Communications

Content and Product Development

Our proven content and product development processes ensure that we deliver high-quality, high-impact information to our clients’ target audiences. Guided by our communications strategy, we create message frameworks that ensure the multiplatform content we create aligns with our clients’ goals, objectives, and brand. We are skilled at translating research results into framework-aligned digital first content and products that resonate with the target audiences our clients seek to reach. Recognizing the significance of age, sex, gender identity, and cultural or religious heritage is at the core of the communications support we provide to our clients. We are plain language and clear communication experts and have extensive experience in developing culturally competent communication strategies, content, and products to a variety of audiences.  

Partnership Engagement

Partnership engagement is a core competency of our communications team. On behalf of our clients, we have used our proven partnership model to vet, engage, manage, and sustain relationships with hundreds of organization, including federal, state, and local agencies; sports leagues; private industry; community-based nonprofits and faith-based organizations; and individual influencers. We have mobilized partnerships at the national, regional and community levels that have raised awareness, enhanced knowledge, and changed behavior.

Research and Strategy

Our researchers and communication strategists bring data, theory, and experience together to provide actionable audience insights that inform communication program and campaign plans. We use our expertise to gather audience insights that serve as the roadmap for our communications efforts. We conduct literature reviews, environmental scans, stakeholder interviews, focus groups, social network analysis, social media monitoring, and surveys to assess the impact of communication campaigns and health education programs on knowledge, attitudes, and behaviors. We monitor the implementation of campaign or program activities to guide refinements to messaging or strategy. We evaluate impact, describe successes, document lessons learned, demonstrate accountability, and advance the state of knowledge. We combine the data we gather and analyze with communication theory and best practices to develop communication strategies that get results. Inspired by design thinking, we consider what the data show that audiences want while challenging assumptions and redefining problems to uncover new opportunities to reach and influence those audiences.

Traditional and Social Media Outreach

Westat is pioneering digital media strategies to reach our clients’ audiences, including research participants. Our tactics help leverage the power of social networks to engage target audiences, share information, generate conversations, and encourage behavior change. We offer the following services: digital audience analysis, study recruitment, content development, influencer marketing, online advertising, buzz monitoring, evaluation and reporting, and social media platform development and management.