Getting the Most out of Your Message: How to
Communicate Effectively with Decision-makers
University of Florida
Department of Agricultural Education and
Communication
Tracy Irani
Communicating Effectively with
Decision-makers
 Why do we need to communicate effectively with
decision-makers?
 Who are they?
 What do they want to know/like to hear from us?
 The right message—crisp, clear, and consistent
 Frequency/repetition of message
 Extension as a brand with identifiable attributes
Opinion
Leadership
 Two step flow—communicating with publics and with those
who can exert influence on publics
 Branding through media reaches information seeking opinion
leaders, who then influence receivers
Campaign Planning/Tactical Marketing
Campaign
 Strategic, structured plan
 Based on analyzing the situation
Brand
 Product, good, or service
 Identifiable, consistent image
Message
 Main idea
 Key information
Publics
 Various audiences that must be reached
 Internal and external clientele
Campaign Planning
Brand Image
 The way Extension is perceived by your clientele and
stakeholders; based on beliefs, values and experiences
Brand Loyalty
 Consistent users of your services, not easily swayed by other
options-the extent to which you have this is an asset called
brand equity
Audience Analysis
 Understand who could receive the message
 Define the target audience
 Determine the best methods of reaching the audience
Demographics
 Age, gender, race, marital status, income, education, occupation,
and geography
Psychographics
 Attitudes
 Values
 Lifestyles
Audience Analysis
Usage Patterns
 Most used media channels
 Tendency to be interested in a particular subject
Prior Knowledge
 People have experience with the message
 Knowledge can make people either more or less likely to be
interested
Finding the Right Target and Reaching It
 Know the message
 Determine who needs the message
 Determine the most effective methods of communication
Integrated Marketing
 Process of coordinating promotional tools to
build and maintain brand awareness, identity
and preference. Uses consistent message
themes and marks, via multiple channels to
reach a targeted and segmented audience
 Based on strategies derived from identifying
audience characteristics and leveraging SWOT
analysis
Integrated Marketing Components
Advertising
 Paid
 PR Methods
 Delivered through mass media
 Press release
 Attempts to persuade
 Feature story
Public Relations Objectives  Media alerts/tip sheets
 Company newsletter
 Promote goodwill
 Promote a product or service  Interview and press
 Enhance internal communicationsconference
 Counteract negative publicity  Sponsored event
 Lobby
 Publicity
 Give advice and counsel
 Media exclusive
 Cause related
Integrated Marketing
Media Relations
 Establish ongoing relationships with local media-understand media
packaging for gatekeepers, AP style
 On a regular basis, provide informational materials to reporters
 Become a reputable and dependable expert source
 Get to know the reporters in your geographic region, and know
their “beat” assignments of reporters
 What’s Newsworthy
 Timely
 Unique
 Local impact
SWOT Analysis
Internal
 Strengths
 Advantages (Good reputation, cost advantage, access to high-
quality resources, etc.)
 What the organization does well
 Weaknesses
 What could be improved (Poor reputation, high cost, etc.)
 What should be avoided
SWOT Analysis
External
 Opportunities
 Good chances (Unfulfilled customer need, new market, etc.)
 Changes in technology or policy (loosening regulations, removed trade
barriers, etc.)
 Changes in society (Shifts in consumer trends toward the organization’s
products or services)
 Threats
 Obstacles
 Competition (Emergence of substitute products)
 Changes in technology or policy (New development makes the
organization’s processes obsolete, new regulations, etc.)
 Changes in society (Shifts in consumer trends away from the organization’s
products or services)
Creative Strategy
Who, What, and Why
 Product Oriented
 Generic claim
 Product features
 Unique selling proposition
 Consumer Oriented
 Brand image
 Lifestyle
 Attitude
 Values
Unique Selling Proposition (USP)
 Product differentiation Approach the correct target audience
 Make audience see program as different or better
 “… Extension offers state residents the only comprehensive,
one-stop source of practical education on hundreds of relevant
topics. Programs are research-based, regionally customized and
geared to meet a participant’s specific needs through the
unbiased assistance of dedicated …specialists.”
 What’s unique about your program?
