Media Strategy Planning

           

The focus of this section, Media Strategy Planning, is a ten-step method for creating a media strategy as developed by the Safe Energy Communication Council (SECC).  The fundamental purpose is to develop an effective media or communications plan to help you and your group reach a specific goal of an educational or advocacy effort.  The steps in this simple planning guide are as follows:

 

                        • 1: Get Organized: Form A Media Committe

                        • 2: Specifically Define Your Goal(s)/Objective(s)

                        • 3: Target Key Audiences: Primary & Secondary  

                        • 4: Craft and Test Theme(s) and Message(s)

                        • 5: Assess Resources: Human, Financial & Time

                        • 6: Assess and Choose Media Avenues/Tactics

                        • 7: Design Media Action Plan/Timeline/Flow Chart

                        • 8: Take Assignments, Commit to the Timeline & Do It!

                        • 9: Mid-course Corrections: Review and Revise.

                        • 10: Re-Implement

 

For our purposes, in creating a media strategy that will incorporate the ten steps, it is important to approach the effort with a strategic planning method. With a strategic planning method, you identify a goal and each step you take leads to the goal by successively building on the previous step. 

 

Step #1: Get Organized: Form A Media Committee

 

The first step in the media strategy process is forming a media committee.  The core function of the media committee is creating and implementing your committee's media plan, be it for short-term events or longer-term educational efforts. 

 

The committee is an avenue not only for people participation, but also relieves your workload.  The second aspect is critically dependent upon your ability to delegate - remember to delegate, delegate…delegate!

 

Consider your own experiences and that of other members of your environmental organization.  Do you have a media committee now?   If so, what kinds of backgrounds and experiences with the media do the people have who serve on the committee?  Have you have served on a media committee?   How many of your group's members are now or have been in groups with media committees?    

 

When establishing a media committee consider inviting people who are committed to and perhaps have worked on an environmental education issue.  Recruit people who have communications expertise, but may not be actively involved in your group's agenda.  For example, consider asking a retired or freelance journalist to join or a journalist who is working in another subject area, or a travel editor who enjoys the environment, a public relations account executive, an advertising professional, a high school debate coach or a communications professor from your local community college.   Individuals are generally willing to give of their time if they have an interest in your agenda (and if delegated specific tasks to accomplish), but you should be mindful that certain occupations may have conflicts of interest. 

 

Another essential function of the media committee is to recruit, select and train suitable spokesperson(s).  Ask the group to identify important characteristics of an appropriate spokesperson, reinforcing such important communication traits as knowledgeable, presentable, thoughtful and articulate.  Training of the spokesperson is not only a vital function for the committee, but also can be an effective teambuilding opportunity. 

 

Finally, make the committee meetings as fun, stimulating, engaging; well organized and short as possible.

 

Step #2: Specifically Define Your Goal(s)/Objective(s)

 

What's the goal or precise objective your group wants to achieve?  The more specifically you define your goal, the greater the likelihood of success.  With your media committee, reach a consensus on the objectives so everyone involved is clear about the goal you are working towards.  This is an important, though often overlooked step.  If you create a goal that is grandiose, impractical, unclear or uninspiring, you will likely lose the interest and/or participation of your committee members.

 

When developing a media goal and the steps to achieve that goal, remember to think, plan and prioritize strategically.  In other words, in order to reach the established goal make sure that every media activity builds upon each preceding media activity that you are undertaking.  So, once you have defined and determined your goal, create the steps that, when taken together, will enable you to reach the goal.

 

Step #3: Targeting Key Audiences: Primary & Secondary  

 

This simple model identifies two basic "audiences," to target - a primary and a secondary audience.  Classification of your target audiences makes it easier to achieve your goal - be it trying to educate elected officials or get the local or state board of education to approve a standard for environmental education.

           

A primary audience is comprised of the decision-maker(s) - those who will actually make a decision that's going to affect you and your environmental education issue.  It could be the President of the Board of Education, the county commissioners, state legislators, members of Congress or the state or U.S. Department of Education.  The secondary audiences are those defined groups of people (i.e., teachers, students, parents, local business leaders, etc.) that you will (1) identify, (2) educate, and (3) get involved by using the media.

 

When determining who the primary and secondary audiences are, you are essentially "targeting your audiences."  With this model, your goal is to use the media to engage the "targeted" secondary groups of people to take action to educate the primary decision-making audience.

                       

When determining who the primary and secondary audiences are, you are essentially "targeting your audiences."  Especially during educational outreach efforts, remember to integrate and reinforce the three "tions": information, emotion and action. These are the three important elements for your messages to have in order to communicate with the different ways people evaluate and respond to messages.

 

When working on highly targeted outreach and educational efforts, demographic data (i.e., age, gender, race, religion, education, income, employment, geographic location, etc.) is helpful.  Such data is available from census materials, sales departments of radio stations, TV stations, state and university libraries, college survey research centers and Web sites. Ask your media committee members if any of them have used demographic data in their work at any time?  Where did they find it?  How did they use it?  How did it help in their educational effort?

