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Cara Crain

Nikki Economides
Alex Frank
Grasyn Fuller
Bobby Howard
Kennedy Plott
CRAIN, ECONOMIDES, FRANK, FULLER, HOWARD, PLOTT 1

Interpersonal Communication Tactics

Our interpersonal communication tactics will include small informal membership


meetings and then an occasional larger civic events that OHCA will attend as a guest with an
information booth. These events will allow the OHCA to communicate face-to-face with its
target publics while remaining budget friendly.

Quarterly Membership Events


The main interpersonal communication tactic is to host a membership quarterly event at
the OHCA building for members of SoonerCare and Insure Oklahoma. These meetings will
promote a sense of community among members and allow them to ask questions and provide
feedback to the OHCA staff. These membership events will help to connect with members and to
allow the OHCA to gain deep insight into their member's knowledge, and behaviors concerning
their experience with OHCA that a traditional survey would not be able to obtain. These
meetings will also provide the OHCA with time to share any new information about the
programs including changes to policies, deadlines and coverage, ​and members can communicate
with potential new members to make them aware of the benefits to this coverage through
personal testimony. ​ This tactic will help the OHCA achieve its objective of creating a feeling of
acceptance among its members and will increase the inclusivity of the OHCA which is one of
their main values. There are minimal resources needed to host the membership quarterly
meetings. The meetings will be hosted at the OHCA office building so that the chairs and tables
are already provided, as well as projectors if there is a short informational video that should need
to be shown.
The main disadvantage this tactic is that unfortunately, the OHCA cannot provide
refreshments or promotional swag for the members to leave with. However, these events are
budget friendly which will allow the OHCA to give the members a small pamphlet of
information which will be designed in house and will only cost a small amount to print. This
tactic will be extremely impactful towards the objective of acceptance with the current members
and showcase a positive member central environment to entice non-members to join. The staff
time and skill needed to complete this tactic includes minimal time for set-up, tear-down and the
time to design additional pamphlets not provided by this campaign. ​It will only take one staff
member to host the meetings once a month and will be very low cost as they would only pay the
employees for their time, and advertisements of the meeting would go through the Facebook
page. This is a very low maintenance and cost-efficient tactic.
CRAIN, ECONOMIDES, FRANK, FULLER, HOWARD, PLOTT 2

Partnerships and Events


Because OHCA is a government agency, it cannot host events, or spend money on any
promotional items. Because of this, we intend to focus on partnering and working with other
organizations that have fewer restrictions on what they are able to do and can feature OHCA as a
partner organization. We intend to provide a schedule of possible events that OHCA could
attend, as well as a list of potential partners. These events will vary from health fairs to civic
events to social events and since OHCA will not be the one hosting them, it does not break any
governmental restrictions. This tactic will help OHCA interact with their target publics by
providing an opportunity for OHCA to interact in person with people. It will have a moderate
effect, and will advance the organization toward its awareness and acceptance objectives. The
main advantage of this tactic is that OHCA will increase legitimacy in the eyes of the its target
publics by partnering with other organizations, and will provide opportunities for face-to-face
communication which is special to this tactic. The disadvantages to this tactic is that it will
require time spent outside of regular work hours, and there is no guaranteed return.
This tactic will have minimal cost, other than promotional and physical materials needed
to set up the OHCA booth, as well as the pay for the individuals who work the event. The
amount of staff time needed will be the length of the event plus thirty minutes or so to set up and
tear down the booth, which is practical based of the organization’s resources. This tactic also
does not require a high level of skill, equipment, or expertise to implement as the employees of
OHCA already have the requisite knowledge.

Organizational Media Tactics

The organizational tactics we will use will be physical publications, digital media and
with a primary emphasis on social media. These tactics create a media blend that can meet a
variety of lifestyles and target audiences. Once the tactics take root, they will help generate more
awareness of OHCA, SoonerCare and Insure Oklahoma. Each tactic requires a minimal amount
of resources, both financial and physical.

