This month’s issue of Municipal Sewer & Water contains yet another example of a public information program that “moved the needle” on an important initiative.
The Charlotte-Mecklenburg (N.C.) Utilities WaterSmart program has helped reduce residential water consumption by 35 percent over six years. It’s a multimedia program that reaches beyond pure information to include components like a showerhead swap and incentives for installing water-saving toilets.
In the public sector, information programs are often perceived as empty exercises in “image polishing” or as unaffordable luxuries. In reality, a good information campaign can bring significant financial and other benefits to a community and as such can be an extremely wise investment.
But just what constitutes a “good” information campaign? What separates a successful initiative from one that simply wastes money? Here are a few simple rules to follow, based on my research and on my own experience in the field. This isn’t a complete recipe, but it can help you get your information campaign off on the right foot.
1. Be clear on what you want. Starting a journey without a clear destination is an excellent way to get nowhere. Begin with an objective that is SMART: Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant and Time-bound.
An objective to “raise awareness of the importance of water conservation” fails this test. A better objective would be: “Achieve 70 percent customer awareness of our three core water-saving incentive programs within the next 18 months.”
2. Take the temperature. Don’t assume that you know what your public needs to understand or what will motivate them to act in the way you desire. Talk to them and find out. Public listening sessions, a citizens’ advisory committee, focus groups, appearances on radio call-in programs, a survey on your Web site — all these can help you gather information to guide your efforts.
3. Avoid the “kitchen sink” plan. Everyone loves to brainstorm ideas. And many ideas your team generates will be great. The trouble is that if you build a communication plan that contains everything including the kitchen sink, you’ll lose focus, and you’ll spend time, energy and funds on things you never fully implement.
A better approach is to do a few things and do them well. Select a limited number of tactics that are most likely to move you toward your SMART objective. Then throw your energy behind them to the exclusion of all else.
4. Pick your targets. An information campaign doesn’t have to reach everyone equally to be effective. If you can achieve your objective by focusing in on certain segments of the public, then consider doing so.
For example, if your aim is to reduce water usage, does it make sense to target the largest commercial and industrial users? Would it be worthwhile to emphasize homes in older areas of the community that would be more likely to have older, leaky faucets and outdated, water-wasting bathroom fixtures?
5. Back the plan with an adequate staff and budget. It is great to be frugal. But being too frugal can be expensive — because if you fund and staff your campaign so poorly that it accomplishes essentially nothing, then all the time and money you’ve spent is wasted (in addition to which your credibility may be shot).
Look at your plan realistically and decide how much money you will need for staffing or outside contractors, printing, advertising, travel and other predictable costs. Then make sure to allocate what you need.
If necessary, follow the process in reverse. Suppose you have no more available than $100,000. Build the plan accordingly, and make sure the objective is realistic in light of your budget.
6. Build in a way to measure results. You started with a measurable objective. Now, how will you know if you are approaching it? If your objective is to raise public awareness to a certain level, you can measure that with a survey. If your aim is to reduce water consumption by a certain percentage, you can measure that easily (although in that case your information program may not be the only factor that “moved the needle.”)
7. Believe in what you’re doing. As shown by Char-Meck Utilities and others, public information programs can be powerful, and the return on investment can be high.
What’s your experience with public information programs? Tell us about your successes. Drop a note to editor@mswmag.com and we’ll consider telling your story in a future issue, for the benefit of your counterparts in other communities.
