Assessing Ad
Message
Effectiveness
The consequences of ineffective
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communication can be significant, and far-
reaching. It is important that we evaluate the
effectiveness of our message by developing and
using strategic questions to identify strengths and
weaknesses. In this lesson, we will identify the
qualities of an effective message, and explore
strategies for evaluating our own work.
Why evaluate Communication?
Evaluation improves the effectiveness of your
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communications
Developing a smart communication plan is an
essential first step. But without a thoughtful
evaluation strategy, you have no way of knowing
if your plan is working or whether you need to
make adjustments. Knowing the effect of your
communication activities and fine-tuning those
areas that need improvement will help you reach
the outcomes you seek.
Evaluation can help you effectively engage with
your audience 4
How do you identify and connect with your
audiences and ensure that your messages are
resonating with them? Evaluation is key. Baseline
research conducted at the beginning will help you
understand your audiences’ priorities and values.
Throughout implementation, evaluation can help
you find ways to gather feedback from your
audiences and learn how they are responding to
your messages.
Situations change – strategies and tactics may
need to change as well 5
In working to generate social change, you will
inevitably face unexpected events, opportunities
and threats that affect your work. Evaluation helps
you collect valuable information at these critical
moments so that you can make tactical and
strategic adjustments. It can also help you
determine whether your changes are putting you
back on the path to success.
Evaluation helps you allocate resources wisely
All foundations and nonprofits work with 6
limited human and financial resources. Evaluation
can help determine whether your communication
investments could be redistributed more effectively
to achieve the desired results.
Why Is it Important to evaluate 7
messages in different context?
Have you ever been misunderstood, or
surprised by a reaction to your message? We
are often poor judgers of our own
communications. We may be certain of a
message, its meaning and intent, and may
assume that the message will be clear to the
receiver.
Without guidelines in place, evaluating our own
messages may prove to be a subjective exercise. It is
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helpful, therefore, to have some objective standards
by which to measure them.
There are four main qualities for an effective
message:
Simplicity
Specificity
Structure
Stickiness
Strategies for Evaluating a Message 9
In order to evaluate whether a message
is effective, we can ask ourselves a series
of questions which reflect a message's
simplicity, specificity, structure, and
stickiness. Let's take a look at some of
these questions now.
Simplicity 10
In order to ensure that our messages have
simplicity, we should ask ourselves two
questions:
Is my purpose evident?
Is my core message clear?
The purpose of a message will be either to inform,
to persuade, or to entertain. Knowing the purpose will
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guide us in the choice of information to include, and
in its organization. Informative speaking will rely
heavily on data, while persuasion will employ
emotional appeals, as well as data, and require a
different structure. A message with the intent to
entertain will have a very unique focus. Awareness of
purpose is crucial, in order that our audience will
know the purpose of the message, and be able to
respond appropriately.
A core message must have a clear and simple focus.
One strategy to ensure clarity and simplicity is to
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express the core message in a single sentence. By
doing so, we are forced to laser-focus the message,
and eliminate unnecessary or tangential ideas. If this
task is difficult, it is a good indication that the core
message is too broad. Writing the core message in a
single sentence should be undertaken early in the
preparation stages, but may be reviewed again later, to
ensure that the message has remained on track.
Specificity refers
to our choices of language and its
usage. In order to ensure language is specific, we 13
may ask ourselves:
Is my language specific?
Is my language concrete, rather than abstract?
Are there connotative meanings to the words I have
chosen? If so, do these emotional associations serve
or go against my purpose?
Am I using words which have additional meanings,
and could perhaps be misconstrued?
Specificity
We should ensure that language is as specific as
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possible. If you mean 'poodle,' avoid saying 'dog.'
Language should be concrete, so that our readers or
listeners can vividly picture our ideas, translating
words into memorable images. Avoiding abstractions
is one way to avoid vague or confusing messages. The
more specific we can be, the more likely our audience
will comprehend and take action. For example, 'eat
well' is a vague and abstract idea, while 'consume an
avocado a day' is concrete and specific.
Specificity
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Certain words carry hidden emotional
meanings. 'House' refers simply to a physical
structure, while 'home,' for many people,
connotes warmth, support, family etc. We
should be cautious when using words with
multiple meanings or interpretations. My
definitions for 'murder' or 'freedom' may be very
different from your definitions.
Structure 16
ideas should be logically organize and easy to
follow
Does my message have structure?
Is there a more effective way to arrange my ideas?
STICKINESS
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is an idea that has, well… stuck.
we aren’t talking glue here. Instead, stickiness is a
metaphor for emotions, rather like hot and cool.
Ideas can be sticky, messages, can, brands and even
websites can be sticky.
Stickiness is the quality of holding our attentions,
and that has to be a big idea that any manager or
professional needs to engage with.
STICKINESS
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Stickiness is how much an idea stays
around in our culture and commands our
attention. It combines the idea of being
memorable, and staying near the front of
our mind. Sticky messages win the war
for our attention, by holding our focus
despite the incursions of new messages.
Overview of Advertising 19
It’s not easy or inexpensive
but the value outweighs the drawbacks.
More than 80% of advertisers and agencies pretest television commercials
before airing them on a national basis.
What Does Advertising Involve? 20
Media Effectiveness
Message Research
To test effectiveness of messages
Pretesting ads during developmental stages
Posttesting to determine if messages achieve their
established objectives
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