Lessons Learned

This week our readings were on evaluating media strategies. Evaluation research determines if a plan was effective, how it reached its goals, and creates efficiency. Evaluating your before, during and after can help build a successful campaign to sell your product or service. Leaders should account for the cost and time for evaluation of both tangible and intangible products when implementing a project. The cost for evaluation research should be around 10% to 15% of the total project budget. Many organizations skip this vital step and it leads to duplication of mistakes in the future. Without evaluation, campaigns are subject to criticism.

To improve the probability of program success the evaluation process should encompass three policies:

• Determine the expected outcome and impact of the program.
• Understand how or why something worked and why something did not work.
• Implement more effective plan in the future.

Eight years ago, my husband Gary, and I started a recycling company called “Curbside Recycling.” I was in charge of the clerical aspects of the operation and he did the muscle work. This was in addition to our full-time jobs and two of the three beautiful daughters we now have. Still to this day, I do not know how we did it.

Most areas had recycling services provided by the city, but some areas had nothing available. We outlined the areas that we knew needed a recycling service and targeted those residents. We started out by creating door knob hangers and flyers to advertise our company. That brought in about 50 customers and we worked with what we had for a while. Then we decided to test different strategies to bring in more customers. The cost of advertising can really add up, so we decided to track the amount of customers each attempt brought to our company.

Each town had a monthly newsletter that was mailed. We bought ads in a few of them and waited to see the results. The phone calls started to trickle in and we were quite pleased with the turn out. We also set up tables at local events and passed out information and register people that were interested in joining. One time a friend that worked for a news station offered a spot on the air to spread the word. We started a “refer-a-friend” email campaign with our existing customers. Each strategy was beneficial, but we wanted to focus on what worked to bring in the most clients.

The newsletters ads presented the most registration of new customers. We decided to stick with worked best for us. We ran a few more ads, but added the incentive of waiving the sign-up fee if the member referred-a-friend. The second ad brought in more new customers than the first.

I also decided to email our existing customers a short survey asking a few questions to find out how the liked their service. One question asked what they liked about our service. Another question asked what we could do to improve our service. Some customers reported that the recycling bins were not big enough to fit all of their recyclables. Others requested that we not pick-up so early in the morning because they kept missing pick-up. I was pleased that some customers like my monthly recycling facts that I provided on their invoice.

After reviewing the results from the surveys, we made some business decisions to change some things to ensure customer satisfaction. We changed the pick-up times to an hour later and we began to offer customers the option to purchase bigger recycling bins.

After three years of service, the city began providing recycling service in the areas we were working in. It was bitter sweet to have to close our business. Our third child was on her way and it was time to venture on to new opportunities.

If I had it to do all over again, I would have attempted some social media exposure and evaluated the effects. Back then social media was not as popular as it is today, but it still would have been interesting to see the results.

Organizations should implement rigorous evaluations into their practice. They should make sure the goals are specific and measurable. Know if a program worked, how and why it worked, and make the future programs better. Also, be prepared ahead of time to alter your program for changes in the way we communicate and technological advances. 

Evaluation provides useful feedback which aids in decision-making. It provides effectiveness that help you reach the outcomes you seek. Evaluating your media strategy can help you stay on course and reach your destination.