How to Write A Communication Plan in 9 Steps + Free Templates

You’ve just launched a new product, after five years of building a prototype, testing, and ensuring the product is market-ready. But the launch didn’t go as planned. Within the first week of release, angry customers blow up your customer support lines to complain about faulty products that have become fire hazards. 

Thankfully, your communications team already has a communications plan for this scenario. They start the campaign quickly to address safety concerns, rebuild trust with consumers and still relaunch the product (after updates) to great success.

However, a communication plan isn’t just for putting out fires. It’s also helpful when launching a new product or releasing an important update. It ensures you get the most visibility from your target audience.

Internally, a communication plan is essential to keep stakeholders and team members on the same page during project management. A communication plan also establishes a structure so employees can find information when they need it and follow up if they can't.

In this guide, you’ll learn the benefits of using a communications plan, how to write one, and details to include in your plan. We’ve also included several downloadable templates to simplify the process for you.

What is a communications plan? 

A communications plan is a comprehensive strategy that enables you to deliver information to your audience and drive positive business outcomes. 

A communications plan helps you identify needs, prioritize your budget, structure timelines, and tailor communications methods to suit the audience. It ensures that any message from your organization is consistent across channels and received by the right target audience. 

While most people associate communication plans with crisis management, they can also be used to launch new products or pitch new initiatives.

A communications plan describes:

• Whom you want to reach
• How you’ll present your brand
• The message you want to communicate
• The channels for communication

When you use this structure to build a communication plan, you’ll have the messaging you need to achieve your organization’s goals. 

What is a communications plan in project management? 

A communication plan in project management outlines how you’ll communicate important information about an ongoing project to the major stakeholders. The communication plan specifies when team members should share project updates, and with whom they should share those updates. 

A project management communication plan is not a PR plan. It doesn’t help you identify your audience, align social media or establish messaging for your audience segments. Instead, consider using a business strategy or social media planner for these purposes.

Team members should use the communication plan to answer these project questions:

• How do we communicate with the project stakeholders?
• What is each channel used for?
• Do we communicate asynchronously or synchronously?
• Who is the project manager?
• Who is on the project team, and what are their roles?
• How frequently will we share important project details with stakeholders?

What is the importance of a communication plan?

Increase collaboration and productivity

Knowledge workers currently spend 60% of their time chasing approvals, searching for documents, switching between apps, and doing other tasks outside their core job function. It mostly happens when employees don’t know where information is shared. Hence, they waste time asking colleagues for information.

With the rise of distributed or remote teams, it’s easy to get comfortable with communication. Managers send emails after working hours, information isn’t centralized and employees are unsure when or how to communicate.

Effective team collaboration doesn’t happen naturally. It’s a skill your team builds. One crucial aspect of effective team collaboration is to outline how your team communicates. 

With a communication plan, team members know where, when and what to communicate. You also clarify conventions for “Do not disturb” or snoozing notifications on platforms like Slack. Providing guidelines removes barriers to accessible communication and collaboration between teams. Team members are more confident sending messages and sharing ideas when they know where to communicate and at the right time.

Creates transparency

Transparency is the extent to which information is available and shared with employees, managers, and stakeholders in an organization. Employees can visualize the bigger picture and understand how their contribution makes a difference when information is readily available.

Transparency is essential for knowledge sharing, building trust, and keeping employees updated with verified information.

Even when the information is not always positive, transparent communication helps employees adjust to changes and continuously work smarter.

Minimizes misunderstanding and duplicative work between team members

A communication plan minimizes confusion and misunderstanding through documented processes. As a result, your team has clarity about where information lives and whom to ask questions when faced with difficulty. They’re more efficient and less frustrated, which leads to a happy workforce and higher revenue for your company.

Ensures the right people receive your message

There’s nothing more frustrating than hearing the words, “I don’t know,” or being told to ask the next person to answer your question. A good communication plan describes who receives messages and how the communication process works. 

In this environment, your team members know who to ask questions, and those who should have the answers are armed with the correct information.

How to write a communication plan?

