Most corporate communications strategy documents are forty slides and are opened twice: at sign-off, and at renewal. The version that changes behaviour is one page that a new hire could act on in their first week.
Six blocks.
1. The business objective
Not a communications objective. Communications does not have objectives of its own — it has contributions to somebody else's. "Support entry into the UK market in H1" or "reduce churn in the mid-market segment". Write the number you are contributing to.
2. Audiences, ranked
Three at most, in priority order, with the decision each one makes about you. Customers decide to buy; talent decides to join; regulators decide to trust. Ranking forces trade-offs; unranked audiences produce messaging that speaks to everyone and moves no one.
3. Message architecture
One core proposition, three supporting pillars. Each pillar written as a claim a sceptic could challenge — because a claim nobody could challenge is not a claim, it is decoration.
4. Proof
For every pillar, name the evidence: a customer outcome, a figure, an independent endorsement, an accreditation, a case study. If a pillar has no proof, it is an ambition. Move it to the roadmap and say so.
5. Channels and cadence
Where each audience actually pays attention, and how often you will show up. Weekly, monthly, quarterly. Consistency beats intensity; four thoughtful pieces a quarter outperform twenty rushed ones and are far easier to sustain.
6. Measurement
Two leading indicators and one lagging one. Leading might be qualified inbound enquiries or share of voice against two named competitors. Lagging is usually revenue, retention or cost of hire. Set the review date on the page.
The test
Hand the page to somebody in finance. If they can explain what communications is for and how it will be judged, it works. If they ask what any of it means, rewrite it.
What the page is not
It is not the plan. The plan — campaigns, calendars, budgets, owners — sits underneath and changes constantly. The page above it should be stable for at least twelve months. If the strategy changes every quarter, it was never a strategy; it was a list of activity.
Getting started
Draft it in ninety minutes with the leadership team in the room. Argue about audience ranking until it is settled — that argument is the strategy. Everything after it is logistics.