           

Step #4: Craft and Test Theme(s) and Message(s)

 

The Hooks, Lines and Sinkers  method is a simple yet functional way of getting a handle on creating educational outreach messages to your targeted audience (which may well be the general public).  Keep in mind that you need to identify your target audience(s) before working on the appropriate message(s). 

 

As you begin to develop messages, explore the types of people that you and your group could talk with informally to bounce off some message ideas.  Family and friends not normally involved in environmental education topics or issues can be excellent sources of constructive feedback regarding what works and what doesn't about your messages.  The use of existing polling data to help in the crafting of your messages can also contribute to effective communication with your target audiences. 

 

If we all had tons of money, we could sit back and let professionals test our message(s) with full surveys, cluster analyses, piggyback polls, and focus groups.  While these tools are often unfeasible because of the cost factor (as well as their inability in addressing cultural nuances) there are some ways to do them inexpensively, such as the use of Mall Intercepts. Have you or any members of your group worked with a university or community college class to actually conduct a poll?  If you know a faculty member in a sociology department or political science department, encourage them to incorporate conducting your poll, survey or focus group into their curriculum for the coming year.  This is not only a cost saving approach, but you'll be employing the talents of an individual skilled in survey research to oversee the process to make sure you're getting reliable, valid data.

 

Step #5: Assess Resources: Human, Financial & Time

 

This is one of the most critical elements in implementing a media strategy; however, it often receives the least amount of attention.  As in any planning endeavor – media or otherwise –careful evaluation and assessment, in advance, of one's resources is crucial for success.  Detail the considerations that need to be addressed to ensure that enough resources, such as personnel, finances and time, are allocated or need to be obtained by your organization to be effective with your media plan.  You can create the most complex and detailed media strategy, but it will fail without proper attention to the resources to implement it.

 

Step #6: Assess and Choose Media Avenues/Tactics

 

The avenues for media coverage are staggering in number and being able to take advantage of them is the real rationale for media planning and media work in general. According to the Bacon's media directories, in just Pennsylvania alone there are 310 weekly newspapers, 84 daily newspapers, 254 FM and 184 AM radio stations, 51 television stations and 68 cable systems.  In addition to these services there are national and international outlets such as the Internet and wire services like the Associated Press and U.S. Newswire.  On a more localized, yet effective, scale your group could produce posters, brochures, leaflets or a Web site to get its message out.

 

To fully utilize this broad spectrum of media opportunities you have a wealth of options (tactics) you can employ to get media exposure for your message and your organization.  Public forums, press conferences, public service announcements (PSAs), paid advertisements, editorial board meetings, talk shows, radio actualities, columnists, celebrity events and so forth.  These and the different events you and your group have experienced or put on comprise the multitude of options that you should evaluate and employ to reach your target audience(s) with your messages. 

 

Click on to the Media Tactics: Pluses and Minuses Chart.  Begin to consider what is the right outlet and what is the right tactic that will be most effective in getting your message to your target audience.  Discuss with your group and media committee what kinds of tactics your members have used in other efforts to gain publicity.

A point to guide you is to keep efforts in check - don't overextend by trying to do too much at once.  Start slowly with a manageable effort to gain confidence and maintain enthusiasm with each success with each tactic.  Choose three or four key tactics that will help you reach your audience, learn how each one works and how to use them efficiently.  For tactics like talk shows, press conferences, and editorial board meetings, click on these for a brief description and instruction on how to implement each one.  With your group, discuss their experiences with each of these tactics and learn from each other. 

 

With more sophisticated tactics, like radio actualities, satellite news releases or Associated Press Daybook, you will need to do additional research. 

 

Step #7: Design Media Action Plan/Timeline/Flow Chart

 

In designing your timeline there are four elements that you want to include and/or consider on your timeline: (1) Existing events, (2) Intended Events (3) the "Opposition's" events (if applicable) and (4) Planning for the Unexpected.  As you create your timeline and action plans ask yourself and your group/media committee: Is your timeline workable?  Do you presently have the other resources that are necessary for its success?  If not, are you likely to get, during the course of your campaign, the types of resources that are necessary to the timeline and to achieve your goal?

 

Steps #8 through #10:Take Assignments, Commit to Timeline & Do It

                   Mid-course Corrections: Reviewing and Revising

                   Re-Implement

 

Committing to the timeline can be the decisive factor in the success of your media strategy planning.  If you find that you are questioning the feasibility and/or continuance of the plan then perhaps a redesign of the timeline is what is required.  A mid-course correction may need to be considered to keep the strategy moving forward.  Constant review of the timeline will keep your project on track and any needed revising will steer your project towards success.

 

Reviewing and revising your strategy plan during its course as well will successfully advance your mission.  It's helpful to have several designated reviewers assigned to review the strategy plan, revise it and then re-implement it.  Again, seek out those in the group with experience in these areas for reviewer assignments.

 

The main thrust behind developing a media strategy plan is that it's proactive - it's not reactive.  It allows you and your group to take the initiative in a step-by-step strategic approach to success.           

COPYRIGHT � 2000 SECC