choice of key audiences
* Timetables, tools and budgets
* How you measure and evaluate program results
From a communications executive's perspective, in addition to the peace of mind it brings, such a plan will help you to
* Establish priorities,
* Determine day-to-day activities
* Achieve order and control
* Gain CEO and staff support
* Protect against last-minute demands
Follow these eight steps to develop an effective corporate communications plan:
1. Define your goals and desired results.
* What is your strategic purpose with regard to corporate communications?
* What's the tie-in to your organization's business plan?
2. Conduct an audit to determine and evaluate your current communications materials and initiatives. You must determine
* What communications initiatives each department is using
* What each initiative is designed to achieve
* Each initiative's effectiveness
3. Define your overall communications objectives, such as reinforcing
* Customer service
* Customer loyalty
* Increased sales
* Employee morale and teamwork
* Employee retention and recruitment
* Media relations
* A positive corporate image and reputation
* Crisis control
4. Determine which audiences you want to influence, such as
* Current and prospective customers
* Suppliers
* Current and prospective employees
* Federal, state and local legislators
* Wall Street
* The media
5. Decide which tools you can use -- and afford -- to achieve your goals and get your points across. Your tools can include:
* Print publications
* Online communications
* Manuals
* Meeting and conference materials
* Media and public relations materials
* Marketing and sales materials
* Legal and legislative documents
* Employee and customer newsletters
* Corporate identity materials -- logos, print and packaging,
* Quarterly and annual reports
* Signage
* Presentations
* Website content
* Blogs
* Internet initiatives
6. Estimate the cost of each initiative, then establish a budget.
7. Establish your timetable.
8. Include methods in your plan that you can use to measure and evaluate results periodically, and to evaluate the program's overall results at year's end.
A written communications plan is as much a defense against chaos, confusion and wasted energy as it is a business priority.
Once in place, your plan will establish priorities, fend off last-minute and inappropriate demands and bring a semblance of order to a hectic job.
Your company needs a corporate communications plan to help guarantee the success of your overall business plan. And the best time to develop a communications plan is during your annual budgeting or organizational planning process.
"Communications" includes all written, spoken and electronic interactions between you and audiences inside and outside your organization.
A plan will help you to organize and prioritize the communication tools and initiatives you use to deliver the right information to the right people at the right time. It will help you to keep your stakeholders informed and maintain their buy-in and support for your communications endeavors. It will solidify
* Your choice of communications methods, initiatives and materials
* What each communication program component must achieve
* Your choice of key audiences
* Timetables, tools and budgets
* How you measure and evaluate program results
From a communications executive's perspective, in addition to the peace of mind it brings, such a plan will help you to
* Establish priorities,
* Determine day-to-day activities
* Achieve order and control
* Gain CEO and staff support
* Protect against last-minute demands
Follow these eight steps to develop an effective corporate communications plan:
1. Define your goals and desired results.
* What is your strategic purpose with regard to corporate communications?
* What's the tie-in to your organization's business plan?
2. Conduct an audit to determine and evaluate your current communications materials and initiatives. You must determine
* What communications initiatives each department is using
* What each initiative is designed to achieve
* Each initiative's effectiveness
3. Define your overall communications objectives, such as reinforcing
* Customer service
* Customer loyalty
* Increased sales
* Employee morale and teamwork
* Employee retention and recruitment
* Media relations
* A positive corporate image and reputation
* Crisis control
4. Determine which audiences you want to influence, such as
* Current and prospective customers
* Suppliers
* Current and prospective employees
* Federal, state and local legislators
* Wall Street
* The media
5. Decide which tools you can use -- and afford -- to achieve your goals and get your points across. Your tools can include:
* Print publications
* Online communications
* Manuals
* Meeting and conference materials
* Media and public relations materials
* Marketing and sales materials
* Legal and legislative documents
* Employee and customer newsletters
* Corporate identity materials -- logos, print and packaging,
* Quarterly and annual reports
* Signage
* Presentations
* Website content
* Blogs
* Internet initiatives
6. Estimate the cost of each initiative, then establish a budget.
7. Establish your timetable.
8. Include methods in your plan that you can use to measure and evaluate results periodically, and to evaluate the program's overall results at year's end.
A written communications plan is as much a defense against chaos, confusion and wasted energy as it is a business priority.
Once in place, your plan will establish priorities, fend off last-minute and inappropriate demands and bring a semblance of order to a hectic job.
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