Throughout our lives we make many plans. We plan weddings and vacations. We have retirement plans, house plans, and more. All of these plans guide us through a process. They provide a road map we can follow from point A to B to ensure we don’t miss any critical stops along the way. This process of structuring activities also applies to the work we do with clients. When we begin with a plan the benefits are evident. They result in cohesive programs that can be applied across the media required in an integrated marketing approach. So what’s involved in developing a plan? Identify Your Key Audiences: Knowing who your most important audiences are and understanding how current associations compare to your ideal experience allows you to develop a program that will resonate with these groups and find the best way to reach them. Define Your Position: Clearly articulating your market, brand, differentiators and how you support these will guide the approach to communicating with your audiences. Develop Recommendations: Finding the most effective means to communicate with your audiences may include tactics, organizational tune-ups, or relationship management. These recommendations begin to determine the budget you need to implement the plan, and a realistic frame of time. Message and Visuals: Creating the program begins with the key messages and the tone and look that will be used across communications. Knowing how they will be applied, we can develop assets that have multiple uses and messages that can be tailored to each audience. Deliver the Message: Whether it’s a phased approach or full launch, working within a plan provides the framework to ensure the program is unified and delivered as intended. Planning pays off. It’s an investment of time and budget up front but the value is evident in the efficiencies provided once implementation begins. With clear goals, and good information, mapping point A to B is cost-effective and and the best way to get great results.