Writing a strategic communications plan DIY kit

Offered by

Clean.ns.ca

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Communications plan guide/templateWe believe it’s critical for non-profit organizations, social enterprises, municipalities, and other civil society organizations to communicate strategically to their key audiences.

Why is it so important to communicate strategically?

1. Most social sector entities have limited resources — both in time and money. A strategic communications plan will help your group focus those resources on the most important tasks and set priorities. Without a plan, groups run the risk of reacting to external events in a knee-jerk manner, wasting valuable communication opportunities and getting pulled “off-mission” in the process.

2. A good plan imposes discipline and clear thinking that will help you clarify your objectives and target audiences, sharpen your message and help you better understand the environment in which you will be delivering that message.

3. Strategic communications planning will help your organization integrate all of its communications work on a particular issue, including not only media activities, but social media, government relations, grassroots organizing, fundraising, and communications with members.

4. A good plan will help ensure that everyone in your organization is on the same page when they communicate with the rest of the world.

But we know that not all groups have the resources and capacity to create a strategic communications plan. That’s why Clean is offering this Strategic Communications Template to help you create a communications plan.

There are 10 sections to fill out, and we’ve included questions and tools to help you think through the information you need for an effective, impactful plan.Use the questions to help put your thoughts down on paper, then delete those guide notes and you’ll be left with a draft plan.

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1. Organizational Goals Any communications strategy should closely reflect your overall organizational plan. In this introductory section of your communications plan you should look at your organization/agency/department’s overall vision and core goals. In the next sections you will suggest how communications can help deliver these goals.

It is assumed here that your organization has undertaken a strategic planning process at some point in its recent history. It’s important to differentiate outputs vs. outcomes too. For example, media coverage, in and of itself, is not an organizational or campaign goal or objective. Communications work of any kind is the means, not the end.

Here are some questions to ask:

What is your organization’s ultimate goal? How do you want your organization to be perceived? How do you want your issues and/or programs to be perceived? There’s a lot of information and confusion out there – can your organization offer meaning

and clarity?

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2. Situation AnalysisYou need to place your organization in a context – political, economic, cultural, social and environmental. That is, what is the environment into which you will deliver your messages and tell your stories?

Some questions to ask when putting your organization in context:

What is the current local or national perception of your organization, project or issue?o Radical or mainstream?o Credible?

What do you want people to think when they hear your name? Has there been a history of media stories on your group or the issue? Who are your allies? Who are your opponents?

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The following two tools can be used to help analyze your organization’s current situation:4

PEST Analysis

The P.E.S.T. worksheet helps you list the Political, Economic, Social and Technological factors that could affect your organization’s work. These could be positive or negative factors and should include issues that are likely to have an impact on how your organization operates. You should indicate why each factor will have an effect.

POLITICAL ECONOMIC SOCIAL TECHNOLOGICAL

SWOT Analysis5

The S.W.O.T. Analysis worksheet involves listing your organization’s strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats. Think about what this means in terms of your communications priorities. How can threats be turned into opportunities, how can you play on your strengths through effective communications?

STRENGTHS WEAKNESSESS OPPORTUNITIES THREATS

Because we believe that understanding the context you are in is so important, here are more questions you could ask while doing a situation analysis:

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Situation Analysis: ORGANIZATIONAL BACKGROUND

The history of your organization/municipal dept. & the history/facts about the issue you are addressing

Why is it an important issue? (include statistics if possible) The services your organization provides to the community The people who benefit from your services (think broadly – not just direct clients but whole

communities…) Your mission statement/vision mandate, answering what function you perform, for whom,

how and why you do all this. In some cases this may be very similar to the services you provide.

Your organization’s role in your service area/field Where do you fit compared to other services in your market?

Performance indicators How many clients do you serve? What policies have you helped change?

Competition analysis (agree that competition may not be the best word in the non-profit sector)

Who delivers similar services? How are you different? How are you better? (Are you?)

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Situation Analysis: EXTERNAL OR PUBLIC ENVIRONMENT

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those who may be opposed to your messages, and to have a good sense of the communications environment in which you will be delivering your message. Consider these questions:

What is the current local/national perception of your organization, program and/or issues? (Remember, perception and reality could be different)

o Are you widely seen as “grassroots”?o As a well-funded advocacy group?o As a statesmanlike or “think-tank” organization?o As credible?o As radical, or mainstream?

