Top five things to keep in mind when planning a campaign

In case you missed the KAB Webinar, “Campaign Planning 101” or just need a refresher, we are posting the top 5 take-aways to get you in the campaign planning spirit. We have developed this list from working one on one with communities across the country.

1. Understand your barriers and needs.
Take a good, hard look at your program and think through the barriers (real or perceived) that are keeping residents from recycling.  Do residents not have bins or carts? Is there confusion about what can and cannot be recycled? Are collection days too infrequent or hard to remember? Do you live in a city with high turn-over of residents? All of these things need to be considered when planning as they’ll be things you’ll want to address in your education campaign. 
 
2. Target the right people.
Who should your campaign target? Who are those mostly likely to become diligent recyclers?  Unless you have piles of money to spend on education, we recommend focusing first on those most likely to be motivated versus those hardest to reach. Then take a hard look at these people and consider the best ways to reach them. Where do they frequent? What do they read? Watch? Listen to? Whom do they trust in the community? Tailor your campaign to reach that audience. 

3. Don’t go it alone… engage everyone!
The more who are involved in your campaign, the more successful it will be!  Other stakeholders in your community (local businesses, other organizations, etc.) can greatly increase the impact of your efforts. Ask for campaign information to be included in newsletters, on Web sites, etc. Third parties can help spread messages within their networks. Consider local businesses that could join  your campaign in exchange for inclusion in promotional materials. This is one place not be selfish. Share the campaign and involve everyone you can. 

4. Be creative, diverse and consistent.
Think of the new campaign as your recycling program’s “brand image.” What do you want that image to say about your program? Do you want it to say “I’m a typical government campaign, so feel free to ignore me” or “Hey check this out!  I’m something unusual and have something useful to tell you about.”  Also, make sure the look and feel of your campaign is consistent across all mediums. This reinforces credibility in your program and tells your residents that the city and/or your organization considers recycling to be an important service. 

5. Don’t forget the important step of measurement.
Of course start by measuring a breakout of materials collected but don’t stop there.  Consider collecting data on the number of new bins or carts ordered, calls to your customer service hotline and visitors to your Web site. Conduct an observation of set-outs of a particular neighborhood or ask a team of volunteers to monitor set out rates for specific routes. Monitor media coverage received by your campaign or mentions in the blogosphere or on Facebook and Twitter. Pay attention to the quantity and quality of others who engage in the campaign. Gauge the impact of your campaign so you can demonstrate the return on investment, especially to those allocating education dollars!

We hope your community finds something valuable from these take-aways. Have some others?  Please share them at info@recyclecurbside.org or comment below!

Also, check out our new Campaign Planning Resource Center, which houses various planning materials that will help you further with your strategic campaign planning.  

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Campaign planning 101: Questions to ask BEFORE you begin planning

Everyone knows (or should know) that effective education campaigns need proper planning. But have you ever considered the questions that need to be asked even before you begin planning? Yes, that’s right. Good campaign planners have a set of questions they consider before the major campaign planning gets underway.  This helps ensure  your campaign addresses your real needs and takes into account the kinds of things education can and cannot control.

Here are some pre-planning questions to consider:

Will you be able to deal with operational increases/changes if your education campaign is actually successful?

Do you have enough recycling bins or carts if there is a sudden increase in demand?

Can your Web site handle a spike in traffic or will it crash under pressure?

Is your customer service staff capable of handling an influx of callers? Do you need to hire more staff?

If you contract with an outside hauler, are they prepared for the potentially significant increase in set outs and/or tonnage?

How much time and resources can you dedicate to this campaign?

Do you have enough staff and do they have time to dedicate?

Is your education budget already maxed out?

Do you have access to volunteers that can support certain aspects of the campaign?

Do you have enough time and resources available to launch and conduct a thorough campaign?

Is your community experiencing rampant budget cuts? You may want to hold off on any campaign until you can be sure it will fit comfortably into your budget.

Is your recycling program planning any operational changes that could impact the education campaign?

Is your program switching to a new program soon, such as single stream that will require a whole new set of messages for the public?

What target audience do you need to reach?

This is VERY important. Why waste time and resources trying to reach people who either already recycle or who will never recycle? Think about reaching out to the people in your community who just need a little extra push to recycle (in other words, the lowest hanging fruit).

Thinking through these questions before one dollar is spent on your campaign will help you maximize your time and budget when you enter into the real planning stage of your campaign.

We want to hear from you! Does your community ask a different set of pre-planning questions or have one to add? Comment below or e-mail us at info@recyclecurbside.org. 

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Crafting pro-environment messages

We all know that communicating the benefits of recycling can be a bit challenging. And even more so when you’re trying to convince non-recyclers to start recycling. Some messages definitely are more effective than others at encouraging positive behaviors. (There is a whole branch of marketing dedicated to this called social marketing), but very few people evaluate which messages actually work.

The American Psychological Association’s journal, Monitor on Psychology, covered this subject a few years ago and we decided to dig it out of our archives and re-circulate it to our readers, as a reminder. The article states that much of the “save the environment” messaging used today and for the past 30 years is not effective. In fact, messaging that portrays a negative behavior, like littering, as something that everyone is doing, may actually encourage people to litter because it is portrayed as socially acceptable (“everyone else is doing it, so I guess it’s okay for me to do it too.”)

Instead, behavioral psychology experts suggest we use social norm message (such as “most people in your neighborhood are already recycling, so do your part” or “Join your neighborhood in doing the right thing”) to reinforce that recycling is the normal thing to do.  Or, to put it another way, recycling is the norm and NOT recycling is the odd behavior.

Here’s a link to the full article.

Old Messages…                                               New messages…
Recycle – It’s the right thing to do.                 Recycle – Everybody’s doing it!

Recycling is easier than it looks.                   You don’t recycle? You gotta be 
                                                                              kidding!?

Start a trend: Recycle!                                      Join the party: Recycle!

Landfills are filling up with recyclables.        Your neighbors are recycling – 
                                                                              why aren’t you?

Recycling is so easy, it’s silly not to!             Recycling will preserve our community 
                                                                              for the next generation.

Also, for a great tutorial on Social Marketing (basically, the science of persuasion) check out this presentation. It describes “Georgia’s You Gotta Be Kidding!” campaign and the social marketing theory behind it. The campaign portrays not-recycling as outside the norm. Check out www.YouGottaBeKidding.org for more information.

We want to hear from you! What examples are out there of the “right” and the “wrong” messages to use in recycling education? Or any type of education (litter prevention) for that matter? Comment below or e-mail us at info@recyclecurbside.org.
 

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