What are the benefits and challenges of stakeholder mapping for strategic communications?

1 Why stakeholder mapping matters

Stakeholder mapping is an ongoing process that should inform your communication strategy and tactics. It can help you to align your objectives and messages with your stakeholders' interests and concerns, identify potential risks, opportunities, and gaps in your communication plan, segment and prioritize your stakeholders, develop appropriate channels, methods, and frequency of communication for each stakeholder group, and monitor and evaluate the effectiveness and impact of your communication efforts.

2 How to do stakeholder mapping

Stakeholder mapping is a process that involves four steps: identifying, analyzing, mapping, and engaging. To identify stakeholders, you can use brainstorming, research, interviews, surveys, or other methods. Analyzing each stakeholder's level of power, influence, and interest in your project, goal, or issue can be done by assessing criteria such as their resources, authority, knowledge, attitude, or behavior. Visualizing stakeholders on a chart or diagram, based on their relative position and importance, can be done by using different shapes, colors, or symbols to represent different attributes or categories of stakeholders. Finally, planning and implementing communication activities for each stakeholder group, based on their needs, expectations, and preferences, can be done by using stakeholder profiles, communication matrices, or action plans.

3 Stakeholder mapping examples

To illustrate how stakeholder mapping works in practice, here are some examples from different contexts and sectors. For instance, a project manager can use a stakeholder map to identify and manage the expectations and interests of the project sponsors, clients, team members, suppliers, regulators, and other stakeholders. Similarly, a public relations specialist can use a stakeholder map to identify and influence the media, public, policymakers, competitors, and other stakeholders. Additionally, a social change agent can use a stakeholder map to identify and mobilize the allies, opponents, influencers, and beneficiaries of a social issue or cause, and to design and implement advocacy and awareness campaigns.

4 Stakeholder mapping templates

To help you get started with your own stakeholder mapping, here are some templates that you can use or modify for your own purposes. The power-interest matrix plots stakeholders on a two-by-two matrix, based on their level of power and interest in your project, goal, or issue. This helps you prioritize and communicate with stakeholders accordingly. The power-influence matrix plots stakeholders on a two-by-two matrix, based on their level of power and influence on your project, goal, or issue. This helps you identify and engage with key decision-makers and opinion-leaders. The salience model plots stakeholders on a three-dimensional diagram, based on their level of power, urgency, and legitimacy in relation to your project, goal, or issue. This helps you understand and balance the different claims and pressures that your stakeholders have.