Develop a comms strategy that works + a FREE template

Written By Maggie Hill

To some, communications and media seem like a dark art, but in my experience, the key to success is simple. You need a well-thought-out communications strategy, and you need to stick to it. 

I have written the below article to help you develop a simple strategy and achieve results. I have also created a FREE template that is yours when you sign up to my weekly newsletter.

At a high level, this is the formula I stick to when I want to deliver an effective communications plan. You can apply it to long term and short term problems as well as proactive and crisis communications. You are also welcome to use this approach for both internal and external communications strategies.

Figure out what you want to achieve

Before writing a communications strategy, decide on your communication goals. These are also known as communication objectives. Ensuring that you clarify these points will steer your strategy in the right direction. Try to make them specific and measurable and include information about what success looks like.

I recommend testing your objectives with key stakeholders before starting to develop your full strategy. This will ensure that everyone is on board with the direction you are taking.

Figure out who you want to reach 

This is your target audience. Take the time to map out who the people are that you want to reach with your communications strategy. 

You have the most success when you get as specific as possible at this stage. Rather than saying your audience is young people, say they are young people living in regional parts of Australia who are still at school. 

You will then have a specific person in mind when determining your channels and creating your content. Having more than one audience in your plan can work well.

Figure out where you will reach them

This section is all about your communication channels. Consider where you will you go to reach your audience. Both internal and external channels will serve as the foundation.

They could include social media or traditional media. They may also be your website or the website of another organisation. 

Think of as many channels as possible to reach your audiences. For extra impact, I suggest clarifying which channels will likely be most successful. 

Figure out what you want to say to them

In this section, you will focus on your key messages. Take the time to plan out the key things that you want your audiences to hear. Think about them in order of importance, with the most important messages at the top of the list. 

Keeping messages as simple as possible is the best way to be successful. If you think this part of your strategy is getting too long, you could just include the main key messages. Further messages could be in their own stand alone appendix.

Figure out how you will reach them

This section focusses on tactics. What actions will you take to bring all these elements together?

Making a timeline can help you organize your plans in a way that is clear for everyone involved. This should specify when to take the step and what it entails, such as issuing a press release. Remember to specify the channel to use and identify the targeted audience.

This list isn't complete, but it shows the basics every successful communication strategy should have!

You may need to pivot along the way, as some ideas perform better than others. I have written a blog post here about how you can alter your plans as you go without stakeholders losing trust in you.