A communications plan is many things. It’s a thoughtful schedule. It’s a matrix of interdependencies. It’s a To Do List. Every good communications plan includes an objective, strategy and tactics.
Your objective must be a business objective. You’re launching a company, an idea, a product, a service. The objective is not “Let’s get 50 press mentions.” Fifty press mentions about how your CEO has three Teslas are useless. But one strong article in the most prominent trade publication can fuel your sales team for months. Also, be VERY clear about why you’re communicating. Remember, communications is a front of the funnel activity! Press mentions open doors, they do not close sales.
Your strategy is your overall approach. As in, “We’re going to rebel against traditional channels to surprise and delight our target audiences by meeting them in new ways.” Your strategy, designed with your target audience and their needs in mind, gives you the litmus test against which to judge every tactic you consider.
Your tactics are your delivery plan. This is where you define the specifics of exactly what you’re going to do and when you’re going to do it. In my mind, every tactical plan is really a calendar. Everything you do and say must reinforce and repeat everything else you do and say via all of your channels. The only way to map that out is to calendar all of it.
When you are ready to dive into planning, it’s a great time to engage a smart agency. They’ve done this before, so they’ll have great ideas on strategy and tactics (objectives are your job). They’ll be able to put that tactical plan into a clear calendar and help you execute against it.
Your business must scale, and you must scale with it. Great communicators create the change they want to see in the world. poseycorp helps innovators build powerful messages and the skill to deliver them so they can break through the noise and be heard! Click here to receive pragmatic communications advice in your inbox every month. If real time advice sounds good to you, join a poseycorp Ask Me Anything – the first Friday of every month on Zoom. Click here to register!