Creative Strategy
 Graphic Design
 Eyes want to read from top to bottom and left to right
 Important items should be placed in the areas people naturally
scan
 Sizes and proportions should be varied to prevent the ad from
becoming boring
 White Space
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Can be used to separate elements that do not belong together
Elements surrounded by white space indicate importance
Other Considerations
 Partnerships
 Local media
 Companies
 Organizations with similar interests
 Media Location
 Flyers at grocery stores, community bulletin boards, libraries, schools, or locations
the target audience frequents
 Community calendars in newspapers, on television, on radio, and on the Internet
 Word of mouth to opinion leaders
 News Outlets
 Explain your need personally; personal pitch, pitch letters
 Send information about your event to a newspaper or television or radio station’s
public relations person, public affairs director, or promotions director – by name-compile media directory
 Include “boiler plate section with contact info in same place in every media release by
every county faculty member.
Other Considerations
 Website
 Effective and inexpensive
 Post important information and upcoming events
 Can be incorporated into the other marketing methods - refer people to the
website
 Must be relevant, fresh, always changing to attract and keep users coming to
site
Evaluation
 Criteria
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“Getting it” (Do consumers understand?)
Knowledge (Can consumers recognize and recall?)
Attitude change (Where does the brand stand?)
Behavior (Will people buy the product or service?)
 Methods
 Survey
 Attendance or participation
 Frequency of inquiry
 Results
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Performance review
Gauging success
Changing strategies
Different approach
Guerilla Marketing
 Unconventional marketing intended to get maximum results from
minimal resources.
 Guerilla marketing involves being original, breaking the rules, and
looking for alternatives to traditional marketing methods.
 More about matching wits than matching budgets
 Low cost
 Innovative
 Less clutter
 Less reach
Principles
 Presence – find ways to make yourself known at all times – chat rooms,
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forums, discussion boards, e-mail, radio, magazines, blogs,Yellow Pages
Activity – be aware of opportunities to make
your product known at all times and act on them
Energy – continually marketing –
‘360 degree marketing’
Networks – always looking to make contacts
and develop networks – importance of relationships
Smart – don’t offend clientele or turn them off
Guerilla Marketing: 10 Commandments
Know your market. Know who
you want to reach, how they
think, and where they go-segmentation.
II. Keep your name in front of your
regular clientele—but
understand they are already agaware.
III. Work with the press.
IV. Educate the market—what’s the
key message you need to convey?
V. Put e-marketing/e-newsletters to
work for you.
I.
Do the Web right.
VII. Get a prime spot on the Web's
search engines.
VIII. Radio and Web go together better
than print and web-frequency
versus reach..
IX. Talk up your web site when you
give talks and presentations at
association meetings and
conferences.
X. Think about what’s in it for your
audience-why should they care?
VI.
Viral Marketing
 Marketing phenomenon that facilitates and
encourages people to pass along a marketing
message via weblogs, cell phones, email, Wikis.
 Hotmail
Viral Marketing
Give away products or services—viral
 Creates a relationship with the
newsrooms, virtual reprints
audience
 Provides for effortless transfer to
others—spreads the messages like a  To form or change an attitude,
information relevance and
virus-email alerts, business cards
motivation to process are key
 Exploits common motivations and
behaviors—
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 Curiosity
 Free
 Need to belong
 Cool
 Warm and fuzzies
 Information seeking
Developing a plan – seven critical
elements
 What’s the benefit to your audience
 Your positioning or key takeaway message—what do you want to
influence in terms of attitude formation or change
 Your target market—who are you targeting and why
 Your budget—how much can you spend and what are most cost
effective, yet efficient ways to spend resources
 Tactics
 Guerilla marketing and PR techniques
 Viral and Internet marketing
 Month by month implementation schedule –because you need
both reach and frequency
Activity
 Work in groups of four-five to develop a detailed plan-not a
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single activity
Brainstorm the key message takeaway or catchphrase you
want to convey
Benefit
Key message positioning
Target audience(s)
Budget
Tactics
Implementation schedule
Sharing what works—building the network
 Wetpaint—quick and dirty Wiki groups
 Use to share ideas and programs
 Ag awareness blog—develop a topic calendar, share moderating
chores, get on blogrolls, get linked
 E-newsletter
 Viral newsroom
Thank You!
Questions?