I’m working with a non-profit that needed a marketing communications plan.  They’ve got decent visibility, a sound reputation, and a long history.  But they were facing competitive and budgetary pressures and needed to expand awareness of their offering and attract more businesses to sponsor their work.  

Here’s a snapshot of the 4 step process we went through to define a plan. It lays out in question format, how we defined goals, who we needed to communicate with, what messages we needed to transmit and how we could best distribute those messages. 

You can take this and apply it to any communications campaign or activity and use it to develop a work plan, assign responsibilities and allocate budget.

Laying out the plan

1. Define Goals

What are the desired outcomes?  Is it to create awareness?  Broaden the reach of our message?  Spur people to take action?   

2. Define Target Audience

Who do we want to reach?  Do we know what they care about?  Does their age or gender matter?  Where are they located? 

3. Create Key Messages

What do we need our audience to know?  How can we say it so that it is understandable and motivates them to do what we want them to do? 

4. Select Channels

Where is the best place to reach our audience?  Do we know where they go for information and how they consume it?  Are they mobile and tech savvy?  Are they on Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter?  Do they read blogs?  Do they watch TV or listen to the radio? Do they prefer print?  Are there events where we can engage with them? 

Learning from and refining the plan  

Evaluating what we did will complete the planning cycle.  This will help us understand the effectiveness of our campaign and if it did in fact help achieve intended goals.  This is an ongoing process so that tactics can be assessed and fine tuned to achieve desired outcomes.

What else would you add to the planning process?