1. Audit your current communications materials 

Steps to follow when conducting an audit include:

• Before you write your communication plan, lay the groundwork. Take inventory of all the existing communication materials.
• Look for patterns in your past and current communications. Look for messages that got the best or worst results. Take note of changes in communication style over time and how they affected results.
• Ask team managers and employees how effective they think the current communication plan is. Use qualitative research methods such as survey tools, interviews, and focus groups to collect feedback. For surveys, you can use Typeform in Guru to create interactive quizzes and quickly collect feedback.
• Use a SWOT analysis to highlight weaknesses, strengths, threats, and opportunities in your communications. What factors are hurting your communications, and what could help your strategy?

2. Set SMART goals based on audit results 

After the audit, use the results to set achievable goals for the communications plan. Your SMART goals should be specific, measurable, attainable, relevant, and timely. 

For example, the HR team writes a communications plan to design a growth matrix for employees who don’t want to be managers. They need to identify specific goals the plan will achieve, even if it isn’t quantifiable. 

The goal could be to increase the employee retention rate by 30% over the next six months or improve employee satisfaction over the next year. You can use a communication plan to pitch these goals to management. 

3. Define your unique selling proposition (USP) 

Your USP is how you show customers and prospects the key feature that sets you apart from competitors. It’s a solution that only your brand offers, and customers can’t find it anywhere else.

Answer these questions to identify your USP:

• What problems do I solve with my service or product?
• What is the one thing I offer that competitors are missing?
• Do I have specific features that are hard to copy?

Frame your USP to show the benefits to customers and use it in your communications plan template. 

4. Tie your USP to your mission statement

Next, move on to your mission statement, which should communicate your entire brand identity. 

For example, Tesla’s USP is to make eco-friendly, high-quality, high-performance cars. They’re unique because they’re not just selling cars but innovative technology. It ties into their mission statement to create the most compelling automobiles of the 21st century and lead the world’s transition to electric vehicles.

Here’s a comprehensive guide to writing a mission and vision statement.

5. Identify your audience

Connecting with your ideal customer requires a deep understanding of your audience needs and preferences. While you want to reach as many people as possible, your message has the most impact when it’s tailored for a specific audience. Targeting also ensures that you get more qualified leads.

If you’re writing the communication plan for a project, it’s essential to know your audience. 

Who are you writing for? 
Who are the stakeholders? 

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Examples of stakeholders include investors, media outlets, government officials, or customers. If you’re writing for internal teams, create a comprehensive document that employees can refer to in your knowledge base platform. Make sure you include information about whom to ask follow-up questions.

If your audience includes the press and media outlets, write a press release that describes your goal for the public. We suggest using a press release template that details what the PR team should say.

Here are some tips to help you identify your target audience:

• Use survey tools like Typeform in Guru to collect information about preferences and demographics.
• Google Analytics provides information about user behavior on your site as well as demographic data such as gender, age, and location.
• Check for patterns in your social media followers. What is the age group of most of your followers? Where are they based? What type of content do they engage with? If you have a small following, you can spy on your competitors to see the type of audience they attract.

6. Outline and write your communication plan for each audience 

At this point, you know your different audience segments and the goals for your communication plan. As you craft a message for each audience group, use your overarching brand message as the base for communication. 

Start with a table to identify the audience, the messages you need to promote, and the channels to promote them.

When you have a general outline, answer these questions:

• What is the essential information the audience should know?
• What misconceptions am I clearing up?
• Which common values exist between the audience and my brand?
• What language will make the audience feel comfortable and understood?

Add the answers to your communications plan template under the key message section. As you write, invite representatives who already work with that audience group to improve the personalization and accuracy of your message. 

7. Determine distribution channels based on your audience 

The communication channels you choose depend on where your audience hangs out. 

For example, if you’re communicating with customers, you might send out a newsletter or press release. If you’re communicating with a cold audience, paid advertising might be helpful. And if you’re creating a communications plan for employees, using your knowledge management software is the best way to deliver your message.

