The Big Picture

HOW TO USE THIS DOCUMENT

This step-by-step guide is geared to helping you create a clear communications strategy for your organisation or campaign.

Use it to:

• Give you an overview and roadmap for creating a communications strategy from scratch
• Double-check or update your existing communications strategy to ensure it is as effective and complete as possible

WHY A CLEAR COMMUNICATIONS STRATEGY IS IMPORTANT

How can you improve your organisation’s ability to be heard on the issues that matter? Effective communications planning can make the difference between a message that resonates and one that is lost in the noise. Follow these steps to create a communications strategy that is:

1. Clear
2. Targeted
3. Achievable

It takes time to create a strategy document, so you might ask why bother? A communications strategy helps ensure:

• That your communications efforts are aligned with your organisation’s strategic plan, vision and mission, so that your communications support and reinforce that strategic plan, vision and mission rather than fight against it.
• That your communications are consistent and clear.
• That the time your team spends on communications activities is well-planned and directed.
• That you have a mechanism in place to measure the effectiveness of your communications activities and can adjust them if they are ineffective.
• All of these factors contribute to ensuring that your organisation’s messages are heard by the audiences you are targeting.