How to Write a Marketing Communications Plan

Getting business is the goal behind every marketing communications plan.

A marketing communications plan captures all the activities that will build consumer awareness and demand for a product or a service. This plan covers the intended message, the targeted audience and the costs of the promotional campaign. This detailed plan also discusses the marketing vehicles that will be used to roll out this message, such as broadcast and print advertisements, websites or direct selling. All of these marketing strategies have one goal in mind: attracting customers who will purchase the merchandise or service.

Instructions

1. Identify your audience. This requires research of consumer demographics and behaviors. A marketing team needs to understand how their prospective customers will process information on their product, as well as how that same information will motivate the audience's buying patterns.

2. Clarify the marketing vehicles that will be used. The audience research defines the best methods to reach that group. Integrated marketing utilizes multiple communication channels to spread a unified message so that the product or service is promoted through various methods, such as television and radio spots or direct mailings. That list of marketing channels also includes email messages, trade shows, press releases to the news media or links between online resources. The marketing communication plan has to specify which of these marketing tools will be used, as well as how each medium will be used to reach customers.

3. Be clear about the message. Marketing plans can build awareness or preference toward products. They also can focus on the overall branding image of the company.

4. Outline the costs. This means attaching specific expenses to each marketing vehicle, such as tabulating the costs of running magazine ads and radio spots, staging news conferences and attending trade shows. Map these expenses back to your budget and then adjust accordingly.

5. Establish a timeline. This schedule lists the launch of the promotional message through each of the marketing vehicles that will be used. The timeline also should note who is responsible for implementing the use of each marketing method.

Tips & Warnings

• Use consistent marketing messages so that your company is presenting one unified voice.

• Prioritize your weaker areas. For instance, if your service already is leading the market, there's no need to build an awareness campaign. Instead, use your resources on other facets of your marketing communications plan.

References

• Microsoft: Develop A Marketing Communications Plan
• RD Marketing: Creating an Integrated Marketing Communications Plan