Designing campaigns that work

A communications campaign can have three possible results: it can deliver your communications goals, go unnoticed, or have a really bad impact on your organisation’s reputation. In my experience, there are a few “standard” measures one can take to ensure a good campaign.

Understand the culture

What are the locals interested in? What do they talk about when they get together? What do they value? To instigate major social change, you have to be able to educate and motivate communities to act differently. Knowing what matters to the community you are working with will help you to pinpoint the issues that galvanize change.

Learn how your target audience communicates

What language is predominantly spoken by your audience? English, Kiswahili or vernacular? How educated is your audience? Is it rural or urban? What do audience members watch or listen to? Do they, for example, read The East African or Taifa Leo? What is the primary mode of communication among your audience? Is it the mobile phone or radio? Do they watch TV or have access to the internet? Where does the group you are targeting gather and hang out?

Target the right audience

Who are the decision makers and the real holders of influence on the issue you are promoting? An organisation working to improve conditions of local women in Kwale through micro-financing, for example, would find it necessary to address the men in these communities as well, as they control land and financial resources. Increasing outreach to men and boys is now widely recognised as a critical component of any work to reduce violence and increase gender equality.

Know your organisation

What are your strengths and how are you viewed by the community? Are there issues on which you can legitimately speak on? How will your organisation add value by its involvement in this particular issue? If you are new to the community or area, will you be replicating the work of other local or international NGOs?

There is no “one-size-fits-all”

Many times, well-intentioned campaigners come from abroad thinking that the campaign models and methods they’ve used in another part of Africa or another developing country can be easily transferred here.  But what works in one country, or even one part of the country, may not work in another… at least not without “tweaking”.  Would Shuga,  for instance, be the ideal medium to raise HIV/AIDS awareness among the Tana River villagers your Civil Society Organisatioon is working with? It is important that you know your audience well.

Use the right channels

More than 90% of Kenyans listen to the radio daily.  Songs and call-in shows are particularly effective ways of getting messages across, especially in rural and remote communities where TV ownership and literacy tend to be low.  But while radio is king in Kenya, social media is rapidly gaining influence among the country’s youth. A recent consumer study reveals that young people living in Kenya’s urban centers are spending Sh. 2.2 billion ($250 million) annually on data consumption — mainly to access Facebook and Twitter on their mobile phones.

Tailor your messaging

Positive messages tend to stick a lot longer in people’s minds (think of all the positivity reminders shared daily on Facebook and Whatsapp).  Keep in mind though that religious phrasing very often backfires, and humour is subjective. Pictures are usually the simplest and easiest way to get your message across but make sure that they can be understood –in context — without accompanying text. Think to the Mavuno Church’s recent “gerrit” poster. While it certainly got noticed, few among the church’s more conservative worshipers actually “got” the point of the campaign.

Use human stories

For a campaign to have real effect, it needs to have emotional pull and generate feeling. Use stories that excite the imagination but with real people who are easily relatable to the target audience.  Sometimes though, attaching a suitable big name to your campaign could be the magic ingredient. (The First Lady gets my vote!!)

Test the waters

Use focus groups and pilot studies to test content before release. This will help you to spot problems or opportunities and modify messaging or tactics accordingly.  Remember this ill-fated ad sponsored by the Ministry of Health, USAID and UKAid? More thorough testing might have better prepared the commercial’s makers for the poor response from religious leaders.

Finally, keep in mind that some communications campaigns take longer to show results.

The bottom line: engage your audience before you attempt to influence them.

Your turn now. What has worked in your experience?