Make Friends with Research: Using Free Tools to Make Your Campaigns More Strategic

We all know research and planning are important parts of a successful communications campaign. The thought of conducting research can be daunting for government communicators. In this session, learn how the Oregon Department of Transportation was able to conduct primary and secondary research and boost its campaign planning and message testing to the next level using free and low-cost tools. The presentation gives participants a simple-to-follow strategy for success. By the end of the session, attendees will learn how research makes PR activities strategic by ensuring that communication is specifically targeted to audiences who want, need or care about the information; how research can help them create smart objectives, develop better strategies and employ more compelling and engaging tactics; identify free sources of secondary research; and choose the most effective and efficient research and measurement methods for their communications planning efforts.