This questionnaire will help you to:
Download Communications Planning for Research Questionnaire as a word document [Download DOCX].
The UCD Impact Planning Canvas can also help you in answering Questions 1 to 4.
What objective(s) are you trying to achieve through your research?
Examples:
What do you want to achieve through your communications?
Examples:
Who are the main beneficiaries of this research?
Examples:
Are there beneficiary third parties you must engage throughout the project life cycle?
Examples:
Are there cohorts who can help promote the research and its goals?
Examples:
Note: When targeting the general public, think about which demographic (age profile, working/not working, urban-rural etc) and in what context (voter, consumer, school-leaver etc) in order to consider the best communications formats and channels to reach them.
Who could help drive the impact or reach of the research?
Examples:
Finally, prioritise your audiences in terms of importance to the success/impact of the research project.
Example: Longitudinal study of primary school children’s lives
Primary (most important/influential) e.g. Academics, policymakers
Secondary (interested/less influential) e.g. Education professional/sectoral groups
Tertiary (potentially interested/supportive) e.g. Parents, general public
Specifically to drive research impact, the UCD Research Impact Toolkit highlights Professor Mark Reed's Stakeholder Analysis Template to prioritise audiences based on how much they stand to benefit from the research as well as how much they can contribute to it.
Create separate message briefings for each audience considering both their needs and the project goals.
Example: Longitudinal study of primary school children’s lives
PRIMARY AUDIENCE: Policymakers, Academics
MESSAGE: The quality and uniqueness of the data/methodologies; the usefulness of the outputs (new datasets, case studies, new qualitative findings)
SECONDARY AUDIENCE: Education Community (professional/sectoral groups, civil service)
MESSAGE: Key findings and highlights of interest to these targets (communicated to draw them in and sustain interest in the next stages of the project OR to encourage engagement with and championing of the research on completion of all or a phase of the project)
TERTIARY AUDIENCE: Parents, General public
MESSAGE: The value of the research now and into the future (to encourage support for funding of future studies/uptake of this research by the primary and secondary audiences)
Consider if messages change in different phases of the project and create new message briefings for each audience for each phase if necessary.
Your plan should consider communications needs for project milestones ahead of time, to maximise your opportunities to reach key audiences and achieve project goals on time.
Be aware of the timing of various activities and include them in your communications calendar for the year.
Examples of such activities include:
Communications plans can include both passive and active modes of communication.
Passive refers to creating a record and making information available, e.g. websites, publications, social media, conference papers, posters, articles.
Active refers to more interactive communication to escalate uptake and understanding, e.g. workshops, co-design/co-creation, outreach, surveys and polls.
Consider the needs of your audiences to choose the most easily discoverable and accessible communications types and channels, as well as your project’s resources.
You must also consider the project goals with respect to each audience so that you REACH, ENGAGE and PROMOTE your research most effectively, and ultimately achieve your intended Impact.
Use the resources below to choose tools and channels to help create and execute your communications.
REACH (including websites, digital/social media, video, direct marketing)
ENGAGE (including events, workshops, polls and surveys)
PROMOTE (including Impact case studies, conferences and media engagement)
Example: Longitudinal study of primary school children’s lives
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Having decided on the most effective communications types and channels to reach and engage your audience, you must develop the right content and activities to fulfil those plans – again always bearing in mind each audience’s needs and the project goals.
You must consider language (technical or lay), length (short-form or long-form), image versus text, what is the value for the intended audience and likelihood of attention depending on the format.
Remember that some communications (such as the website) are intended for multiple audiences and the content should reflect all their needs. Meanwhile, other formats (such as video) may be available to all but are more important for one specific audience, therefore the content should remain focused on communicating key messages for them.
Time, and budget when necessary, must be allocated to creating content that is valuable and effective.
Examples of web content:
Once you have created your plan, assign enough budget and time resource from the beginning to ensure it can be executed effectively.
Set Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) for your activities so you can measure and evaluate the effectiveness of your communications and engagement towards your project goals.
Examples of KPIs:
Use tools such as Elsevier Scival and Scopus and Altmetric Explorer to track the performance of your outputs.
See examples of KPIs from other communications plans:
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When you have completed the Communications Planning Questionnaire for your research project, apply your timings and choices to the Communications Plan Template.