Communication Planning for Program Success
CDC supports innovative ways to convey the goals and objectives of your program. Communication planning allows programs to deliver consistent, effective health messaging to the right audiences at the right time. Effective communication planning is purposeful and timely.
Do you have a communication plan? If you do, review these questions to develop an effective communication strategy. If you have not developed a plan, ask these questions as you develop your communication strategy.
- What do you want people to know or do? – Goal
- Who are you communicating with? – Audience
- What information do you want to communicate? – Message
- What are you going to do? – Strategies
- When are you going to do it? – Timeline
- Who is going to do it? – Staffing and/or partnerships
- How much will it cost? – Budget
- Did it work? – Evaluation
Strategic communication planning should be a key component of overall program planning. As you create a communication plan, the following resources may be of use.
- HHS Strategic Communications Toolkitexternal icon
- HHS Collaboration Toolkit – Chapter 3: Crafting Clear Communicationsexternal icon
- CDC Gateway to Health Communication & Social Marketing Practice
- The CDC Clear Communication Index
- Health Literacy
- The Health Communicator’s Social Media Toolkitpdf icon
- Making Health Communication Programs Work: A Planner’s Guidepdf iconexternal icon
- What Works: Health Communication and Health Information and Technologypdf iconexternal icon
Program success stories are an important part of communication planning. Success stories are brief, written reports that demonstrate the progress of a program or activity and how results can improve the health of a community or population over time.
Success stories highlight activities, such as new interventions or feature evaluation data from a completed project. The more educated your stakeholders are about your program’s goals, activities, and successes, the more likely they are to support your program. Success stories can be used to communicate your program’s achievements and progress in addition to garnering support. When presented effectively, a success story can be a useful tool for educating your stakeholders about the outcomes of your work and the valuable results you are achieving.
Sharing your program’s success can:
- Capture accomplishments and progress over time
- Educate decision makers and partners about the impact and reach of your program
- Demonstrate responsible use of resources and funding to stakeholders
- Share “best practices” with other similarly-funded programs
- Attract new organizational partners for collaboration and outreach
Guidance for How to Write Your Success Story
GYT: Get Yourself Tested for High Schools is an empowering campaign that can be implemented in high schools to encourage young people to get tested for HIV and STDs.