Popular communication channels include:

• Email marketing to send sales offers, newsletters, and marketing outreach messages
• Your company blog where you share company news and helpful information with your target audience
• Text messages for discounts, event reminders, and sales announcement
• Print materials such as direct mail, flyers, signage, and brochures
• Podcast advertising through your company podcast or appearing as a guest on industry podcasts
• Pay-per-click advertising to show your ads to users browsing the internet
• Traditional advertising such as billboards, radio, and TV ads
• Social media to interact with your audience
• Intranet platforms where you can share content with employees, partners, vendors, and other stakeholders

8. Create a messaging matrix

A messaging matrix is a chart that brings together your target audience, the core problem, brand statement, and communication channels. It ensures that your communication plan always aligns with your value proposition. 

Most organizations have several audiences with different needs your product solves. You need a unique message, marketing campaign, and distribution channel for each audience. Your messaging matrix provides an overview of how your messages will adapt to each audience and channel.

9. Measure results based on established metrics of success

As you execute your communications plan, measure results on the go. Some projects, such as social media marketing, have quantifiable results. Others, such as improving employee satisfaction, may have abstract goal completion based on brand sentiment.

Take note of what worked and areas of improvement. If you didn’t meet your goal, perhaps try increasing the timeline or rework your goals to make them more achievable. 

What are the components of a communication plan?

1. The objectives of the communication plan

The objectives of your communications plan should answer these questions:

• Who am I reaching?
• Why do I need to reach them?
• What will I say?
• What channels will I use to deliver my message?
• What is the best time to deliver this message for the most impact?

2. Your target audience

For project-based communication plans, target communication to stakeholders. Which departments or individuals will be affected by the communications plan? What information should they know about the project?

Audiences differ and may include employees, customers, or the media. Use an audience map to segment your audience and create unique messages for each audience.

3. The message

Think of the end goal when writing the message. What is the action you want the audience to take as a result of the communications plan? Lead with the purpose early on. 

Answer these questions in your message:

• Why are we doing this?
• How does this fit with our overall mission?
• What will change after the communications plan?

Embracing empathy helps you understand what your audience needs to hear. The message should be simple, consistent, accurate, and clear.

4. Timing

Timing is crucial to the success and effectiveness of your communications plan. The best communication takes place over time, not at once. 

People have short attention spans and limited time. You may need to communicate repeatedly to reinforce the key message and stay top of mind with your target audience. You also need a second communications plan to cushion you against unexpected events that happen down the road.

5. The delivery method

Your communication strategy lays the groundwork for your outreach activities. This includes what message to communicate and the channels for each message. 

For example, if you’re communicating with a professional audience, LinkedIn and Twitter might be more effective than Instagram or TikTok, which are (generally) for more casual use.

6. The communicator

If you have an in-house communications team, they should handle creating and executing the communication plan for internal and external audiences. However, the PR and HR teams should work together on internal-facing communications that may affect employees.

Great communicators usually tend to be:

• Great listener
• A trusted source capable of connecting with a cold audience
• Thoughtful about asking the right questions to collect meaningful information

7. The follow-through

Effective communication is more than sharing information. It requires follow-through to ensure that the right people see the data and provide feedback to improve future communications.

Did they read and understand the message? Will they take the desired action? What happens if they don't read the message?

Want to know if your employees have read an important piece of information you shared? Use Guru’s Card-level data to share information with specific teams and employees within your organization. Guru makes it easy for employees to consume information at their own pace and allows you to track what they’ve read. If they haven’t read a Card, you can send a follow-up and remind them.

8. Who is in charge?

Designate a communication coordinator to manage the creation and execution of the communication plan. While this role often falls to the project manager or departmental head, it’s a wiser choice to designate someone with fewer responsibilities who can listen to where communication is needed, discover what’s missing, and resolve communication breakdowns when they occur. The manager or team lead already has a lot on their plate, so communications might get relegated to the background. 

Ask colleagues from relevant departments to create a list of challenges that may come up during the execution of the communications plan. For example, what are the challenges to adoption for internal teams? As you launch a new product, do you foresee any obstacles that could become a PR nightmare? Creating a list of expected challenges can help you prepare a communication plan to mitigate the issues.

