Step 4. How? Publicizing the Program

What resources do you have to advertise and produce this program or campaign?

Here are some steps to consider:

• Develop a budget, including the costs of advertising, rentals, food, speaker(s) and other incidentals. Does your final proposed budget support your goals for the program?
   
• Advertise in the local newspapers. You may not have the budget for a full-page advertisement, but small-town newspapers often offer short announcements in the main section of the paper as a public service
   
• Contact the local newspaper and speak with a reporter. See if anyone is assigned to the "age beat." Try to increase his or her awareness of the issues surrounding older adults and driving. Speak to the reporter about writing a general- or human-interest story about the topic, highlighting your program. Have events included in community events or bulletin board sections. For more information about developing media connections, see the Blueprint module
   
• Contributing information to the local cable station can result in a posting on the station's community bulletin board.
   
• Contact community cable and radio stations for inclusion on events announcements or for talk show or news interviews.
   
• Design one-page flyers and distribute them in locations frequented by your target audience. Consider local pharmacies, clinics, senior centers, adult daycare centers, retirement homes, or continuing-care centers. You can also ask them to cosponsor your program or event
   
• When translating promotional material to another language, seek help from members of the representative community to make sure the flyer really says what you want it to say in another language
   
• Work with your partners to assist in the program promotion
   
• If the budget allows for a well-known speaker, plan a full lecture with media coverage
   
• To advertise your program, use the resources of other health- and aging-related agencies, such as area agencies on aging, health departments, hospitals and ethnic community-based organizations

If you plan to launch a media campaign, refer to the section on working with the mass media in the Blueprint module.

You can execute a low-cost publicity effort to notify individuals and groups of your program and intended audience. Five levels of promotion are:

• Using word-of-mouth (least costly)
• Pitching the program in newsletters
• Contacting the local media (more time-consuming but may be especially effective in ethnic communities)
• Distributing flyers (moderate cost and moderate time involvement)
• Posting information on your website, on partners' websites or on listservs

Within ethnic communities, find a local leader who will introduce you to the community and to other contacts key to publicizing the program.

Using Word-of-mouth

1. Contact past participants in older-adult programs, such as:

   • Health-promotion program attendees
   • Nutrition-site participants and meals-on-wheels volunteers
   • Arts and recreation class members
   • Fitness class participants
   • Tax aid program participants
   
    
2. Make announcements at all your organization's events.
    
3. Offer door prizes to participants who bring friends.

Pitching the Program in Newsletters

1. Identify relevant sources of newsletters:

   • Hospitals or HMOs
   • Pharmacies
   • Chiropractors
   • Senior centers
   • Civic organizations (e.g., Rotary Club, Kiwanis Club)
   • Religious groups
   • Health clubs
   • Older-adult organizations, such as local chapters of the Older Women's League or Gray Panthers
   • Health advocacy and education groups (your local chapter of the Alzheimer's Association, the American Stroke Association, the American Parkinson Disease Association, diabetes associations)
   • Advocacy groups such as the NAACP, La Raza, lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) advocacy or social groups
   
    
2. Contact the organization's leader, minister, priest, rabbi, or spiritual or religious education director to secure a commitment to include the information in one of their newsletters or bulletins.
    
3. Create a brief news story of 150 to 200 words that newsletter editors can insert into their publication. Be sure to include the topic, speaker, place, time and contact information.

Contacting the Local Media

1. Create a list of local print and broadcast media, using the telephone directory or other community listings as a starting point. Include the following information:

   • Type of media
   • Name of publication or broadcasting station
   • Contact names, including the appropriate reporter or editor (obtained by calling each media outlet)
   • Section of the paper (lifestyles, health or community section or a special older-adult insert)
   • Addresses
   • Phone/fax numbers
   • E-mail addresses
   • Website
   
    

2. Develop strategies to sell the impact of the older-driver issue to media in your community, such as:

   • How does aging and mobility affect older adults in your community?
   • How does it affect the health of your community?
   • How are family members affected? Does that affect business and employers?
   • What is the urgency for the reporter coming to this program now?

   Collect "hard data" on the issue. Use reliable sources, such as National Highway Traffic Safety Administration or Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and reference the information or statistics. Reliable sources and referencing boosts your credibility.
    

3. Create a brief news release.
    
4. Mail or fax an announcement for the weekly calendar and a media advisory to the appropriate reporters/editors at the local radio, TV and cable stations, as well as newspapers, magazines and community organization newsletters.
    
5. For ethnic media, especially print, provide the information in the proper language. In some cases, the radio or television stations will translate the announcement for you.
    
6. Follow up with a phone call to confirm receipt of the notices and to encourage media outlets to broadcast or publish the information.

For more information on publicity, turn to Chapter 3 in the Blueprint module.

Distributing Flyers

1. Develop a flyer outlining the following:

   • Location
   • Time and date
   • Presenter information
   • Brief description of what will be covered
   • Cost
   • Sponsoring groups
   
    

2. Determine the best locations to promote your program, by mail or hand delivery, such as:

   • Local offices or chapters of national health organizations (e.g., the Alzheimer's Association, the American Stroke Association)
   • AARP chapters
   • AAA
   • Local area agencies on aging
   • Cooperative extension offices
   • DMVs
   • Hospitals and health clinics
   • Senior centers, older-adult clubs, and retirement groups
   • Libraries, schools, colleges, local bookstores
   • Pharmacies
   • Physician offices and clinics catering to older adults
   • Churches, synagogues, mosques, temples
   • Civic groups and local businesses such as barbershops
   • Laundromats and grocery stores
   • YMCAs
   • Restaurants frequented by older adults
   • Nutrition sites
   • Housing sites