The importance of a good communication plan:

1. Visibility and impact:The communication plan enhances the visibility of the research project and ensures it reaches the right audience. This will help it to have an impact on the scientific community, other researchers, the media and other stakeholders, increasing their awareness and understanding of the project.
2. Collaboration and funding:Effective communication can open up new opportunities for collaboration with other researchers or institutions, as well as facilitating additional funding for the research project. A good plan can help highlight the importance and potential benefits of research, arousing interest amongst potential partners or investors.
3. Public understanding and support:The appropriate communication of a research and investigation project helps to establish a dialogue with the public and create a broader understanding of the importance of scientific research and investigation. This can help to generate public support for the project, as well as greater recognition of its relevance to society and public policies.
4. Dissemination of results:A strong communication plan facilitates the dissemination of research results to the scientific community and society in general. This dissemination can be carried out through scientific publications, presentations at lectures, informative materials, media, social networks and other platforms that reach specific audiences.
5. Assessment and feedback: Continuous communication with different audiences allows us to gather evaluations, opinions, and suggestions that can enrich the research and investigation project. This can help improve the design and execution of the project, as well as obtain useful feedback for research staff.

The elements to be described in a communication plan are:

1. Goals:The communication objectives are clear and concise statements that define what the communication activities aim to achieve. They must be specific, measurable, achievable, relevant and time-bound (SMART).Examples of goals could be: increase the visibility of the research and investigation project, communicate the results to the scientific community, or raise public awareness of the social impact of the project.
2. Audiences:It is important to identify the different groups of people who are relevant to the research project and to establish the target audiences of communication activities. This may include other researchers in the same field, the media, academic institutions, decision-makers, civil society, entities, professional associations, etc. We can even become more specific and, for example, indicate which layer of society we want to target (older people, children, young people, families, people in vulnerable situations, unemployed people, etc.) or what type of administration or institution (local, regional, state/general or specialised). Each audience may require a different communication approach.
3. Actions:This section describes the different communication activities that will be carried out to achieve the established goal. This may include activities involving websites, conferences, scientific publications, organisation of seminars, informative materials (such as brochures, computer graphics, roll-ups, videos, etc.),outreach activitieslike these, communication on social media or media coverage. Each action must be consistent with the goals and adapted to the target audience. If you need inspiration,you can click here
4. Calendar:In this section, a calendar must be created that shows the key dates of each of the communication actions. It is important to establish deadlines and follow up to ensure that the activities are carried out on time. A well-structured calendar helps to organise tasks and keep the communication plan going.
5. Budget:This part involves establishing a budget for the communication activities as part of the research and investigation project. The costs associated with each action, such as travel, printing materials, fees for external professionals, online promotion, etc. must be taken into consideration. It is necessary to ensure that the budget is realistic and that sufficient resources are allocated for each activity. Actions with the media and the publication of news and activities on the UdG website must be coordinated with the Communication Area and do not represent any added cost.
6. Assessment:The assessment is a critical process that allows us to assess the effectiveness of communication initiatives, determine whether the established objectives have been achieved and improve or adjust the strategies in real time during the project or looking to the future. The assessment does not represent the end of the process, but forms part of the project’s lifetime, with a view to introducing changes and improvements during its execution, if necessary. The assessment must include measurable performance indicators (number of people we have reached, media coverage obtained, participation at events, audience responses, etc.) and may also include surveys to gather information and opinions from the public on the project and, thus, ascertain the effectiveness and impact of the communication plan’s actions; monitoring and analysis of media coverage to determine the scope and quality of the visibility achieved; and internal feedback to find out the comments and suggestions made by team members and other players regarding the communication impact.

The Communications Service (SdCom) can provide advice on and review communication plans for UdG research projects.It can also provide information on research and investigation communication actions supported by central services.

Please note that media-related activities must not be undertaken without coordinating with the Communications Service (comunicacio@udg.edu / 972 418346).