How do you want to be positioned? Has there been a history of media or online stories on you or your work?

o Letters to the editor?o Talk radio interviews?o Feature stories? Blogs?

How has your organization been positioned within the media to date? Have any special studies or surveys been carried out affecting your issue area? Is more research required to understand attitudes and public opinion towards your issue? Has the issue generated local debate, questions from media or questions in the Legislature?

o In other words, is it on the public’s “radar screen” or would most people consider it to be “new”?

Has there been any significant lobbying of your organization, in person or through correspondence?

Who are your allies? Who publicly supports your position? Do you have opponents?

o What are their messages?o What effect are these messages having on your organization or work?

What are your opponents’ strengths and weaknesses?

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3. Past communications activitiesThis section looks at your organization’s communications strengths – what has been

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successful and what hasn’t worked well over the last five years or so? What have been the results? Do you have data to back this up? What are the communications assets you bring to the table?

Did you evaluate past communications activities? Include your findings here.

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4. Communication ObjectivesThis section should give an overall sense of the principles of communications that underpin the strategy. What are the specific communications objectives that will help achieve your

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organizational or campaign goals?

It is important that your communications objectives should be seen to contribute to the achievement of the overall objectives of the organization. In this way they will be recognized not as an “add-on,” but something as fundamental as operational or policy objectives to achieving the organization’s overall mission.

A plan states your Organizational GOALS, each of which are supported by Communications OBJECTIVES. STRATEGIES are determined to ensure you achieve these objectives. Finally, many TACTICS & TOOLS will be developed to meet those strategies and fulfill your objectives.

In essence this section answers why you are mounting a communications campaign. What are you trying to achieve, and how do they relate to overall goals?

What are your communications objectives? How do they support the organizational goals? What is your “call to action”? How will you measure success? What will your benchmarks be?

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5. Target AudiencesYou need to have a deep understanding of your own goals and messages, but also you need to be in tune with those whom you’re trying to reach. You have to identify your key stakeholders. You should give a detailed description of your main audiences – both external and internal.

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These might include different segments of the public, politicians, service users and staff. You might also refer to potential audiences that your organization is keen to connect with.

Identify the key publics upon whom attaining the organization's goals and objectives depends.

Identify and analyze the attitudes and predispositions of your organization's various key publics. This may be an informal process or entail formal research (surveys, focus groups, etc.).

Your audience can be roughly broken into two equally important spokes: internal stakeholders who need to be involved with your communications program, and those who you are trying to reach externally to help grow your organization and meet its goals.

Here are some questions to ask when thinking about audiences:

Who supports your work? Who is critical of your work? (These folks may be talking to your key audiences as well.

Know what they are saying and be prepared to respond.) How has different media outlets represented your issue? (Remember, media are an

audience)o Know who the sympathetic reporters are by name. Know when their articles/

blogs/ columns/ shows run. Follow them.o Know who the oppositional reporters are by name. Know when their articles/

columns/ shows run. Follow them, too. Are recipients of your service an audience? Are your organization’s staff, volunteers, donors and friends an audience?

If you can, try to know your audiences from several perspectives.

demographic (age, gender) geographic socio-economic (education, income) psychographic (values and lifestyles)

Here is a tool that you can use to track what you know about your audiences:

Audience segment

Demographic Geographic Socio-economic Psychographic

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6. Desired Actions/OutcomesOnce you have determined who your audiences are and where you will find them, and after knowing more about them, before you develop tools and messages to get to them, you need to know what you want them to know and/or do.

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Focus on what you want your audiences to know/believe or do as a result of your communications and marketing activities. Here’s a tool you can use:

Audience Knowledge/belief objectives Action objectives

Once you know more about your key audiences and what you want them to do, you’ll combine this with your organizational goals, your communications objectives and your situational analysis to create key messages.

7. Key MessagesYour content & stories (in whatever form) will incorporate a key message(s). Once you have identified your audiences, the next task is to break down your objectives into relevant messages for each of those audiences. Start with the audiences that are the highest priority

Remember that your messages should be relevant and appropriate to the audience. You might

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want to speak to your supporters and donors in much more forthright language than you would use for local authorities or other funders. But it is very important that there is a continuity across the messages. It is vital that all of your stakeholders understand what kind of organization you are, so your messaging needs always to link back to your key organizational goals and values.

