If creating a communications plan fills you with dread, don’t panic! Honestly, it’s not that complicated. You can use a lot of fancy words, tables, and graphs to make it complicated, but it’s not. Try these 5 questions.

1. What’s my goal?

Are you trying to raise awareness? Increase donations? Boost sales? Educate? Inspire? Be as specific as possible.

2. Who am I trying to reach (aka my audience)?

Again, be specific. You are not trying to reach “everyone.” Even the most famous people in the world don’t appeal to everyone. Also, really think about what your audience wants. What are their interests, desires, and challenges?

3. What do I want to communicate?

Look at the goal you’re trying to achieve and what your audience wants. What topics and messages will help you achieve your goal and meet your audience’s desires?

4. Where will I communicate?

Based on your goals, your audience’s desires, and what you want to communicate, what communications channels are the best fit? Even if you have unlimited time and budget (and who has that?) it doesn’t make sense to use every communication channel at your disposal. Some are a better fit for your goals, audience, topics, skills, budget, and capacity than others.

5. How will I know if I’ve met my goal?

You’ll need to check in regularly on how things are going (aka your metrics), so that you know what to keep doing, what to tweak, and what to stop. Choose a few things you want to measure consistently for each communication channel (e.g. subscribers, clicks, engagement). Jot down your findings in a doc or spreadsheet at least once a month. Based on your observations, adapt your communications plan accordingly!

That’s pretty much it. There are other bells and whistles you can add, but really, if you can answer these five questions, you’ve got a solid foundation for your communications plan!

Featured image by Brett Jordan on Unsplash.