Hey Reader,
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Each week in this newsletter I answer a question from a reader. This week's question comes from an internal comms pro in New Zealand:
"I am a bit confused between the difference between a communications plan and a communications strategy. Are they the same thing but just using different words? Googling this isn't helpful as i got such mixed information!"
This is a super question because this can be SO confusing. The words 'strategy' and 'plan' are often used interchangeably in our field which makes it seem like they're one and the same thing. You've probably had a stakeholder approach you with a request like this: “We need a communication strategy for the upcoming office relocation.” But do they actually need a strategy? Or do they actually just need a plan detailing what messages to send, when and through which channels?
And Googling can indeed make it messier because you'll find tons of resources called "strategic communication plans" and a search for a comms strategy template will generally bring you to comms plans templates.
WTF!
No wonder we're all confused. Let's get into it and make sense of it all.
Inside The Curious Tribe, we're a group of internal communicators learning, upskilling and growing together. All while having fun at the same time.
Not only does The Curious Tribe encourage you to become more strategic, but you also get the benefit of learning from others.​
If you're an internal communicator, The Curious Tribe was made for you.
But hey, don't take my word for it - here's what Donna Wallace says about it:
"The Curious Tribe reminds you you're not alone. It allows you to meet people from all over the world who can share different experiences and life lessons that are so rich and fabulous it's crazy you can find it all in one brilliant place.
Being able to reach out to Joanna directly and have her listen, question,and get you to open the doors you didn't realise you had access to is worth its weight in gold!"
Strategy ≠plan
Okay first things first, a comms strategy and a comms plan are not the same thing. They're different and you should really have both, not just one or the other, because they serve different purposes and they complement each other.
Simple definitions first:
- A strategy is your overarching, high-level approach that defines your communication goals to support business objectives.
- A plan is the tactical document that outlines the specific activities, tactics, messages, audiences, channels, timelines etc needed to execute that strategy.
This is why you really need both to be successful, because the strategy sets out what you want to achieve and why this matters to the business, and then the plan turns your strategic objectives into concrete actions to show how you're going to do all of this.
Here's some key differences between a strategy and a plan to help us understand this better.
1. Time frame
The first key difference is about the time frame or the duration. A strategy typically has a longer time frame, often spanning 1 - 3 years (sometimes even up to 5 years). It should align with your organisation’s business strategy timeline and focuses on long-term goals. So for example, if your company has a 3 year business strategy then your internal comms strategy should align with that timeframe.
A plan, however, works on a shorter time frame. It could be for a specific campaign, for a particular project (like that office relocation, for example), or for a short time span like a month or a quarter.
So generally speaking, strategy = long term, plan = short term.
2. Level of detail
Another key difference is the level of detail included in the document. For me, a strategy should be high-level and big picture. It will outline your overall goal for internal communication and a set of very specific objectives to support that goal. The strategy focuses on how internal communication will deliver value to the business but it doesn't get into the nitty gritty.
All of that nitty gritty belongs in a comms plan. This is where you can pull one of your objectives from the strategy and start specifying exactly how you are going to execute on this. How will you make this objective a reality? Here you get really into the weeds, thinking about audiences and key messages and channels and content creation and responsbilities etc. This is what translates your strategic objectives into actions.
3. Flexibility
Another useful difference to know is that a strategy is less flexible than a plan. Remember earlier we said that your comms strategy should be longer-term and aligned to the timeline of your business strategy? Then we can think about it this way: your strategy changes when the business strategy changes. So outside of that, your comms strategy should be pretty stable and consistent. While you might review and refine it annually, it shouldn’t dramatically change unless there’s a significant shift in business direction or external environment.
A comms plan, however, is far more adaptable and flexible and responsive. A comms plan is tactical, and we all know that sometimes certain tactics just don't work, despite our best efforts. So we can be flexible here and think "Well tactic X didn't help us make any progress towards our objective, why don't we change to tactic Y?" You can adjust your plan based on metrics, feedbacks or changing priorities and you can be far more flexible here.
4. Purpose
Another key difference is the purpose of each document. They serve fundamentally different purposes, don't they? Your strategy addresses the “why” and “what” of your internal communications. Your strategy exists to answer questions like: What does the business need from internal communication? What outcomes are we trying to achieve? How is this helping the business to achieve its strategic priorities? What overall approach will help us get there? What are we going to focus on (and what are we NOT going to focus on) to maximise our changes of success?
But your plan is very different. It's tactical. It's going to focus on the “how,”“when,” and “who.” Your plan will answer questions like: What are our key messages? How exactly will we deliver these messages through our channels? When will each communication go out? Who is responsible for each element? What audience are we targeting? What is the deadline?
Now we can see that strategy ≠plan
I think outlining some of these key differences helps to see the difference between a strategy and a plan. They're not the same. Develop your strategy first and follow that with a number of comms plans that execute on that strategy.
Because without a strategy, your plans become a range of random activities lacking a clear direction. And without plans, your strategy remains lovely document collecting dust in the corner.
Now when stakeholders ask you for a comms strategy but really they just need a plan (or vice versa), embrace your curiosity to understand what it is they really need. Are they looking for a long-term overarching approach and objectives for this work (strategy), or are they looking for a set of key messages, channels, audiences, tactics and content to use (plan)?
This conversation will help you understand what they actually need and you can figure out the best way to help them. Depending on the importance of their project to the business, you may end up deeply involved or you may simply give them a self-serve toolkit to develop a simple comms plan themselves.
Some parting words
I hope this helps you think through the difference. If you're looking for a template for a comms strategy outline and a comms plan, you'll find both in my internal comms cheat sheets.
Getting your head around the difference between a strategy and plan will help you clarify your own thinking and help you add more value to the organisation but showing that you’re not just focused on tactics, but that you understand the importance of aligning tactics to strategy to drive business results.
I enjoyed writing this today. Does anyone else just LOVE writing?
Thanks for reading and stay curious,
Joanna