PBL6

Communication Plan.

Problem: What does a communication plan involve?

Communication planning is the art and science of reaching target audiences using marketing communication channels such as advertising, public relations, experiences or direct mail for example. It is concerned with deciding who to target, when, with what message and how.

In execution, the communication plan serves as a guide to the communication and sponsorship efforts throughout the duration of the project. It is a living and working document and is updated periodically as audience needs change. It explains how to convey the right message, from the right communicator, to the right audience, through the right channel, at the right time. It addresses the six basic elements of communications: communicator, message, communication channel, feedback mechanism, receiver/audience, and time frame.

A communication plan includes:

• “Who” - the target audiences
• “What” – the key messages that are trying to be articulated
• “When” – timing, it will specify the appropriate time of delivery for each message
• “Why” – the desired outcomes
• “How” - the communication vehicle (how the message will be delivered)
• “By whom” - the sender (determining who will deliver the information and how he or she is chosen)

A thoughtful, creative communications plan for your organization, will improve your: 

1. ability to create a strong and positive reputation for your organization —

public relations;

2. profile in the community and your ability to attract the best staff, supporters 

and volunteers — community relations;

3. relationship and reputation with the media — media relations;

4. reputation with government at all levels — government relations;

5. relationship with employees and volunteers — internal communications;

6. ability to attract and maintain strong donor support — donor relations;

7. sponsorship and funding opportunities with business — corporate relations;

8. organization’s policies and organizational direction — board-staff relations

9. outreach about programs and services you offer — constituency and client

relations.

1. What are different communication plan models?

1).

 Stage One — 

•  Organizational Goals (Defining Success) (this should be the very first area you address) 
•  Communication Objectives (Defining Success)
•  Situation Analysis: Organizational Background
•  Situation Analysis: External Environment

Stage Two 

•  Audiences (these must be determined before you move to messages)
•  Messages

Stage Three 

• Strategies (must be determined before you move to tactics)
• Tactics

Stage Four 

• Evaluation of Ideas for Strategies and Tactics
• Implementation Budget (this is helpful to do before you invest time in developing the Timing and Timeline sections, in case you identify certain strategies and tactics require resources you don’t have access to)
•  Timing
•  Timeline

Stage Five

• Implement the Plan 
• Evaluate the Results

SECTIONS AND STEPS IN A TYPICAL COMMUNICATION PLAN

One challenge facing all of us when we’re developing communication plans is to develop 

a very clear understanding of the differences between goals, objectives, strategies and 

tactics.

Steps 1,2

It is important to discuss and set success benchmarks for both your organizational andyour communication goals. Unless organizations consider them both, and develop distinct goals and concrete objectives, the two will likely remain confused, making it difficult to establish accurate success measures. 

Step 3
The “situation analysis” section of any communication plan simply refers to
understanding the context into which you will be delivering your messages. It is important to understand the landscape in which communications will take place.
Generally, a situation analysis will focus on:
· Organizational background
· Internal communications strengths and challenges
· External landscape: media, policy, public landscapes
· Allies and competitors or opponents

Step 4

listening to our audiences – learning more about 

what makes them tick, where their values are, what matters to them. In fact, Andy 

Goodman, a campaign consultant based in California, suggests that instead of describing 

“talking points” in our speeches and campaigns, we should instead think about 

“connecting points” – starting with the places our audiences are at, and only then linking 

back to our issues. Because in most cases, the audience is not us – we should set aside all 

of our preconceived notions about what messages and delivery approaches will work best 

for them. 

Identify your target audience.

Types of audiences.

Consider this: if you were to take a cross-section of ten Canadians, you might find that their views on a well-known issue vary. If you were to conduct a public opinion poll on the issue, you might find that the results show that their attitudes break down something like this: Two out of ten may be completely opposed to your group or your approach to a particular issue. Another three might be too distracted, busy or simply apathetic to involve themselves at all. Another two might be completely supportive of your perspective. Those supporters are critical – they include your volunteers, members, and other constituents, and are the most likely to publicly support your issue or implement the calls to action that you seek. Finally, another three might be persuadable – that is, they have not made a decision about where they stand, but they could be persuaded to support 

your position.
For any communication initiative seeking to reach out to new audiences or broaden its
constituencies, this last category of audiences is absolutely critical, and may be the

audience to which you allocate the most of your communication resources.  

Step 5.

Messages can also be thought of as short, simple statements repeated in all communications – web pages, brochures, speeches, news releases, and so on. In either case, here just are a few guidelines to consider. Generally speaking, effective messages are:

•  Clear and simple
•  Brief
•  Believable
•  Compelling
•  Delivered by the right messenger

Step 6-7.

Basically, strategies are the broad, creative ways you are going to achieve an objective.
Tactics are the specific activities that help you execute your strategy.

