By reviewing your current communications and creating a plan, you can set out a roadmap to achieving your objectives, ensuring consistency in your messaging and in turn, increase the understanding between your business and its audience. In this piece, we will provide you with an insight into how to create a communications plan and the steps to take to help you achieve a streamlined communications plan, that will make your business stand out from the crowd:

One step at a time:

When people think of communications, they often think of the channels that are used to communicate, such as social media, blogs, their website. But this should only be considered once you understand your business and customers. In order to choose the correct channels, you need to decide how you want to portray your business and how your customers perceive it. Secondly, you need to consider how best to reach your customers. What platforms do they use? Would your messages be most effective using this channel or another?

Only after asking yourself these questions can you start to decide on the main messages that you want to communicate to customers. This approach enables you to create an activity plan to streamline your communications and target your audience, but it is important to understand that there is no ‘end game’ with communications. It is, as it should be, constantly evolving. Your customers are always changing their behaviour regarding how they receive communications, but the backbone of the plan should remain the same. Your communication objectives are related to your overall aims, but the way these are achieved can be altered.

Save time & money:

Without a plan, a ‘try and test it’ method of experimenting with communications is unlikely to work in the long-term. This is not to say that a plan does not allow for changes, but instead it creates a controlled and measured environment for creativity, reducing the risk of failure and in turn saving both time and money.

Consider the long game with your communications strategy and take the time to carefully craft this, before investing time and money into communication ‘quick fixes’ that may or may not succeed.

Focus on your customer:

As mentioned, a communications plan helps you understand your customers and the ways in which you can communicate with and engage them. It also helps you consider what your audience values, what they want to know and how they like to be communicated to – which can be combined with what you want to tell them. Your communications plan is your prime opportunity to think about the features of your service or product, and the benefits that the customer thinks it provides.

Stand out from the crowd:

You want to come across as unique to break through the noise? Then a plan is essential to refining your brand message and selling your offering to customers – but it must consider who you are communicating to. We live in a content saturated world and by harnessing your carefully crafted communications plan and knowing your audience, you can make your voice heard. Don’t be afraid to be as creative as possible with your plan too – this is your prime opportunity to let the ideas flow and make your business stand out from the crowd.

How can you create a communications plan for your business?

We have recently released the ‘Seven Steps to Promoting Your Business’ course, which provides you with the building blocks to create your communications plan. During this course, we concentrate on finding and refining your brand messages, in turn helping you to successfully tell the story of your business.

The course includes a downloadable workbook which will help you track your progress through the activities, and feedback will be available throughout and on your final plan. Priced at just £35, it is worth checking out if you have been considering organising your communications! Check it out here.

Should you have any questions about how Hey Me can support you with developing your communications plan or anything else, please get in touch.