Stand-alone publications
Many informational brochures, leaflets and pamphlets will be used as they are a
cost-effective way of providing information to members and potential new members.
Stand-alone publications will have a medium impact on the members and potential new
members, however; it will allow them to interact more. It is an easy way to help spread
awareness of the organization as well as promoting people to enroll as members. The main
advantage of stand-alone publications is how cost effective it is, but one disadvantage is they are
easy to look at and then throw away thus forgetting about the information presented.
CRAIN, ECONOMIDES, FRANK, FULLER, HOWARD, PLOTT 3

Strategic Implementation: Stand-alone publications will have a medium impact on the


members and potential new members, however; it will allow them to interact more. It is an easy
way to help spread awareness of the organization as well as promoting people to enroll as
members. The main advantage of stand-alone publications is how cost effective it is, but one
disadvantage is they are easy to look at and then throw away thus forgetting about the
information presented.
Implementation Items:Items such as pamphlets are very low-cost making them very
practical for OHCA low budget. Most of the information is easily available on the website
already so all that is left would be formatting the information which would take a short amount
of time. With websites such as Canva, it doesn’t take much expertise to format these items.

Miscellaneous print media


Creating informational posters to be placed in locations like doctor’s offices and urgent
care facilities would promote affordable healthcare. Informational posters have the opportunity
to have a huge positive impact on members and potential new members. Placing them in places
such as urgent care facilities will bring awareness to the organization since many potential
members visit this type of locations. By increasing awareness about OHCA, the social stigma
will lessen, and non-members will begin to accept it more. By seeing these posters around doctor
offices and urgent care facilities, potential members may be pulled to enroll if they think it could
be helpful.
The main advantage of the informational posters is the placement of them. They would
be located in spots where potential members are bound to be and it’s an easy way to get them
some quick info they may not have known about. One downside, however; is that some people
may not look at the information or dismiss it because they don’t think it applies to them​.
Strategic Implementation will include Informational posters have the opportunity to have
a huge positive impact on members and potential new members. Placing them in places such as
urgent care facilities will bring awareness to the organization since many potential members visit
this type of locations. By increasing awareness about OHCA, the social stigma will lessen, and
non-members will begin to accept it more. By seeing these posters around doctor offices and
urgent care facilities, potential members may be pulled to enroll if they think it could be helpful.
The main advantage of the informational posters is the placement of them. They would
be located in spots where potential members are bound to be and it’s an easy way to get them
some quick info they may not have known about. One downside, however; is that some people
may not look at the information or dismiss it because they don’t think it applies to them.
Implementation Items will include Informational posters could get a little pricy, however;
this seems like it would have the most benefit for OHCA which would be easily justifiable. The
only thing left to do is the formatting of the poster since most to all of the information is already
on the website. This may require someone who is familiar with things such as InDesign and
CRAIN, ECONOMIDES, FRANK, FULLER, HOWARD, PLOTT 4

Photoshop, but a website such as Canva could also have the same affect and is much easier to
use.

Email/Listservs
Utilizing email newsletters and mailing lists will be crucial in delivering news and
information to both current and prospective members. Strategic Implementation: Email blasts are
a quick and easy way for OHCA to interact with their members and is essentially free. It is an
easy way for potential members to get information about OHCA and increase awareness. It most
likely would not advance the acceptance of OHCA since non-members hold the social stigma
and would not be receiving the information. The main advantage is the timeliness and
cost-effectiveness of this tactic.
One disadvantage to this tactic is that it would be hard to gain information such as an
email address for potential members since there is no database of sorts that contain that
information. The cost will be near zero, as popular email services like Constant Contact and
MailChimp are extremely cheap per month. This makes the cost both practical and justified. The
time to put together a newsletter is relatively limited as it only takes a few hours as a whole to
build. Teaching one to create quality newsletters is not too difficult given that the employee has
good writing skills and can understand simply instructions. As such, the overall resources to
construct a robust newsletter would be minimum for great benefit.
Strategic Implementation will include Email blasts are a quick and easy way for OHCA
to interact with their members and is essentially free. It is an easy way for potential members to
get information about OHCA and increase awareness. It most likely would not advance the
acceptance of OHCA since non-members hold the social stigma and would not be receiving the
information.
The main advantage is the timeliness and cost-effectiveness of this tactic. One
disadvantage to this tactic is that it would be hard to gain information such as an email address
for potential members since there is no database of sorts that contain that information.
Implementation Items: The cost will be near zero, as popular email services like Constant
Contact and MailChimp are extremely cheap per month. This makes the cost both practical and
justified. The time to put together a newsletter is relatively limited as it only takes a few hours as
a whole to build. Teaching one to create quality newsletters is not too difficult given that the
employee has good writing skills and can understand simply instructions. As such, the overall
resources to construct a robust newsletter would be minimum for great benefit.

