Case study: How to define an online communications strategy

Case study:

Defining an online communications strategy

Step 1: Define your general comms strategy

                                                                         Click on image to enlarge

This case study for the CGIAR Challenge Program on Water
and Food, uses a strategic approach looking at the “big picture” overall communications strategy as a first step, before honing in on details.

Step 1: Define your general communications strategy

In this first part, we will define the basis, the first steps of a communications strategy. These steps can be applied to any type of media such as printed matter, promotional events,…

In the second step, we will zoom from the general communications strategy into the online communications strategy.

Step 1.1: Identify your key messages

Before anything else, a crucial question needs to be answered: What are your key messages? What do you want to convey?

This discussion often touches on the core being of any organisation: Why is your work important? What makes you different from other organisations? What is your contribution to the “greater good”?

The art is to distill a limited set of clear messages around which your communications strategy will be structured. These will be the foundations of your communications outreach: all your communications efforts should be geared – directly or indirectly – to convey one or more of these messages.

Example: Defining the key messages for CPWF

Knowing CPWF’s mission is “Improve the livelihoods of the rural poor through better water management”, we defined the overall message as: “There is enough water to sustain food, energy, industrial and environmental needs during the 21st century.”

More specifically, CPWF’s added value is:

to improve the livelihoods (including food production) of the rural poor through better water management. Water management provides a range of options (a basket of tools) to improve rural livelihoods.

to improve the management of water resources, by encouraging the stake holders to share benefits more equitably. This can be achieved through increased dialogue, bringing people together.

We bring and support institutional innovations in support technical solutions

Note: these messages were early drafts. They were subsequently debated and adapted in later, more in-depth, discussions with the management team.

Step 1.2: Identify your target groups

Having defined your key messages, aiming for the highest impact of your messages, who are you targeting? Who should read your messages?

At this point, we only want key target groups. In the next step, we will customize our overall messages and tools, for these target groups. Think also why you want these as your target audience. Are each of these really your target, or “a means to get to your target” (as the “media” target group would be, for instance)?

Example: Defining the key target groups for CPWF

Implementers, development intermediaries, farmer agencies: A lot of the work we do, can be implemented in the field, for the benefit of the smallholder farmer. If we can reach those actors working with farmers, we will reach the farmers, who will benefit from our work.

Researchers: scientists working on water-related issues, on food security and agriculture.

Youth, students, young professionals: As the young people are our future, we want to sensitize them for our causes, engage them. Specifically for students as “the scientists for the future”: we want to convey the importance of our issues, and encourage them to take up studies in these areas.

Policy advisers/Policy makers: As a lot of the “water and food”-related issues are closely linked with policies around water management, we want to influence those who define or can change these policies.

Development investors: We want to influence institutions who invest in food productivity, water management and poverty alleviation, to sensitize them for our core issues, link them with the partners in our network.

Private sector: As our work concentrates on multi-sectorial use of water, the private sector plays an important role, as a mediator, catalyst, partner or enabler.

Current donors: as a feedback mechanism on the work we do.

Internal audience: our own staff, our scientists and our partners. We target them in our communications strategy as a means to engage them, feel them bonded with our common cause.

CGIAR: As CPWF is part of a larger organisation, the CGIAR, we want our peers to read our content, as a way to convey the work we do, show our impact, share our processes, and get feedback on each.

Media: More as an “intermediate target”, the media plays a key role in conveying our messages to the other target audiences.

After defining the key target groups, we further refined each group to identify specific target organisations, individuals, institutions,… as described in an earlier post.

Step 1.3: Identify your communications tools

Now that you have defined your key messages and target audience, what tools do you have, or need to have, to convey these messages?

These might be conventional tools like press releases and brochures, but we also want to make optimal use of your online presence: your website, your social media tools.

At this point, it might also be worth to check also our social media strategy case study for inspiration.

Example: Identifying the CPWF communications tools

W: Website, Twitter, Facebook, blogs, LinkedIn

P: Personal interactions

PR: PRess releases and media interviews

PUB: PUBlications: books, scientific articles

V: Videos

E: E-Letter: a periodic update sent to our mailing list

R: Repositories: our own online storage space for our documents, articles and data

F: Flyers and other promotional material

B: Brochures

E: Events: organised by us, and fora in which we participate

T: Topic Working Groups: part of our own internal organisation, our staff working together with partners around specific topics

S: Slides: online presentations

PH: PHotos: online storage of our pictures

I: Infographics and other visual representations of data, issues, research

Y: Yammer: our internal Twitter-like tool

Note: The bold-ed abbreviations will be re-used in the table in the next step

Step 1.4: Identify your messages and tools for each target group

Now it is time to refine your key messages for each of your target groups. How do you translate the general messages (Step 1.1) into specific messages, geared to the individual groups you want to reach?

Concurrently, taking your plethora of tools at your disposal (Step 1.3), which are the best suited to reach each target group (Step 1.2), either to convey your messages, or to stir up interactions, discussions, get feedback?

Example: Identifying the CPWF tools and messages for each target group

Audience             Message              Tools

Implementers  

We can link you to development investors. In the course of your development work, keep in mind…(our three key messages). We can prove this is what works

V, W

Researchers      

Look at the way we do things. If you like it, come and join the network. This can be a mutually beneficial/symbiotic relationship

T, E, L, R, PUB, W

Youth   

Together, we can change the world. Be revolutionaries by promoting our core messages. Fly the flag.

W, S, PH, V

Policy advisors  

When making and refining policy, don’t forget…(our three key messages)

E, P, PUB, I

Development investors – Private sector               

Here are our core messages. For each of these three areas we have a range of tools, approaches and technical solutions to advance these ideas. We can demonstrate that these work and can be replicated. In addition, we have the expertise and a wide network of partners in which you can invest

E, PH, V

Donors

Keep investing in our program, invest more if you can. And invest in our future, in the basins we work and our projects. If you’re interested, we can show you how our work is having an impact (through our three core messages)

E, P, L, V, W

Internal audience           

CPWF is a movement of shared interests. We are all a part of a sustainable community and everyone has a role to play in advancing our messages. This is the way we work.

T, Y, L, R

CGIAR  

This is the impact of our work, of our research

T, L, PUB

Media  

General advocacy, geared towards the other target groups, conveying our key messages

E, PR, I, PH, W

Note: The tool abbreviations refer back to those tools we defined in the previous step

In the second part of this case study, we will zoom from the general into the online communications strategy.

The CGIAR Challenge Program on Water and Food (CPWF) kindly allowed me to use examples and extracts from our communications strategy workshop.

All examples attributed to CPWF in this case study, should be read as draft ideas. I published them in their raw format which doesn’t necessarily reflect the final and approved versions.

With a sincere thanks to the CPWF staff in the workshop: Alain Vidal, Amanda Harding, Tonya Schultz, Michael Victor and Ilse Pukinskis.

Michael and Ilse also contributed large parts to this post and were crucial in the success of the workshop.