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ANNEX 4 COMMUNICATIONS STRATEGY: EVALUATION TOOL
Communications objectives
- Are they clear? Relevant and appropriate to the programme/project/campaign?
- Are they intended:
- to change behaviours and attitudes
- to raise awareness
- to help achieve a policy objective
- to maximise compliance with legislation
- to gain support and buy-in of stakeholders?
- Realistic?
- Measurable: have performance indicators & evaluation criteria been built in at this stage?
Target audiences
- Comprehensively identified - going beyond usual suspects?
- Prioritised?
- Are communications balanced across different stakeholder groups?
Key messages
- Concise
- Framed from the perspective of recipient
- Brief & in plain English [& other languages]; relevant to aim
- Consistent
- Tell a story - use of narrative, human interest, imagery
- Strategic targeting & consistency are key
Evaluation measures and on-going amendment of strategy
- Is there a baseline ( e.g. communications audit at start, preferably done by someone else) and post-campaign measurement built in?
- What measures will be used?
- Are target audiences consulted about how/when etc they want info, & how useful info they receive is?
- Are timescales & milestones for achievement in place?
- Who will conduct evaluation and how will it feed into amendment of on-going strategy?
- Are resources allocated to evaluation - funds & people?
Budget
- Are sufficient resources allocated to communications?
Communications methods - tools & activities
- Is there a range, tailored to different audiences?
- Have stakeholders been consulted about preferred methods of communication?
- Is use of website maximised - range of audiences; and to achieve strategic aims?
Lobbying
- Using range of techniques appropriately
- Do they have champions?
- Aware of & acting within OSCAR guidelines
- Innovative & timely
- Use of partnerships (including less obvious ones)
The final element of the evaluation tool is to check whether the communications strategy is Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic and Time-bound ( SMART).
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