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2.2.1 Develop messaging and pilot test with target audience
2.2.2 Develop delivery plan and prepare for implementation
Tools and resources helpful to supporting this step
2.2.1 Develop messaging and pilot test with target audience
Now that you have developed your outreach strategy and are clear on how its success will be assessed, you need to develop the messaging and any associated resources to support their delivery. Promote representativeness within all messaging to ensure they are inclusive of all members of the community, including those known to be marginalized. The messaging must not promote existing systems of discrimination or be gender blind / gender exploitative, and should ensure safeguarding of vulnerable groups. Use the understanding you’ve gained throughout previous steps of the perspectives and lived experiences of different social groups within your target audience to help you develop effective, well-targeted outreach messaging. In this way, your messaging can provide a channel that gives voice to vulnerable groups of people and the challenges they face when trying to address animal welfare issues and any related impacts on their lives. By bringing different narratives to light, your outreach efforts can improve recognition and understanding of marginalized groups’ interests more broadly and facilitate greater consideration or and influence by these groups in decision making at individual, group, society, or government levels.
ATTENTION: Understand the power of language and imagery and that certain words, phrasing, or images can perpetuate inequalities, division, or cause harm. Think about how your communications and representations can promote equality by showing marginalized or traditionally discriminated members of your target audience in roles such as key decision makers, respected leaders, successful businesspeople, rather than by representations reflective of their socially ascribed status (e.g. women as caretakers, or lower social status associated with origins of birth, religion, or caste). Consider how your messages may be interpreted by others and ensure those who are already marginalised are included when developing messaging to ensure your messaging does no harm.
Pilots test the activities on a small scale before rolling it out to the whole community, this enables any issues with language (such as terminology) or gaps in guidance and information, are identified and overcome before you begin.
To run a pilot, you need to decide:
- How will you test the activity and with whom? - include representatives of all relevant demographics within the target audiences to assess its effectiveness from the perspective different lived experiences. Including key influencers and gatekeeper is also essential at this stage to generate buy in.
- How are you going to develop activities which enable inclusivity, gender equality and are non-discriminatory? Check with key demographics from target audience for their recommendations about timings, locations and accessibility and identification of potential risks or needs.
- How will you assess the quality of the activity? For example, what kind of feeling/emotions the messaging stimulates in the audience / others.
- How will you assess the results and determine the consequences or unexpected issues?
- How will you collect and use feedback to guide and adapt the SOC project?
Once activities have been piloted on a small scale, use findings to refine initial messages and consider engaging representative demographics to ensure your changes have suitably addressed any issues, or re-pilot on a small scale depending on the extent and nature of changes as needed.
Refer to the facilitator resource 7. Guidance on Effective Outreach Messaging for more detailed guidance on designing successful outreach communications.
2.2.2 Develop delivery plan and prepare for implementation
Once activities and messaging are finalized you can begin to develop your plans for delivery and begin preparing for implementation.
Begin to secure any channels of communication and necessary materials or resources needed to support delivery of activities if you have not done so already. This includes coordinating support from any key influencers, gatekeepers, or messengers you have identified to support the delivery of communications. If you have identified needs or opportunities for partnering or collaborating with other projects or stakeholders to support achievement the projects’ desired changes, you will need engage them in your planning and work out the logistics together. Preparations may also require capacity building of individuals or groups supporting implementation.
Ensure project action plans are realistic and achievable. When making the SOC action plan, it is important to identify the resources and support needed to implement activities (e.g. posters, role play scripts etc.). Once identified, you can begin developing or securing identified resources. Planning discussions are also a good time to discuss how to implement outreach and campaign activities in a way that promote equality and participation, regardless of gender or other status (e.g. migratory status and literacy levels).
Developing the action plan for your SOC project
So now is the time to think who will do what, when and work out how you are going to deliver. Even if your SOC project may appear straightforward and simple, plan for delivery is needed to ensure effective use of resources and a distribution of responsibilities for all activities. Delivery plans should map out clearly the route your SOC approach will take and need to include:
- The goal, outcomes or objectives, and deliverables linked to the specific activities. Outcomes or objectives should consider both the quantity and quality to be achieved (e.g. desired behaviour change in the target audience).
- Precise action steps, i.e. the specific tasks and their components. What needs to be done first? What actions must be completed before others can begin? What activities are needed to motivate which target audiences to take the desired actions? Sort actions in roughly chronological order and set priorities. It is important to identify any special consideration or safeguarding measures associated with the implementation of different actions to ensure responsible parties are aware and accountable them.
- Distribute tasks and record this to ensure everyone is clear and accountable for their part in the project and outcomes/ milestones and monitoring can be evaluated regularly throughout the process. A RAG (red, amber, green) status can help keep a simple record of where in the process the task is currently situated.
Record in a simple table such as the one below:
| Task | Who is responsible? | Completion date | Resources required and any other key considerations e.g. safeguarding, locational | Expected outcome/ milestone | RAG status |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
- Record milestones or outcomes that mark the completion of a step.
- Identify and note potential barriers to successfully implementing the project, including risks and risk management. Some examples of potential risks include gatekeepers unsupportive of the project and hinder or discredit messaging, poor reception or resistance from communities, poor understanding, or provision of safeguarding considerations for implementing agents and vulnerable groups, potential related reputational risks.
- Milestones show progress in activities, but it is also necessary to monitor the broader outcomes the campaign contributes to for identification of new opportunities and threats.
- Include a contingency plan to guide you through adverse situations - if something happens, you need to think about how you might need to redesign the activities, postpone, or suspend them altogether. Planning for the worst means you are always prepared and ready to adapt and succeed. Some examples of potential scenarios for which contingencies may need to be considered include weather impediments to activity delivery, power failures or technology issues, unexpected unavailability of target audience, illness of key influencers or individuals responsible for delivering a scheduled event etc.
Tools and resources helpful to supporting this step include:
Facilitator Resources
7. Guidance on Effective Outreach Messaging
