1. Communication Strategy and Tools

2. Communication Design Goals Target Audience Key Messages User Scenarios
This is the foundation behind Communication Camp. Our goal is to get participants to intentionally think about their goals for behavior change, their target audience, their key messages to encourage behavior change and user scenarios that will help determine the ways to deliver the right message, at the right time, in the right place.

3. Communication Design What are you trying to change?
Who do you need to reach to change it?
What do you need to say to get them to act (or not act)?
When do you need to say it to get them to act (or not act)?
You need to answer these 4 questions for effective communication, starting with “What are you trying to change?’

4. Goals Short Term Medium Term Long Term Learning Awareness Knowledge
Attitudes
Skills
Medium Term
Actions
Behavior
Practice
Policies
Social Action
Long Term
Conditions
Social
Economic
Civic
Environmental
Medium and long term objectives focus on changing actions and conditions. For your communication project, we want you to set a goal that aligns with either a medium term or long term objective. A goal that expresses a desire for change.

5. Communication Design What are you trying to change?
Who do you need to reach to change it?
What do you need to say to get them to act (or not act)?
When do you need to say it to get them to act (or not act)?
Once you know what you are trying to change, you need to ask who you need to reach to change it.

6. Understanding Audience
Basic Principle of Communication
Develop messages most likely to resonate with them
Find how and where to reach them more frequently
Target Audience
Behavior change is hard! We need to be convincing. That means coming up with messages that resonate with people, but different groups of people respond to messages differently. To develop effective messages, we need to know specifically who we are talking to. Having a target audience in mind can also help us determine how and where to reach them. Different groups of people find and use information differently.

7. Understanding Audience
Demographics
Psychographics
Gender
Interests
Race
Personality
Age
Values
Employment status
Attitudes
Income
Lifestyle
Here are some ways to start to narrow down a target audience. The more specific you can get the more likely you are to come up with a message that will resonate with your audience. When teams ask themselves this question, they often start with a very generic group like “farmers” or “parents.” Think hard about your behavior change goals, who you need to reach to make those changes happen and with which groups you might make the biggest impact. Now use demographics and psychographics to narrow down your audience. Defining a target audience may make you feel you are excluding people. Try to think of it not as excluding, but as being effective. Vague messages aimed at generic audiences just don’t work. You need to focus on a specific target audience to craft messages that will illicit a change in their behavior.

8. Communication Design What are you trying to change?
Who do you need to reach to change it?
What do you need to say to get them to act (or not act)?
When do you need to say it to get them to act (or not act)?
Now that we have a target audience, we need to figure out what to say to get them to change…to take action or to stop doing what they are doing.

9. Creating Key Messages What do you want people to do?
How do you want them to do it?
Focus in on your behavior change goals. What do you want your target audience to do? How do you want them to do it?
Photo by William Neuheisel,

10. Creating Key Messages
Focus less on what you want people to know and more on what you want them to do
Shrink the change – don’t give too many options
Provide a roadmap – what to do and how to do it
These and other insights about behavior change are included in the book “Switch” by Chip and Dan Heath. Here are 3 things from the book to focus on when creating your key messages.

11. Why Are Restroom Hand-washing Signs By the Sinks?
So why are restrooms handwashing signs by the sinks? I heard this question discussed on the Freakonomics podcast. Let’s think about the goal of this sign. What behavior is it trying to change? (not washing hands after using the bathroom) Who is the target audience? (people who do not wash their hands) What is the right time and place to reach people who do not wash their hands? Are people who don’t wash their hands at the sink?

12. Communication Design What are you trying to change?
Who do you need to reach to change it?
What do you need to say to get them to act (or not act)?
When do you need to say it to get them to act (or not act)?
So we can come up with the greatest key message ever, but if we don’t deliver it at the right time and in the right place, it will accomplish nothing.

13. Situation
What is the situation or environment the audience members are in?
Why will reaching them with your key messages lead to the change you are trying to affect?
You can start to answer the question, “When and where do you need to say it to get them to act?” by imagining the situation or environment your target audience might be in when they are most ready to change their behavior.

14. User Scenarios
Combine user demographics and psychographics with specific detailed situations where learning and behavior change might occur.
Affect user behavior by communicating
the right message
in the right context
at the right time
User scenarios are one way to imagine that situation. Think of a specific member of your target audience and create a story around her. Why hasn’t he made the behavior change you desire? What’s stopping her? What is the specific situation and/or environment he is in that makes him ready to really listen to your message? A user scenario can help you improve your message, and determine how and when to deliver it.

15. Communication Design What are you trying to change?
Who do you need to reach to change it?
What do you need to say to get them to act (or not act)?
When do you need to say it to get them to act (or not act)?
The answers to these 4 questions are critical to communicating for behavior change. They give you your goals, target audience, key messages and user scenario. Everything we do in this camp and every communication effort you make for this project should be guided by these 4 elements of communication design.

16. Mass Media Know little about the audience Stick to key messages
Best suited to awareness

17. Web May assume audience is seeking info More opportunity for depth
Don’t lose key messages
Think mobile

18. Email/SMS Marketing Can be more targeted Audience has self selected
Able to build and reinforce messages over time
Mailchimp
Remind

19. Social Media Audience can be engaged Well suited to storytelling
Building relationships

20. Social Capital

21. Social Capital Deposits

22. Social Capital Withdrawals

23. Keeping a Positive Balance

24. Think strategically. Act with intent.
Define goals, target audience, key messages and user scenarios
Use checklists, content calendars and other planning tools

25. Photo Credits
Slide 16: “#161/366” by Robert McGoldrick,
Slide 18: “#123/366” by Robert McGoldrick,
Slide 19: “Drum Party” by the great 8,
Slide 20: “Uncorrected Proof – Not For Sale” by Tara Hunt,
Slide 21: “int1a” by cimddwc,
Slide 22: “Piggy Bank” by Pascal,
Slide 23: “Charles Darwin, Meet Charles Darwin” by Alan,

26. “Communication Strategy”
Questions?
More Information
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“Communication Strategy”