creating a substance abuse communications strategy on a tight budget

Developing a Substance Abuse Communications Strategy on a

Tight Budget

When Every Word Counts

Erin NorvellExecutive Director, Society for Health Communication &Founder & Principal Strategist, Digital Edge Communications

@eedgerton

Digital Edge Communications 2

ALL COMMUNICATION

WORK BEGINS WITH

IDENTIFYING YOUR PRIMARY

AND SECONDARY AUDIENCES

TIGHT BUDGETS OFTEN LEAD TO GENERAL MESSAGES

60% 70%


BUT THIS IS A MISTAKE


IN TODAY’S CROWDED MEDIA LANDSCAPE, WE

ONLY PAY ATTENTION TO THE MESSAGES WE CONSIDER PERSONALLY

RELEVANT

ELABORATION LIKELYHOOD MODELCentral Route (message elabora3on) •  Is the message personally relevant to me? •  Am I able to process the message? •  What biases do I have that will affect how I process this

informa3on? STRONG ATTITUDE CHANGE Peripheral Route (no message elabora3on) •  What exis3ng cues do I have to help me process this

informa3on? WEAK ATTITUDE CHANGE

Source: Richard E. Pe1y and John Cacioppo Digital Edge Communications 5

COMMUNICATION AS A PROCESS

01 Target audiences

02 Communica<on goals, tac<cs and channels

03 Content development & refinement

04 Dissemina<on & engagement

05 Implementa<on & evalua<on


TARGET AUDIENCES: USER-CENTERED DESIGN PRINCIPLES•  Recognize that results depend on making your users (target audiences)

happy

•  Recognize that you are not your users

•  Learn about your users by interac3ng with them

•  Make the findings of this research understandable and ac3onable

•  Make decisions based on this user knowledge

Source: Steve Mulder & Ziv Yaar. The User is Always right. Digital Edge Communications 7

You are NOT your audience.


Personas put a face on user research and translates data and insights into beZer user experiences and beZer websites. Specifically, data should determine: •  What to create •  How it works •  What you say •  What it looks like

TARGET AUDIENCES: PERSONASA persona is a a fic<onal person who represents a target audience.

Digital Edge Communications 9 Source: Steve Mulder & Ziv Yaar. The User is Always right.

TACTICS: SETTING COMMUNICATION GOALS

1.  Raise awareness for the community helpline and increase calls from parents by 20%

2.  Connect parents with one another to build social support networks and encourage ac3on among peers

1.  Increase the use of community resources by teens who are struggling with substance abuse

2.  Connect teens with social support systems that increase their self-‐efficacy in breaking their dependence on substances

1.  Empower teachers to take an ac3ve role in mentoring and social support ac3vi3es


TACTICS: PLAN FOR RELATIONSHIP BUILDING

Channel Audience Rela<onship (We are a…)

Content Frequency

Facebook Parents of teens ages 15-‐18 struggling with substance abuse issues

Suppor3ve friend that helps mo3vate you to take ac3on

Mo3va3onal messages, specific ac3ons to take, resources to learn more

Post 3 3mes per week, review comments daily

Email Teachers and coaches at local high schools

Collabora3ve partner that helps you do more for your students

Campaign materials, toolkits and resources

Monthly email with planning calendar and resources, respond to emails within two days


Calls-‐to-‐ac<on make it clear to the user what you want them to do next.

•  Use calls-‐to-‐ac3on to connect your content across channels. •  Use plain language principles (i.e. first person, direct, concise). Many of the

best calls-‐to-‐ac3on are a single word. •  Tailor your call-‐to-‐ac3on to your audience(s). •  Ensure the call-‐to-‐ac3on looks clickable. •  Give your call-‐to-‐ac3on a prime loca3on, repeat as needed.

CONTENT: CALLS-TO-ACTION


IMPLEMENTATION: TRACKING PROCESS MEASURES

1.  Are we making progress? •  Map metrics to your communica3on goals

2.  Are our numbers good? •  Compare yourself to yourself over 3me

What metrics reports should tell you:


STRATEGY BEFORE TECHNOLOGY


The Society for Health Communica3on is a member-‐driven organiza3on bringing together health communica3on professionals, students, and

scholars from all of our diverse areas of teaching, research and prac3ce.

www.SocietyForHealthCommunica<on.org

JOIN THE SOCIETY TO CONNECT WITH OTHER HEALTH COMMUNICATION PROFESSIONALS

Erin Edgerton Norvell @eedgerton linkedin.com/in/eedgerton [email protected] www.DigitalEdgeCommunications.us www.SocietyforHealthCommunication.org

creating a substance abuse communications strategy on a tight budget

Health & Medicine