How to evaluate and review communications effectiveness to adjust strategy and tactics
This might be the last section of your comms strategy but evaluation is not something that just happens at the end of your campaign. It needs to be a constant feedback loop so you can review and adjust as you go to make sure you’re being effective and staying on track.
If your outputs are failing to reach their targets, then you might need to revisit your tactics, or even your messages. If objectives are being achieved, but the goals seem no closer, then you might need to go all the way back and look at the theory of change.
Measuring outputs
Your outputs are the communications you produce and they should have clear and measurable targets – how much engagement your social media is prompting, how much media coverage you’re gaining, how many signatures on your petition and so on. Measuring these is important because it helps you to understand what’s working well, what stories are capturing people’s attention and how well-crafted your communications products are.
So have realistic estimates into your evaluation section so you can be clear about the scale of the campaign you’re embarking on.
Measuring outcomes
Measuring outputs doesn’t tell you how effective you’re being in achieving your campaign goals. For this you must be measuring and evaluating the outcomes, what difference you’re actually making. And of course, if the objectives outlined in your purpose section are SMART (as they definitely should be), then this is how your outcomes are measured.
So the evaluation should be referring back to these objectives and outlining a schedule for data collection, analysis and review.
Reading and resources