There are many ways of communicating about the same issue. It is important to know which words will resonate with your audiences.

Identify the attitudes & perceptions about your organization/municipality/social enterprise that you want to instill in your key publics.

Identify key points – i.e., the actual words to be conveyed orally, in writing, even visually. These will be the facts, interpretations and arguments that constitute what you say. Each key point must meet the following criteria:

o Is it truthful?o Is it accurate?o Is it beneficial to your organization (i.e., it will instill those attitudes and

perceptions that will likely induce your target audiences to act in ways that will advance your organization’s goals and objectives)

o It is beneficial to your key publics (i.e., it helps them make informed decisions that will advance their own enlightened self-interest)

Some research, such as informal focus group testing or direct mail questionnaires may be required to fully understand your audiences’ motivations and preferences. The results of testing may be unexpected — even counter-intuitive.

Message testing is an important step to ensuring you develop a successful communications campaign. It needs to relate to your target audience research done beforehand, and informed by situational analysis and research.

Message Organizer table

Here’s a table that can help you organize your various messages. Remember that you will have core messages, but within each core message there may be a few secondary messages. Finally, you may want to isolate a few key words for each core message.

Target Audience Core messages Secondary Messages Keywords

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Generally speaking, effective messages are:

Clear and simple (please, please avoid jargon & all those acronyms) Brief Believable Compelling Delivered by the right messenger (who delivers a message can be as important as the

message itself. Many non-profits put the most senior person as the spokesperson, but they

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may not have the skill or aptitude. Or, a beneficiary of your work may be the best messenger.)

A note: Messages will be included in your various communications, but they should also be conveyed in ways where they aren’t directly articulated (e.g., through photography).

Communicate what you are doing, but do it in a way that sometimes lets your publics draw their own (accurate) conclusions about you. Show, don’t always tell! And, it’s always better to have people talking about you, rather than you talking about yourself – this is one of the benefits (and possible dangers) of social media.

A few words on stories:

Stories – in print, video or audio form – are a powerful way to put ideas into the world. A good story can demonstrate impact, make a connection or inspire action in a much better way than a report or a statistical analysis ever could. Storytelling allows us to dig a little deeper and discover the real people working on real solutions in the real world.

Understanding who you are, and what audiences you’re trying to reach, will mean nothing unless you can clearly identity and communicate your story.

Here are some questions to ask, to help think about your overall organizational narrative:

What is your organization poised to accomplish? What are your key successes, what has been your impact? (Note: I’m talking about impact, not just what you do.) What obstacles have you overcome?

What are the differentiating factors of your organization? What makes you unique? Who are the people that differentiate your organization? Who have the best stories? Who are the most credible story-tellers? Are there

‘beneficiaries’ who will tell their stories?

Create content with a storytelling lens, with passion and purpose, contributing to an overall narrative about your organization’s impact. This is the best way to establish a strong emotional bond with your audience over time. That is, you should think like a journalist, not just a fundraiser, PR agent or marketer.

8. StrategiesBefore getting to tactics, tools and specific ideas, you should spend time thinking through your strategies.

How best will your issue be advanced? Through mainstream media? Social media? Will you be your own producer, or work to get others to talk about you?

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Consider the following questions when developing your strategies:

Is your strategy proactive or reactive? Low profile or high profile? What communications strengths are available in your organization? What alliances does your organization/dept. have? Does your approach warrant paid advertising through print, radio and/or TV (assuming you

have the resources to do so!)? Does your campaign warrant a social media campaign, perhaps including Google ads,

Facebook ads, Instagram, web banner advertising, etc.? Who are your opponents?

o What do you anticipate their key messages will be in response to your campaign?o How will you respond?

What are the potential weak points in your argument or story? How creative can you be? (Beware of nervous Nellies) Which kind of media coverage will result in the greatest impact on decision-makers? Is the issue big enough, newsworthy enough to warrant a press conference? An exclusive?

With whom?o Should your story be delivered in a media briefing with specific reporters invited?

An editorial board meeting with one media outlet?o When should your release be timed? How does it fit with other current events?

What are current editorial priorities? Can your story be made visual? Are there ways in which your story could be presented

and/or supported by visual materials? If a government official could be asked by the media to respond to your release, should you

inform that official? How much time will you give them? Remember that government has communications staff and they may find it in their interest to undermine your message.