9. Executive summary 

The executive summary is a one-page recap of your communications plan. It should include:

• Core values
• Key message
• Differentiators
• Challenges you discovered during the planning meetings
• Objectives you’d like to achieve if resources become available but are not currently part of the communication plan
• Business goals

Communication plan examples

Marketing communication plan 

A marketing communications plan is a strategy for sharing information about your product or service with your target audience. It provides focus, so you know what you need to say when promoting your product to your customer.

The marketing communications plan includes:

• Description of your target market and ideal customer
• Goals and objectives
• SWOT analysis
• Timeline
• Your unique selling proposition
• Strategies
• The problem your audience faces
• The intersection between those pain points and your product solutions
• Your messaging
• Channels of distribution

Project management communication plan

A project management communication plan describes how you’ll communicate important information to stakeholders throughout the project’s lifetime. It also keeps your team on track when collaborating on a project, so everyone knows what they should do, who’s responsible for each task, and when it’s due.

The project management communication plan should include:

• Goals of the project
• Stakeholder details
• Type of information to share with stakeholders
• Channels of communication
• Frequency of communication

Product launch communication plan

A product launch communications plan ensures your new product gets the visibility it needs to connect with your target audience. If it’s a product update, the story should clearly show the differentiator from competitors and previous versions.

Segment product launch plans into five phases:

1. Planning
2. Pre-launch
3. Sales and channel readiness
4. Launch day
5. Post-launch follow-up

Details to include in a product launch communication plan:

• Primary objectives of the product launch
• Your target audience
• Positioning statement
• Problems your product solves
• Product description
• KPIs
• Key activities and timeline for each activity to happen
• Awareness campaign

Internal communication plan

When practiced correctly, internal communication should promote efficient collaboration and conversation between employees in an organization. It involves producing and sharing messages, as well as facilitating healthy dialogue with employees. 

Good internal communications ensure that employees never hear the words “nobody told me.” It’s a frustrating experience in organizations of all sizes where information doesn’t get to the right people, is ignored, or lost in transit.

An internal communications plan equips your organization to manage the growing impact of a modern work environment.

Include the following details in an internal communications plan:

• Audience personas
• SMART goals
• Key metrics to track
• Timeline to achieve goals and objectives
• Approval process
• Internal communication tools
• Evaluation

Change management communication plan 

Change is hard for everyone to accept. A change management plan encapsulates all the strategic plans, processes, and tools to deliver organizational changes and help employees adapt to these changes. 

Done right, a change management plan reduces the risk of an unsuccessful organizational change in the event of restructuring, moving to a new location, or upgrading processes. It’s the only way to get buy-in from employees without antagonizing them.

65% of senior managers surveyed by Robert Half believe that communication is the most essential element for leading teams through change successfully. Sadly, 70% of organizational change initiatives are unsuccessful because of ineffective communication. 

Details to include in a change management communication plan:

• Change project name
• Project owner
• Stakeholders for each communication
• Reason for communication
• Description of the required communication
• Methods of communication
• Key messaging
• Timeline

Great public and employee relations begin with a communication plan

Without a structure for communications, you can’t connect with your target audience or collaborate efficiently. A communication plan ensures that you stay ready for when a crisis occurs. Internally, you disseminate information properly when making business decisions, or effecting big changes. And externally, you take control of your narrative to shape public perception of your brand and its offering.

Guru is the internal communication software that complements employee communication with expert-verified information. With Guru, your employees have access to information when they need it, so they never feel out of the loop.

FAQ for communication plan template 

What is included in a communication plan?

• Purpose of communication
• Target audience
• Key message
• Expected obstacles
• Delivery method
• Executive summary

How do you write a communications plan?

1. Audit your current communications materials
2. Set SMART goals
3. Identify your audience
4. Define your mission statement and unique value
5. Write a communications plan for each target audience
6. Determine distribution channels
7. Execute and measure results

What are communication plan examples?

Examples of communication plans include:

• Change management communication plan
• Product launch communication plan
• Project management communication plan
• Internal communication plan
• Marketing communication plan