You’re creating great content, but nobody reads it. You’re spending money on advertising, but there is no increase in your sales. You’re rolling your eyes at this point because you think we’re going to tell you that you have to go through another drawn-out strategising exercise, but let’s keep calm and accept that you need a communication plan, not a new business.

Communication plans are crucial for achieving success. Still unsure about the need for a plan? Here are 5 simple reasons to create a communication plan if you aren’t already won over.

Clarity

How many of you go on a road trip without looking at Google Maps (or any other map, before you get clever about it)? Communication plans are navigation tools for businesses. It defines your route, and the process to get to your destination. The clarity in your purpose allows you to choose an objective and spend time achieving it effectively. Without clarity, goals are difficult to achieve.

Defining the Audience

Have you ever been in a conversation where you’re telling a story, and there is little to no interest from the person you’re sharing all your wildest secrets with? Feels like a waste of time and effort, right? That’s what it feels like when sharing a company story with the ‘general public’ (top tip, the general public is not an audience segment) or with ‘c-level executives’. Communication plans allow you to drill down on what attributes in an audience will relate to your story and give you a way to be more effective in your message.

Use of Resources

Yes, there are goals for every project you embark on but the overarching business need is to get more bang for your buck. A strong communications plan will save you time and money. Once you understand your audience and have a solid message, you can identify the best strategies that will reach your audience. Following a plan to reach your specific audience, will give you focused areas of communicating and you won’t find yourself wanting to reinvent the wheel with every strategy you make.

Team Alignment

Before you book a plane ticket, you know where you are going. If you didn’t know where you were going, you wouldn’t book a ticket, you would be pacing in an airport because you’re about to waste money on a ticket to anywhere. Employees will pace around the office when they are unsure where they are headed (figuratively, but if you keep them out the loop too often don’t be surprised if you see them circling the coffee machine). A communications plan empowers a team to be on the same page so they can fly off.

What you can measure, you can manage

A communication plan gives you the metrics to manage, to help you focus on the important stuff. With benchmarks in place, it becomes clear where your resources are focused and what should be measured. This way, if you are going off course, you have the power to identify mid-course that you are headed for disaster and divert.  Any startup or company striving for change should have a  short feedback loop and not be afraid to throw away plans after a week.

Without that critical plan and the accompanying measurement processes, organisations, and you’ll tend to stick to tactics that aren’t working and waste money and resources.

Want to get started? Download this communication plan template and communication with a purpose.