Step 8

Evaluation of Ideas for Strategies and Tactics
Evaluation is simply a way for you to measure success. It is a very important aspect
of your communication plan. It occurs at many levels and many times. Evaluating
your plan and the assumptions on which it is based allows you to get outside of the
realm of our own, highly subjective (and sometimes inaccurate) self-assessments as
an organization, and to determine what’s working (or not working) in the wider
world.

•  Evaluations of your target audiences will help you determine which groups of people or individuals you are having the greatest success engaging in your organization, so that you can refocus energy where it is generating the most success.
•  Evaluations of your messages to specific audiences will allow you to judge whether the words and images you are using to communicate with different groups of people are having the desired effect.
•  Evaluations of your strategies and tactics will likewise provide you with feedback on how well the activities and projects you have undertaken are working.

Step 9

IMPLEMENTATION BUDGET
Mapping out the costs associated with each strategy and tactic (as well as for the initial
research you may need to conduct) is a critical stage in communication planning.

Step 10

TIMING
One general maxim of communication planning is that it takes two years of consistent
messaging for a new issue or idea to really penetrate the minds of public audiences.
In the Timing section of your plan, write down all of the potentially relevant regional,
provincial and national dates and community events that you may want to consider either
hooking onto or avoiding conflict with.
TIMELINE
The Timeline is simply another big planning calendar that includes the dates you’ve
decided to perform each of your communication activities, and all of the steps that will
lead to the success of your initiatives. You can develop a timeline for each of the specific
areas of your communication plan. This is especially helpful if you expect to be
undertaking different tactics within your plan concurrently, or if different people will be
responsible for different pieces.

Steps 11-12

IMPLEMENT AND EVALUATE THE PLAN!

Ensure that somebody, one person, maintains responsibility for ensuring that your strategic communication plan is implemented.
If you developed clear, measurable benchmarks in the first stage of your planning
process, then evaluation is relatively easy – in most cases, you may be able to answer
questions about your success with simple “yes” and “no” answers. This is why setting
benchmarks is so critical.

Source:  Institute for Media, Policy and Civil Society. Hadbook: Plan the Work. URL: http://www.orgwise.ca/sites/osi.ocasi.org.stage/files/resources/Strategic%20Communications%20Planning%20-%20COCo.pdf

2).

One way to look at planning for communication is as an eight-step process.

The steps are:

1. Identify the purpose of your communication
2. Identify your audience
3. Plan and design your message (Content; Mood - emotions; Language - formal/informal, simple/complex; Channels of communication)
4. Consider your resources (money, people)
5. Plan for obstacles and emergencies
6. Strategize how you’ll connect with the media and others who can help you spread your message
7. Create an action plan
8. Decide how you’ll evaluate your plan and adjust it, based on the results of carrying it out

(5. Any number of things can happen in the course of a communication effort. Someone can forget to e-mail a press release, or forget to include a phone number or e-mail address. A crucial word on your posters or in your brochure can be misspelled, or a reporter might get important information wrong. Worse, you might have to deal with a real disaster involving the organization that has the potential to discredit everything you do.

It’s important to try to anticipate these kinds of problems, and to create a plan to deal with them. Crisis planning should be part of any communication plan, so you’ll know exactly what to do when a problem or crisis occurs.)

(6. Establishing relationships with individual media representatives and media outlets is an important part of a communication plan, as is doing the same with influential individuals and institutions in the community and/or the population you’re trying to reach. You have to make personal contacts, give the media and others reasons to want to help you, and follow through over time to sustain those relationships in order to keep communication channels open.)

Source: http://ctb.ku.edu/en/table-of-contents/participation/promoting-interest/communication-plan/main

3).

Step 1. Understand Your Objectives
Step 2.Understand Your Audiences: identify and list your different audiences.
Step 3. Now drill down into your communication objectives and clarify specific objectives for each audience.
Step 4. Plan Communication Channels
Step 5. To plan out the message for each audience, start by thinking about the broadest audience groups first.
Step 6. Monitor Effectiveness. It's good to get feedback on the communications you have planned and implemented. Ask people from different audiences how you are doing. Check they understand the messages you need them to hear.

Source: http://www.mindtools.com/CommSkll/CommunicationsPlanning.htm

4).

1. Identify your objectives.
2. Choose your target audiences.
3. Design your key messages.
4. Select your communication methods.
5. Plan for two-way communication.
6. Establish your time frame.
7. Draft a budget.
8. Implement the plan.
9. Monitor the results and look for ways to improve.

Source: http://www.crsprogramquality.org/storage/pubs/general/communication-toolbox-template-develop-a-communication-plan.pdf

Other:

http://www.cgiar.org/www-archive/www.cgiar.org/communicationstoolkit/pdf/Developing%20a%20Communication%20Plan.pdf
http://toolkit.pellinstitute.org/evaluation-guide/communicate-improve/develop-a-communications-plan/

2. How to measure and evaluate the effectiveness of a communication plan?

Step 1
Conduct regular surveys of your employees and customers to determine if you are communicating effectively. The survey should ask questions specifically related to your communication patterns. For example, ask customers, "How did you learn about our latest product or service?" Ask employees, "Do your superiors and team members clearly communicate information to you?" Have them rate their replies on a one-to-five scale.