The strategy you select depends entirely on the situation, objectives, and a clear understanding of who constitutes your target audience, and what will move them to act.

Communications objective Key messages/audiences Strategy ideas

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9. Tactics & ToolsConstruct the communications plan by linking audiences & messages with the appropriate channels & tactics. There are hundreds of methods to reach an audience. In selecting and prioritizing your tactics, consider these questions:

How big is your budget? What personnel resources are available to you? How much time will be available to spend on communications efforts?

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o Is this reasonable given their current work expectations?

Tools comprise things from blogs, brochures, flyers, ads, newsletters, websites, email blasts, news releases, articles, videos, posters, kits, infographics, give-aways…and on and on.

Activities include launches, press conferences, speaking platforms, editorial board meetings, sponsorships, contests, public hearings, demonstrations, webinars, theatre, …and on and on.

To help organize it, you could fit your tools under four pillars:

1) Media Outreach

This is the realm of press releases, story pitches, etc.

2) Created media – be your own producer!

A good story is still your killer app. Create a short video, write a story, publish a profile.

3) Conversational social media

Engage your audiences on social media. Offer great content, but also listen.

4) Promotions

The right ad in the right media can still be very powerful – if you have the money.

Here is a tool that you can use to help decide what message works with a particular audience, and what are the best mediums to find those audiences:

Audience Key messages/incentives Potential mediums

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A few words about your website...

Try to ensure that your website homepage has something for three types of audiences:

I. For newcomers (people who know nothing about you)…answer the basic questions on their mind

II. For friends (people who like your organization)…tell them some good stories

III. For fans (people who love your org)…give them a clear call to action so they know exactly how they can help or support you.

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Writing for the web/mobile:

Keep your headlines clear and catchy. Get to the point. Link to resources for further information. Keep paragraphs to a few short sentences. Use bullet points and numbered lists. Include subheads to break things up. Optimize your content for relevant keywords. Write like you talk. Double check everything. Encourage feedback.

A few words on social media...

If done properly, social media helps position your organization as part of a movement, as part of something bigger

It’s an easy and immediate way to distribute your news, information, resources Today, people want to connect not just to the organizations they support, but also

connect to the people behind those organizations When supporters are social networking in your backyard, it’s an opportunity to hear

their voices and understand their needs, like a focus group without the expense Increasingly, people want content in different formats. It’s to an organization’s advantage

to offer stories through podcasts, videos, blogs, etc.

Realistic social media goals:

Deepen engagement with your supporters Establish your authority on a specific topic Tell your story in an engaging way Increase traffic to your website, including from search engines

Unrealistic social media goals:

Millions of fans and twitter followers Going ‘viral’ Raising lots of money Thinking it is a ‘one-way’ pr channel

5 things NOT to do with social media:

1. Put press releases on Facebook and Twitter 2. Maintaining a formal, businesslike tone on social networks. 3. Using social media to broadcast and not to get feedback. 4. Treating social media as a one-person job

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5. Joining the ‘shiny-object’ bandwagon without a strategy.

5 things TO do with social media:

1. Produce and re-version original content (people love photos & videos)2. Make cross-platform linkages3. Encourage two-way dialogue (but be prepared)4. Become a content curator, known as a source of important (and at time provocative)

information and perspectives5. Train staff, volunteers in social media/citizen’s journalism and encourage them to create

content

Dealing with criticism on social media:

The best case scenario is that other supporters come to our defence or get involved in the discussion. This only happens when we’ve engendered feelings of trust and worth in our supporters – this is essentially ‘branding’.

When responding to criticism, we shouldn’t be defensive or negative, but honest and responsive.

Except in obvious cases of libel, spam, or unethical/vulgar/racist comments, censorship of people’s comments should not be considered an option.

A few words on creating content...

Video has become a very powerful (and now affordable) tool. In many ways, it’s become the new brochure. Here are 5 Secrets to Social Video Success:

1. Make it shareable2. Tell a story – show don’t tell….emotion & story are critical3. Shorter is (usually) better4. Always start & end strong5. Use music

Some more thoughts on writing/producing your own story in any format:

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Try to find a good opening hook Be lively and readable: try to show the issue in action, rather than just talk about it. An

interesting story – about somebody or something specific – is still the best way to grab a reader’s attention. It must have a sense of importance that appeals to the public. Be creative and back up your points with real world examples.