Wiki Page
Creating a wiki for OCHA and its services will provide an easily navigable system for
members and potential new members to access information about enrollment, qualifications and
more. This tactic will help OHCA’s publics understand the policies and intracasies of the
organization in a major way. Knowledge of OHCA and its organizations presented in an easily
CRAIN, ECONOMIDES, FRANK, FULLER, HOWARD, PLOTT 5

searchable, clearly understandable format will help our publics become more aware of how the
organization works. Once becoming informed, the public will then accept the organization and
then act upon them.
The main advantage to this tactic is providing an easily searchable database of easily
digested information. No other tactic provides as much information with the high level of ease
that a wiki provides. The main disadvantage of this is the lack of visablity outside of the OHCA
sphere.
The cost might be higher depending on hosting and organization options, but it is within
the budget as text data storage is relatively cheap. The time will be substantial and will most
likely require outside help to construct as web construction can be complex with large projects
like custom wikis.

Blog
Implementing a blog page to the OCHA website, if used frequently, would be an
effective way to put out information in an effective and cost-effective manner. These posts could
provide in-depth information that might be too long for social media, which is a main reason for
this tactic. As such, the blogs would be a solid source of content for OCHA’s social media
platforms as they can promote new blog posts. Without social, the blogs on their own might be
ineffective as a whole which might be a disadvantage.
The blog will require minimal cost and a competent writer. The costs would be low and
built in to the website overhaul. Any equipment (computers, mainly) already is built into the
current state of the organization. The cost is cheap and justified.

Social networking
Our primary messaging will come from work on social network campaigns with a
heightened focus on Facebook. This tactic will help provide a direct link between OHCA’s key
publics and the organization themself. ​Despite current usage of social media platforms by this
organization, they have been unsuccessful in generating sufficient traffic across their webpages.
In our research, we found that Facebook is the most used social media platform by our target
audiences, thus we plan to implement a multi-focus Facebook campaign that increases the
number of followers, and also ignites the desire for members to give personal testimony.
Not only will the stronger social media presence provide a boost in awareness, as well as help
prospective new members take action to enroll in Insure Oklahoma or SoonerCare.
The main advantage to this tactic is the ability for two way communication between the
organization and the public as well as the ability to reach people on their own social feeds. Other
tactics aren’t as easily shared with friends like social media posts would be. The main
disadvantage to social networking is the lack of public desire to follow government healthcare
agencies on social media.
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The cost to implement more social is free as all applicable services are free and
promoting posts is prohibited by OHCA policy. The cost, which is free, is both justified and
practical for OHCA’s budget. The time spent is a decent amount and to properly do this job, but
is reasonable given the benefits. Decent writing skills and a mind for marketing will help
improve the quality of the work but someone can be trained in order to operate the pages as
necessary.

News Media Tactics

For news media tactics, OHCA will implement communication strategies such as email
and social media releases. Additionally, it will develop tools for news publications such as a
news fact sheet about the organization and a media kit. Finally, it will emphasize a new
positioning statement to accompany the appropriate branding and messaging of the organization.
These tactics are the most effective in allowing OHCA to connect with its publics and implement
consistency in its messaging and branding strategies. Resources used to implement these tactics
include mainly design software for social media content. However, it will not require many more
resources that OHCA does not already have.

Updated Media Content


On behalf of OHCA, the organization would consider choosing news media tactics that
included mainly direct news material, such as a news fact sheet, email release, social media
release and possibly a media kit. These items would serve as updated material to develop and
enhance the news presence of OHCA from a media perspective. Additionally, OHCA would
consider opinion material such as a positioning statement. This is especially important to be
defined and refined during the process of re-branding the organization. However, OHCA would
not use any interactive news opportunities.
Furthermore, a news fact sheet and media kit will help the organization interact with the
public through news media while maintaining a clear and consistent messaging strategy. This
will have a large impact on the key public, specifically towards OHCA’s acceptance objective
because the level of organization and presentation of information that comes with a complete fact
sheet and media kit strategy. The main advantage to having a news fact sheet and media kit is to
generate content in the event of a major news release on behalf of OHCA. This is the messaging
foundation of the organization in releasing tactics to the greater public. However, it does come
with the disadvantage that these tactics should be utilized for newsworthy releases of which is is
not likely OHCA will have very often.
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The positioning statement, news releases, and media kit will be at no cost to OHCA
because it is not being distributed through a publisher. These serve more for the benefit of the
organization from a media standpoint, though the lengthier publications will not be used for
release unless a newsworthy situation calls for them. However, they do demand a considerable
amount of staff time to implement this tactic because of the amount of content and writing that
the tactic demands. This is a justified cost and will be practical for the communications
employees to implement. They will have to have optimal writing skills, which is already
available within the organization.
Finally, a positioning statement is a key element to the rebranding mission of OHCA. It
will help the organization interact with its publics by reinforcing and confirming the values and
beliefs of OHCA for certain situations. It will help enhance the awareness and acceptance
objective of the organization by providing consistent and clear messaging to its publics. The
main advantage of a positioning statement, in comparison to other tactics especially, is that it
serves as a representation of OHCA and their beliefs, missions and values. Additionally, these
elements comprise to make up the newly rebranded OHCA organization.

