| Eight Steps to Developing Your Corporate | | | | - Customer loyalty |
| Communications Plan | | | | - Increased sales |
| Your company needs a corporate communications | | | | - Employee morale and teamwork |
| plan to help guarantee the success of your overall | | | | - Improved employee retention and recruitment |
| business plan. And the best time to develop a | | | | - Media relations |
| communications plan is during your annual budgeting or | | | | - A positive corporate image and reputation |
| organizational planning process. | | | | - Crisis control |
| "Communications" includes all written, spoken and | | | | |
| electronic interactions between you and audiences | | | | 4. Determine which audiences you want to influence. |
| inside and outside your organization. | | | | Such as |
| A plan will help you to organize and prioritize the | | | | - Current and prospective customers |
| communication tools and initiatives you use to deliver | | | | - Suppliers |
| the right information to the right people at the right | | | | - Current and prospective employees |
| time. It will help you to keep your stakeholders | | | | - Federal, state and local legislators |
| informed and maintain their buy-in and support. It will | | | | - Wall Street |
| solidify | | | | - The media. |
| - Your choice of communications methods, initiatives | | | | |
| and materials | | | | 5. Decide which tools you can use -- and afford -- to |
| - What each communication program component must | | | | achieve your goals and get your points across. Such |
| achieve | | | | tools can include: |
| - Your choice of key audiences | | | | - Print publications |
| - Timetables, tools and budgets | | | | - Online communications |
| - How you measure and evaluate program results | | | | - Manuals |
| | | | | - Meeting and conference materials |
| From a communications executive's perspective, in | | | | - Media and public relations materials |
| addition to the peace of mind it brings, such a plan will | | | | - Marketing and sales materials |
| help you to | | | | - Legal and legislative documents |
| - Establish priorities, | | | | - Employee and customer newsletters |
| - Determine day-to-day activities | | | | - Corporate identity materials -- logos, print and |
| - Achieve order and control | | | | packaging, |
| - Gain CEO and staff support | | | | - Quarterly and annual reports |
| - Protect against last-minute demands | | | | - Signage |
| | | | | - Presentations |
| Follow these eight steps to develop an effective | | | | - Website content |
| corporate communications plan: | | | | - Blogs |
| 1. Define your goals and desired results. | | | | - Internet initiatives |
| - What is your strategic purpose with regard to | | | | |
| corporate communications? | | | | 6. Estimate the cost of each initiative, then establish a |
| - What's the tie-in to your organization's business | | | | budget. |
| plan? | | | | |
| | | | | 7. Establish your timetable. |
| 2. Conduct an audit to determine and evaluate your | | | | |
| current communications materials and initiatives. You | | | | 8. Include methods in your plan to periodically measure |
| must determine | | | | and evaluate results, then, at year's end, evaluate the |
| - What communications initiatives each department is | | | | program's overall results. |
| using | | | | A written communications plan is as much a defense |
| - What each initiative is designed to achieve | | | | against chaos, confusion and wasted energy as it is a |
| - Each initiative's effectiveness | | | | business priority. |
| | | | | Once in place, your plan will establish priorities, fend off |
| 3. Define your overall communications objectives. | | | | last-minute and inappropriate demands and bring a |
| Such as reinforcing | | | | semblance of order to a hectic job. |
| - Customer service | | | | |