How to Make a Public Relations Communications Plan
The framework taught in this course has been used by public relations practitioners for decades to avoid costly miscommunications and achieve desirable results during campaigns, projects, and ongoing general communications. Put it to use for your business or project right now by using our free worksheets, templates, and examples included with this course. This course is growing and getting better all the time. Buy it once and benefit from having lifetime access to all of the resources and templates that are added year over year.
Updated: We heard your feedback! We have created two new extensive lessons to walk you step-by-step through the hardest parts of communications planning that we have used in real large-scale communications plans:
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audience analysis and psychographics and
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a process to generate objectives and strategies
Why do I need a communications plan?
Word travels fast and mistakes are not easily forgiven. Failing to communicate your message or brand effectively and consistently can have huge costs, including destroyed reputations and loss of customers.
So while you may already have a business plan and a marketing plan, have you developed your communications plan? Is your organization equipped to deliver messaging in a consistent way, aligning with your brand?
In this era of social media and politically charged topics, it’s more important than ever to come up with a thoughtful communications plan to ensure things go smoothly and messages are communicated effectively.
This course introduces you to communications planning through a simple four part framework that will help you put together a plan that works for you and/or your team. You will learn how to:
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Do relevant research and communicate that to your audience
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Perform meaningful analysis and come up with an effective strategy
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Identify your target audience and develop key messages that matter
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Pinpoint objectives that can be used to measure change
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Deal with negative situations and emergencies
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Find tactics and channels that resonate with your audience
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Effectively evaluate and measure your success
Making a communications plan doesn’t have to be hard. Stop hoping that things will work out with your communications and put together a plan that works today by enrolling in How to Make a Communications Plan.
Introduction
Welcome to the course, this lecture explains the benefits of developing a communications plan.
Use this template to outline your own communications plan as you work your way through the course.
This video explains some of the considerations you should reflect on before writing your plan.
Use this checklist to prepare for writing a successful plan.
This lecture provides a summary of the first module for your review.
Research
This lesson introduces the research section of the communications plan. You will learn what to include in the research section of the plan.
This video goes over some of the research methods you might want to use in more detail. You will learn about using primary research methods and secondary sources.
This article provides further explanation of the research methods introduced in the lecture.
Analysis
This lecture describes what to include in the analysis section of your plan. You will learn about SWOT analysis, strategy, key messages, and objectives.
Understanding your audience is the foundation of your communications plan. This lesson walks you through a method for getting to better understand your audience. There is also a downloadable example and template.
The programs I am using for this demonstration are free collaboration tools Google Jamboard and Google Docs.
SWOT Analysis Exercise
Draw two intersecting lines on a page, separating an area into four quadrants like the chart on the right.
Brainstorm the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats to your plan or project.
Try to come up with as many as possible for each area. List the current strengths and weaknesses of your project, and then list any potential and or emerging opportunities and threats.
This analysis challenges you to think about your current position and where to focus your energy going forward with your communication plan.
If you are having trouble developing your strategy, this lecture will help you to write one that makes sense for your plan.
Develop your strategy with these tips and suggestions.
In this activity, I walk you through a process to help you to create and define goals, objectives, and strategies for your plan.
The programs I am using for this demonstration are free collaboration tools Google Jamboard and Google Docs.
Your analysis section does not have to contain everything we have discussed, but it should provide an overview of your overall strategic direction. The analysis section contains your proposed solution to the problem or challenge you hope to address through your communications.
Try on your own, or use this template and examples to give you ideas.
Communications
This lesson introduces the communications section of the plan. You will learn what elements to include in the communications section.
This video further explains how to use channels and tactics, and expands on the different types of media channels. You will learn how to choose effective channels for your plan.
Use this template to help plan tactics for your campaign.
Use this worksheet to assess which channels you have available to engage your audiences through.
DCAP is a principle for communicating in crisis situations. Sometimes referred to as just the "CAP" principle, DCAP stands for:
- Disclosure
- Concern
- Action
- Perspective
Learn about how to apply DCAP in this lecture.
Evaluation
This video explains the evaluation step of RACE planning. You will learn about the importance of the evaluation section and what to include in your evaluation plan.
This article further explains how to integrate evaluation throughout your plan and provides guidance on how to focus your efforts and tools to use.
Conclusion
Thank you for taking our course, good luck with your communications plans and campaigns!
Not all communications plans are the same. Throughout the course, we discussed how communications plans can be tailored to your specific situation or organization's needs. Here is an additional template of a different style of plan to give you inspiration, and a worksheet template you can use to better understand your brand, audiences, and the value of your channels.
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