Email/Social Media Release


For email and social media releases, these tactics will positively influence the
organization's interaction with the appropriate public. Developing this as a news strategy would
be extremely impactful because they affect direct forms of communication with OHCA publics.
Through implementing email and social media releases, the organization will raise awareness
and acceptance from publics with more accessible information being released on behalf of
OHCA, and hopefully influence their action in interacting with future OHCA opportunities. The
main advantage of this tactic is that it is the most effective direct method of communication to
outreach with publics, which is a unique and essential opportunity because of the limitations of
direct mailing to OHCA members due to anonymity restrictions.
Social media and email content will cost more for OHCA. The suggested amount to be
spent on effective social media content, according to The Content Factory online, ranges from
$4,000 to $7,000 per month as an industry standard. This is completely unrealistic for OHCA
and will need to be reduced significantly, if not completely. However, it is possible that with the
right editing and messaging software, the cost could be reduced to less than $200 per month,
which is a much more realistic expectation of OHCA.
Staff must use significant time to implement their social media and emailing content
tactics due to the importance they serve in reaching the publics. This time is practical and
available to dedicate to these areas. Additionally, employees will need editing skills, design
experience and social media platform training in addition to clear writing skills to implement this
tactic. This is available to employees through the use of editing suites as well.
CRAIN, ECONOMIDES, FRANK, FULLER, HOWARD, PLOTT 8

Advertising & Promotional Tactics

We decided to use targeted, local newspaper ads and billboards on major highways as our
advertising and promotional tactics, as they are the only ones available for us to use according to
the guidelines that a government agency like OHCA must follo​w. These tactics are also cost
effective with the small budget we have available to us.

Newspaper Advertisements
Targeted, local newspaper ads can help OHCA interact with individuals who are over 65
years of age and qualify for SoonerCare, as they are now the main public who reads newspapers.
It will have a moderate impact on the public, which will be improved if the ads can be placed on
the first few pages of the newspaper. This tactic will advance the organization toward its
awareness and action objective, as it both provides information about OHCA, and is a call to
action to sign up for SoonerCare. The main advantage of this tactic is that it reaches a public that
does not use other types of media very heavily, and would not see information about OHCA
otherwise, so it has the benefit of focusing in on a public that may be missed by other tactics.
The disadvantage of this tactic is that it does cost money, and the return may not be as high as
some other tactics.
Implementing a 2x2 newspaper ad on a Sunday in a newspaper with a circulation of
19,000 people will cost on average $79 per week. This is not something we can do all of the
time, but it would be a good thing to do for a few weeks leading up to sign-up deadlines and
other important dates. Creating the ad will not take much time, and will be easy to send to the
newspapers for print. The skill level needed is moderate, but once the first ad is created, others
can be made based off of the first one. There is no special equipment needed other than access to
a design program like Adobe InDesign, or even Canva which is very easy to use for anyone.

Outdoor Advertisements
Billboards on major highways will help OHCA interact with a wide range of individuals,
both current and potential future members as they commute. This will be highly impactful,
because it will reach a large number of people in a short amount of time, many of whom or likely
current or potential members. This tactic will advance the organization toward its awareness and
action objectives, as it spreads information about OHCA and is a call to action for a potential
member to sign up for OHCA programs. The main advantage of this tactic is the amount of
people it will reach, many of whom will or currently do qualify for an OHCA program. This
tactic offers the advantage of being easy to maintain and it has a wide reach. The disadvantage of
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this tactic is the cost associated with it, as well as it being almost unable to reach members in a
rural setting.
Implementing billboards in the Oklahoma City area through Lamar ranges in price from
$450 - $750 for a four week period. This is a relatively low cost for the amount of exposure a
billboard will generate and is practical based on the organization’s resources. This tactic will not
take much time to implement and does not require a high level of skill, equipment or expertise to
implement it. It will require a design program to create the graphic for the billboard, but the
advertising company will print and put up the actual ad.

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