From the preparation of your proposal to disseminating final results, your communications activity should follow a clear strategy that supports the goals of your project

Whatever your line of research or specialism, there is an audience or market for what you do. The role of your communications activity is to identify your audience and share information with them in a way they’ll welcome and understand.

Think of your communications strategy as a bridge between your work and the people you want to share it with. You are point A, your audience is point B, and your bridge is the robust structure the information travels across. You may require multiple bridges throughout your project to reach the different types of people you want to engage with. What’s important is identifying where they’re needed and creating processes to support them.

Plot your timeline

The level and type of communications activity varies a great deal over the lifecycle of a project. Before you start developing your strategy, plot a timeline of the key events and deliverable deadlines. Think about what you want to realistically achieve by each milestone and how your communications activities can support you in reaching those goals. This will form the basis of your strategy.

Work in phases

When you have your timeline, break your activities down into distinct phases and work out what resources and supporting materials you’ll need for each phase.

The beginning of your project will require investment into establishing your identity and developing resources such as your brand and website. When you’ve launched, the focus will shift to building networks within your community, perhaps with some small specialist events. Later stages and results dissemination may require a press campaign and multi-media resources or a large conference.

Each phase will require a different approach and varying levels of resources. Identify them before you complete your proposal so you can ensure your budget covers all eventualities.

Consider your resources

Who will be delivering your communications activities? Does your organisation have an in-house team of experts, are you outsourcing the work, or will your application include funding for a new position? 

If you’re working with an in-house team, discuss their capacity in advance of preparing your proposal. Highlight the key phases and times which may require additional resources and include the extra costs in your budget.

If you plan to outsource your communications activities, appoint your specialist before you prepare your proposal. As well as bringing a lot of valuable insight to your plans, they’ll need to work with you from the outset to identify the resources they need to buy in and establish costs.

If your application includes funding for a new member of staff to deliver the communications campaign, identify what they’ll be responsible for and bring in extra help where necessary. The fluctuating nature of the communications activity means some times will be quiet while others will require significantly more hours, and you’ll also need to factor in annual leave. 

Whoever is delivering your communications activities, be realistic in your budget about what you can achieve with the resources you have and identify where you will need to channel extra spending.

Identify your audience

Whatever the goal of your research or project – whether it’s to influence policy, engage practitioners or bring about societal change – your audience and communications activities will change over the lifecycle of your project. The way you communicate through each of these phases will require very different approaches.

In your proposal, explain who you’re targeting, when and why. Give an overview of the outcomes you want to achieve at each stage, and how you’ll do it. Think carefully about who your audience is, what information they should receive and how they might like to receive it. You should make it as easy as possible for them to engage with you and the information you share, whether it’s at a workshop, on your website or in a policy brief.

Establish your identity

A strong, consistent brand promotes recognition and leaves your audience with a clear picture of who you are and what you want to achieve. Your brand should reflect your ethos and be used as a tool to establish your position.

While it may not be feasible to commission branding before you’re granted funding, you should pay attention to how you want to be perceived and explain this in your proposal. What are your values as a project or network? What reputation do you have within your industry or sector? Are you a new organisation pushing for change, or are a long-established authority in your field?

Your identity and style should reflect who you are and what you want to achieve from the outset. When you do receive funding, your visual brand and tone of voice should be developed in line with your ethos and values to leave a strong and lasting impression.

Choose your channels

The channels you choose are just as important as the messages you share. They should be carefully considered for relevance and value throughout your communications campaign.

How does the person or group you want to communicate with normally consume information? At a daily briefing, from social media or at an industry event? A face-to-face meeting with one influential person may have more impact than a policy brief sent to 500 civil servants; a targeted social media campaign could be more effective than holding a large press conference.

All your communications activity should make it as easy as possible for your intended audience to receive, absorb and act on the information you share. This means adapting your style, tone and medium to ensure it’s relevant for the people you’re communicating with.

Keep it relevant

Relevance is the single most important factor of any communications activity. If you want to achieve the outcomes you set out in your proposal, there are no shortcuts. Who do you want to reach and what do you want them to do? What level of knowledge does that person have? Do you need to simplify your language and clearly explain your results and why they’re relevant?

Research your audience, establish their preferences and make sure all your communications with them add value. Writing for the local news requires a very different style to national or international media, just as targeting policy makers necessitates a different approach to communicating with the academic or scientific community. Create and deliver your material in a way that will be welcomed.

As you develop your communications strategy, measure the outcomes and adjust your activities accordingly. If something doesn’t work, change it. Don’t waste resources on activities that don’t achieve the outcomes you need.

Ultimately, you want to share your work with people who will gain value from it. The easier it is to find, the greater the benefits will be.