Try to avoid jargon, dogma and clichés. The challenge is to give a perspective without preaching. Show, don’t tell.

Don’t write just about the abstract; make the big picture resonate through the details of lives lived.

We can read your minds…I don’t have time to do all this! So, here are effective ways to repurpose content

Put the same story on different channels (on your website, and also on your blog) Edit for a different audience (volunteers and donors are different audiences) Remake a story into a sidebar for another story Pull out quotes and testimonials Make long stuff short (and vice versa) Update an old story Turn a story into a ‘Top 10’ list-acle Turn it into a FAQ or resource page Add a timely update to your evergreen material Create bullets/lists into a slideshow Create an infographic Reformat into handouts or collateral (ie give-aways) Create a quiz Offer it as a guest article or blog post Turn it into a media pitch Transform an article into a back-and-forth interview

10. Workplan & Timelines

Finally, you have to decide who is doing what, when, how you will measure success, and what resources are needed.

With your audiences and key communications methods identified, the next step is to draw up a table that indicates the key communications activities, budget and resources allocated to delivering the strategy. The work plan should also include proposed timescales, who will lead each activity and identify particular milestones within the strategy. This will allow you to measure clear steps towards ultimate goals.

How do all your plans and ideas translate in to action? This is where the rubber hits the road. Key questions to ask:

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Who does what? Staff, volunteers? What style and guidelines will be used? What do you have already that can be repurposed? What resources do you have for outside help? Can you use freelancers? Can beneficiaries help create content? Could you have contests? (eg. Photo contest) Can board members create content? How will you monitor feedback? How do you respond to criticism, or deal with controversial topics?

Channel Plan

If your strategy includes content creation, you will probably want some type of editorial or channel plan.

Channel Structure/Format

Topic Author Tone DesiredAction

Frequency/Key Dates

Keywords/Messaging

There may be specific projects, events or publications that you know will take place and these should be highlighted as well. Don’t forget timing issues, those natural links onto which you can hook your communications.

Finally, determine who within your group will project the most credible voice to your key audiences, and prepare them.

But for those times when you have very little time and need a quick, hip-pocket communications plan for a new campaign, Clean offers this…

Two-page simplified Communications Initiative breakdown

Initiative

Organizational goals and objectives the initiative will advance:

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Key publics the initiative will reach:

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Messages the initiative will convey:

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Tasks (who, what, when)

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Evaluation criteria:

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Big List O’ Communications Ideas

Video profiles Video Q&As Social media release (a press release with links to photos, videos, logos, more info) Media story pitches (don’t forget bloggers, community media) Press conferences Staged media events Website online media centre Op-eds Letters-to-the-editor Photo exhibit Postcards Print/web stories Ads (including online ads)

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E-newsletters that are magazine-like TV & web video PSAs Flyers, brochures Posters/street posters Displays, exhibits Speaking engagements Trade fairs Event sponsorships Merchandize and collateral (shirts, calendars, etc.) Infographics Brand ambassadors / brand storytellers Theatre Partnerships Contests Webinars Blogs Podcasts Internet memes Graphic novels Participant testimonials Other ideas? ______________________________________________________________

Crisis Communications flowchart

1. Set crisis communications teama. This would include communications staff and others deemed vital to the issue.

2. Involve senior management/board asap if they are not part of crisis teama. Hold a preliminary meeting immediately

3. Collect as many facts as possible, quicklya. Prepare crisis fact sheetb. Distribute crisis fact sheet to all staff

4. Determine response:a. Response tacticsb. Messaging; Determine key audiences and prepare appropriate responses

5. Anticipate and practice answering tough questions

6. Prepare statement and Q&As for staff

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7. Prepare media statement. (You must give the facts that have been gathered from reliable sources and confirmed. Don't over reach and don't speculate.)

8. Communicate with key publics, including media

9. Return media calls promptly. Get back to them ASAP if you don’t have answers right away.

10. Monitor traditional and social media

Do’s and Don’ts

The first and foremost goal is protecting the integrity and reputation of the organization. Never try to lie, deny or hide your involvement. If you ignore the situation it will only get worse.

PR Crisis Rules

Always tell the truth Act as though you care Make fast decisions and swift adjustments Return all calls from the press promptly Don’t avoid the press & Never say ‘no comment’ Admit when mistakes were made, apologize, explain how you’re going to fix it, and then do

what you promised

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