How Do I Develop the Road Map?
Creating a Strategic Communications Plan
Developing a strategic communications plan will provide you with a roadmap for the design and implementation of your transportation and air quality program activities.
Your plan should be designed to meet the information needs of your target audience(s), which you can identify using the market research discussed in the "Research" and "Community Assessment" sections of this toolkit. Its scope will be determined by the resources you and your coalition partners have designated for the effort. Use this worksheet to help you develop a draft plan. You may wish to enlist the services of experts and consultants to assist your staff in devising this document.
Once you have a draft in hand, hold a meeting with your coalition partners to solicit their recommendations. Incorporating suggestions from your partners will help solidify their support for the program. Consider your plan to be a working document that will be revised over time as your program moves forward.
Key Components of the Plan:
Establish Communications Goals and Objectives
Begin by broadly defining the overall issue or problem your program will address (e.g., a high percentage of air pollution is caused by individuals making optional trips during peak drive-time in poorly maintained vehicles).
After reviewing the goals and objectives of the It All Adds Up to Cleaner Air initiative, list any additional goals and objectives designed to address community-specific issues. In order for your program to be successful, these should be realistic, clear, and action-oriented.
Program goals should be specific and measurable where possible (e.g., increase by five percent the number of drivers who regularly maintain their cars.) Your objectives are the intermediate steps needed to achieve the goal. They may be tied to increasing awareness or knowledge, changing attitudes, improving skills, or reducing barriers (e.g., increase by fifteen percent the number of drivers education classes that include car maintenance information in their curriculum).
Define Your Target Audience
During the research phase of It All Adds Up, we learned that the message attributes that were most motivating (convenience, effectiveness, and simplicity of specific actions) were those that appealed to a very broad segment of the general public. Focus group research also showed that people were very sensitive to the message tone and manner. These findings played an important role in guiding creative development of the print and broadcast advertisements produced for It All Adds Up to Cleaner Air.
Often, the primary audience for a message will be a subset of the general population (e.g., the driving public.) But you may have identified more than one group for whom your message is relevant. Consider the secondary audience(s) within your community that you plan to reach with your program.
Your secondary audience is comprised of those who can influence the primary audience and help implement the program (e.g., environmental organizations, employers, teachers, the media).
Further define specific segments of your target audience(s) by their behavior or other considerations. For example, among the general public, are you trying to reach people who currently drive alone to work every day? Who carpool or take the bus once a week? Who only pay attention to their cars' maintenance when a problem arises? Also, consider factors such as race, ethnicity, gender, age, income, geography, and language. For example, you may be interested in designing a program to reach men ages 22-30 who only get their vehicles serviced when there is a problem.
Identify Key Messages, Materials, and Activities
In addition to the key messages emphasized in the It All Adds Up materials, briefly summarize any additional information, attitudes, or skills you want to communicate to your community and/or specific target audience(s). Describe any supplementary materials that need to be developed based on the channels you select in the next step. For example, if you plan to generate media coverage, consider creating a press kit or other media materials.
In this section you will also define major activities to be conducted, such as strategy development meetings, coalition partnership activities, media outreach, a kick-off event, community outreach activities, presentations and promotional efforts, production of marketing materials, and advertising campaign plans.
Select Communications Channels
In the "Community Assessment" section of this guide, you identified the most credible and popular communications channels among your target audience(s). For your plan, you should list those that will best achieve your objectives (e.g., brochures, direct mail, news stories/editorials, posters, public service or paid advertising, curricula, etc.) To help you choose which channels to use, keep the following criteria in mind:
- Communications objectives. Are you trying to raise awareness, build skills, or create a social norm?
- Target audience(s). Does a newspaper or magazine have more sway with your target audience than television? How many people does each channel reach?
- Cost. Your budget may influence the type of distribution channels you select.
- Multiple exposures to messages. Consider how often a media outlet might feature your message (e.g., multiple airings of an advertisement or a series of feature articles).
- Use a mix of channels. Consider an appropriate mix of channels to reach the target audience(s) over time. For example, a news story will generally run only once, while a radio advertisement may receive repeated airings.
Identify Coalition Partners
As discussed in the "Who Can I ask for Help?" section of this toolkit, working with other organizations and individuals who care about this issue is a cost-effective way to extend the reach and credibility of your program and messages. List all of your potential coalition partners in your plan, which may include:
- Local government agencies
- Business or industry organizations
- Transportation and environmental groups
- Consumer and civic organizations
- Advertising and public relations agencies
- Local media
Describe suggested roles for your partners (e.g., provide in-kind services, donate free airtime, distribute program materials). Delineate your plan for recruiting and sustaining their support for the initiative as well as a method of measuring and evaluating the level and content of their involvement.
Determine an Evaluation Plan
Assessing your program's effectiveness is critical. A strong evaluation will help you to determine if your program has met its goals and objectives; demonstrate the program's effectiveness to your supporters; guide adjustments to your program; and support future funding.
Your plan should describe:
- your approach for reviewing existing research;
- any plans you may have to conduct additional surveys and focus groups to explore your target audiences' current knowledge, attitudes, and behaviors (KAB), as well as formative research to test your concepts and materials;
- a process evaluation that assesses the development, management, and effectiveness of your program implementation; and
- a strategy for conducting an outcome evaluation that measures the program's achievement of goals and objectives. Typically, outcome evaluation is conducted through a pre- and post-KAB survey of your target audience(s). Identify the market research firm or professional responsible for conducting the survey. Additional information can be found in the "Evaluation" section of this toolkit.
Create a Timeline
Develop a detailed timeline to keep your program, staff, and partners on track. Build in reasonable review time for all products and activities and require involved parties to review the schedule to ensure that they can carry out their responsibilities within the proposed timeframe.
Determine Staffing and Management
Create an organizational chart that takes into consideration all aspects of your program's management, operational requirements, and staffing needs. Include specific staff responsibilities and anticipated coalition partner roles. Ensure accountability by identifying a project leader for each product or activity.
Create a Budget
List all your anticipated expenses using the It All Adds Up Strategic Communications Plan Worksheet as a starting point. As well as your own agency's resources, list potential funding sources and gifts (e.g., in-kind donations, corporate funding, donated or discounted materials and services, and coalition partners contributions.)