Answer Key Questions 

What are the Key Elements of an Effective Message? 

Identify Issue 

What is the problem or issue you wish to address? Is it of immediate concern to your audiences—for example, informing parents about back-to-school vaccinations—or an issue deserving of long-term attention, such as obesity or general community health? 

Identify Audiences 

Who do you want to recruit to your cause? These people—your audiences—are usually those most affected by the problem you’re trying to solve or those whose support you want to win. 

Identify Objectives 

How will your cause, campaign, or organization address the problem? The answer to this question can be quite specific, particularly if the message is for a campaign with a measurable goal, a beginning and an end. The answer may be more general if your organization has a mandate that will continue indefinitely. 

Identify Action Steps 

What do you want your audiences to do? Sometimes this part of the message is a direct call to action, such as “you can help by calling your member of Congress” or “you can help by giving to our cause.” Sometimes it’s a more subtle request, for example, asking audiences to change their perception of an issue, with the idea that at some point they’ll be asked to do something more specific. 

You now have the elements to create a message that will both inform your audience and motivate them to take action. Remember that the art of crafting a message is just that—an art, not a science. It may take time to formulate a message that effectively incorporates the information you have gathered. 

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