Communication plan from A-Z for businesses

What is a Communication plan? What are the benefits and how to make effective Communication plan for bussinesses? Let’s find out with CleverAds.

1. What is a communication plan?

A communication plan compiles necessary and valuable information for the communication parties. A communication plan will include Objectives, audiences, messages, communication methods, communication channels, and specific plans for each item and each stage of the communication campaign.

The most significant purpose of the communication plan is to guide relevant departments to implement and implement the activities, and campaign plans to achieve the goals set by the business or agency.

A communication plan is created to ensure feasibility. Besides, marketers also need to have contingency plans to respond promptly to unexpected changes.

Ensuring work progress, preventing and minimizing the impact of interruptions, and improving and optimizing processes are the benefits of communication planning.

2. Benefits of communication planning

Clear and precise direction for businesses in marketing activities to achieve desired goals such as: increasing brand awareness, growing revenue, attracting new customers, introducing products, and promoting business.

Building a good marketing communication plan will contribute to the following:

Build brand trust
Reach the right target audience
Achieve effective ROI

3. Make an effective communication plan

4 key elements in a communication plan

Research and analysis
Marketing objectives and performance indicators (KPIs):
Communication strategy:
Implement, evaluate, and measure

How to make an effective communication plan

Step 1: Research and evaluate the overview

First, to make a communication plan, marketers need to study and evaluate the current situation of businesses and agencies.

Factors to be assessed include:

Strengths and weaknesses of the business (You can use the SWOT model to evaluate)
Budget to pay for the plan
Business position in the market, influence in the industry
Competitors
Industry impacts, social trends, and current media factors

This step helps us determine the exact situation of the business, thereby envisioning the right direction for the business.

Step 2: Determine the purpose and objectives of the communication plan

Each plan has a certain meaning. Determining the plan’s purpose and objectives helps us direct the communication direction for the business accurately. Planning to do what? To achieve what goal? With this step, businesses can use the SMART model as a standard to decide what goals to have.

Step 3: Identify the media audience

A communication plan will only effectively identify the goals the business needs to aim for. What are the needs and characteristics of that object?

Building a personalized communication plan to reach the right customers depends on each business’s products and services.

To determine the right media audience, businesses need to be able to answer the following:

Who is this media plan aimed at?
What are their behaviors and needs?
Geographical location, age, or profession?
How can they be reached?

Objects can be divided into different groups to make building directions for each object easier.

Step 4: Select the communication channel

The next thing to do in the communication plan is to choose the appropriate communication method. Businesses can use many communication channels, such as social media, newspapers, google, etc.

The channel choice will be decided by the target audience the business wants to reach and the budget that has been set before.

Step 5: Make a timeline to implement the communication plan

After researching and identifying the work to be done, the next step is to build up a specific and appropriate timetable for each work stage in the plan. Creating a timeline will optimize time and easily control the progress of tasks to be completed.

Step 6: Evaluate and summarize

A summary and evaluation should be done after each completion phase in the plan. This is to look back at the results achieved and evaluate the weaknesses and inefficiencies to draw lessons and have a more optimal plan for the next time. This will also help marketers to respond to unexpected risks promptly.

4. Marketing communication plan

Marketing communication is the best way to attract the target audience and increase brand awareness. And building an effective communication plan is the best way to achieve this.

Building a marketing communication plan is a process that goes through from identifying the target audience, tools, and communication messages to solving communication problems and communicating effectively with customers.

A good communication plan will provide the following:

Build brand trust
Reach the right target audienceWhat is the target customer? The most effective ways to identify
Achieve effective ROI

A complete marketing communication plan will include the following principal contents:

Summary of the context, the communication problem posed includes the following factors: Internal environment and external environment.
Key strategic directions: communication goals, insights, big ideas, cross-cutting messages, and key media
Creative strategy (message)
Media strategy
Detailed action plan: KPI, budget

5. Communication planning consulting company

Besides in-house marketing, businesses can still outsource Marketing from large media consulting companies to meet their communication needs when the human resources and budget of the business cannot guarantee progress and goals business expectations.

Media planning consulting companies will perform for your business activities such as:

goal building
Market analysis
Analyze potential customers
Build a plan
Come up with creative ideas
Specific implementation plan
Recommend KPIs and budgets

6. Conclusion

A communication plan is an indispensable element in the marketing of the business. Businesses can identify the primary audiences, goals, and communication plans from these communication plans, thereby building and deploying effective and skilful communication campaigns.