Communication plan: what it is, its 10 parts and a step-by-step example (2026)

A communication plan is the document that sets out what an organization will say, to whom, through which channels, when, and how it will measure whether it worked. It sounds obvious, but many companies communicate on demand: a press release when there is a launch, an interview when a journalist calls, a rushed statement when a crisis breaks. The plan turns that string of reactions into a strategy.

In this guide we explain the ten parts of a communication plan, give an example with timelines and add something most templates still leave out: what artificial intelligence answers when someone asks about your brand.

110150250300400–480

Five countries in the region were measured; the rest have no data. Spain: 480.Source: Google Ads via DataForSEO, monthly average, queried November 13, 2026

View the data as a table

Mexico	480
Peru	320
Colombia	260
Chile	110
Argentina	110

What a communication plan is and what it is for

A communication plan translates business goals into communication goals. If the company wants to enter a new market, the plan defines how to become known there; if it wants to attract talent, how to explain why it is worth working there. It can be external (customers, press, authorities), internal (employees) or both. What matters is that it has an owner, deadlines and a way to measure. In a mid-sized company, the plan usually sits with the communications or marketing department, with the CEO as main spokesperson and an annual budget approved by the board. A good plan fits in ten to fifteen pages: if it needs a hundred, nobody will read it. It should also be reviewed at least once a year, or whenever the business changes direction.

One piece of context is worth keeping in mind in Chile. According to the Reuters Institute Digital News Report 2026, only 34% of Chileans trust the news, two points less than the year before. With low trust, the message needs proof: data, cases, credible spokespeople and a presence in outlets the public actually respects.

34%trust the news in Chile (−2 points in a year)

96%of Chile's population uses the internet

84%of AI citations come from earned media

Source: Reuters Institute, Digital News Report 2026; Muck Rack, Generative Pulse, May 2026

View the data as a table

trust the news in Chile (−2 points in a year)	34%
of Chile's population uses the internet	96%
of AI citations come from earned media	84%

The 10 parts of a communication plan

The first four are the ones most often skipped. Without a diagnosis, goals are made up; without defined audiences, messages become generic. A good exercise is to write the core message in one sentence and test whether a journalist would understand it without context.

A simple matrix helps organize audiences and messages: in the rows, each audience (customers, press, employees, authorities, investors); in the columns, what they need to know, which message they get, who delivers it and through which channel. If two audiences get exactly the same message through the same channel, the plan is probably too generic. If a key audience has no row, the plan has a blind spot. In regulated industries such as energy, health or financial services, the authorities row is usually the most neglected one, and the one that costs most in a crisis.

How to build a communication plan step by step

Here is a sample calendar for a mid-sized company starting from scratch. Timelines are indicative and depend on the size of the team. What matters is that each stage has an owner and a due date, and that the first measurement arrives before month three, so there is time to correct course. A plan that waits a full year for its first report usually discovers its mistakes too late.

1. Month 1DiagnosisAudit of media, social, Google and what ChatGPT and Gemini say about the brand.
2. Month 1Goals and audiencesThree measurable goals and an audience map with its message.
3. Month 2Messages and spokespeopleCore message, proof points and trained spokespeople.
4. Months 2 and 3First actionsA study or proprietary data, a press release, media stories and site content.
5. Month 3First measurementStories published, links, brand searches and AI mentions.
6. Months 4 to 12Monthly cycleCalendar, adjustments and a board report every quarter.

Source: By ESBUENISIMO LINKS

The step that pays off most is having something to say. A proprietary study, market data or an expert opinion backed by figures gives the journalist a reason to publish, and gives the brand content that keeps being cited for months. It is the foundation of good public relations: fewer press releases without news and more useful information.

In 2026, the diagnosis also includes AI

Until recently, the diagnosis in a communication plan covered press, social media and Google. Today you need to add one question: what does ChatGPT answer when someone asks about my brand or my industry? Those answers are built from what third parties publish. According to Muck Rack, 84% of ChatGPT, Claude and Gemini citations come from earned media and only 0.3% from paid content.

That changes two things in the plan. In channels, digital press becomes a priority again, because it is the source AI respects most. And in a crisis, the protocol must include checking what AI says in the hours that follow, because that answer can stay unchanged for weeks unless new stories appear to correct it, as we explain in our guide to crisis management in AI.

How to measure the results

The Barcelona Principles 3.0 from AMEC, the international association for the measurement of communication, call for measuring outcomes rather than activity, and reject advertising value equivalency as a measure of value. In practice, a plan can track these metrics:

The two metrics in the middle of the table connect communication with SEO: a linked story in an authoritative outlet helps Google trust the brand's site and also gives AI a source to cite. To report progress, follow the logic of a good press release in Chile: every action with a measurable result.

Common mistakes when building the plan

• Goals that cannot be measured, such as “improve our image”. Better: “appear in 12 industry stories and in ChatGPT's answers to three key questions”.
• A single channel. Relying only on social media leaves the brand out of Google and AI.
• No crisis protocol until the crisis arrives.
• Measuring only at year end, when there is no time left to correct course.
• Press releases with no news. If the text is useless to a journalist, it does not get published, and if it is not published, neither Google nor AI reads it.

At ESBUENISIMO LINKS we help execute the media side of the plan: our press agency earns coverage in Chilean and Latin American media, and with esbuenisimolinks.com/link-building-chile that coverage adds links that build authority on Google and in AI.