Step 2
Post information online in blog format to better communicate with employees (intraoffice) and customers (public information). Use a website tracking service to monitor visiting patterns and see how long visitors remain on your various website pages. If you see visitors spend several minutes reading content and making positive comments, then you know your communication is effective. If they click away in a few seconds, that could mean you are not sufficiently capturing their attention and effectively delivering your message.


Step 3
Measure the progress of specific work projects to ascertain whether you and your employees are communicating effectively. If you find results are consistently at odds with your instructions or that your employees experience conflict, these are signs of possible communication problems.

Step 4

Ask your employees to repeat verbal instructions back to you to see if they fully understand. You can simply ask each employee to send you an email summarizing your assignment and how they plan to get it done. If the employees clearly and accurately reiterate your instructions, that's a sign you're communicating effectively. This will also encourage your employees to ask questions to clarify points of confusion when you're talking to them in group and one-on-one meetings.

Source: http://smallbusiness.chron.com/measure-effective-communication-3180.html

3. How are trends reflected in a communication plan?

Some advice for ensuring better communication for companies.

1. Finding the right marketing mix remains an art, not a science. Now that Integrated Marketing Communications strategies appear to be here to stay (for a while), it is important to determine just how much emphasis to place on each element since resources and budgets are still finite.

2. Communications and marketing pros are going retro and reinstituting increased number of email campaigns.For a number of years, the use of email declined, but many are rediscovering the value of direct contact and a clear call to action that is not always achieved through advertising or social media campaigns. Note to readers, email campaigns are only as good as the list you have, so create, update and maintain good databases. 

3. A clear, consistent, concise, customized content strategy is vital to success. Positioned as the foundation and building block of any successful integrated campaign, it is necessary to review and refresh key messaging on an annual basis. Dynamic content will need to be tailored to reach and engage target audiences, and timing will be equally important.

4. Social media is here to stay but continues to evolve. Avoid jumping on bandwagons. Just because competitors are doing it, does not mean it is the best use of time and resources for your client or company. Determine who your target audiences are and then identify the best channels for engagement.

5. Identify and interview candidates before you need them. For the first time in many years, demand for talent is so high that some undergrads have jobs secured before they actually graduate. There was a recent article that resulted from a poll, indicating that PR jobs would grow by 23 percent, while journalism jobs continue to decrease.  

6. Overhaul your website. SEO strategies have evolved and there are better tools for managing content strategies that keep your site fresh, relevant and engaging. A content management system or CMS-based site might cost more initially, but it will pay off in the long run. 

7. Mobility solutions continue to gain momentum. Smart phones are ubiquitous and tablets are this year’s hottest holiday gift. Digital media is here to stay so adapt and optimize your strategy accordingly.   

8. The transition from traditional print to digital collateral will continue to accelerate. While there are still a few vertical industries that still rely heavily on print collateral, most marketers recognize the value and efficiency of digital materials which can still be printed on demand when necessary.

9. Client case studies and testimonials will only increase in value for your business. While it still remains a challenge to secure permission to use client references and endorsements in sales, marketing and PR materials, it is worth the time and effort, given the value and credibility that comes with third-party validation for your client or company.

10. Internet advertising campaigns and strategies will become a more significant portion of the marketing mix.Experts predict that Internet advertising will comprise nearly 25 percent of the entire ad market by 2015.

11. If you haven’t already done so, check out the statistics on the impact visual marketing has when combined with a content strategy. Consider leveraging infographics or custom charts to summarize and reinforce your content.

12. As a marketing tool, video is here to stay… at least for a while. Given the appeal, communicators are seeking new, creative ways to integrate video into content strategies and campaigns. Consider that each month more than 1 billion unique users visit YouTube and more than 6 billion hours of video are watched there. That’s almost an hour for each person on Earth, which is up more than 50 percent from last year.   

13. For PR pros, revisit your media pitching strategies. In 2013, there were continued cuts in newsrooms while the number of total publications actually grew due to an increase in the number of digital media outlets. Basically, you have more opportunities to reach audiences more directly but you don’t have the luxury of time and interest from your media targets – make every pitch count.

14. Networking is more valuable than ever. Online tools, such as LinkedIn, allow you to efficiently and effectively determine the targets that will help you grow personally and professionally, but it still helps to have a personal touch. Reach out often and expand your sphere of influence with the movers and shakers in your business community. It’s easier than you think.
    

Source:http://www.commpro.biz/marketing/integrated-marketing/planning-success-14-top-pr-integrated-marketing-communications-trends-2014/