1. Develop a communication strategy

The communication strategy is a well-planned strategic approach to carrying out communication with resources and timeframes. As in any strategic management activity, when developing communication strategies, it is necessary to identify the goal, objectives, tasks, target audience, communication channels, etc. It is important to note that your communication should focus on dissemination of knowledge and experience both among the cultural and creative sectors and the wider audience. It is also very important to identify the expected outcomes and how you plan to measure them. These are the parts of your communication strategy that you should include in your application. For convenience, you can use the following table or create your own structure. 

2. Informing about EU support (Visibility)

In order to obtain the support of Creative Europe, make sure to talk about how you would spread the word about the EU’s support when implementing the project. All printed and online materials should include the Creative Europe logo and during events, you should use banners with the logo. 

3. Accessibility of information 

Information about your project should be available both on the local and international levels. This should be communication with various target audiences, including journalists, partners, and the public. The main communication principle, in this case, should be accessibility and comprehensibility. Information coming from you should not only be disseminated to the audience but also reach it. It is not enough to talk about an interesting event, it is also important that people hear you and come to you. In your project, you have to employ just such a two-way communication principle.

4. Target audience and communication channels 

Organisation when planning their communication very often set themselves the goal of having as much media coverage as possible. However, statistics show that only 7% of the audience consume today information through the media. It is a relative example, but it demonstrates that it is important to analyse statistics, to track how your target audience consumes information. For example, young people do it online, older people use newspaper and television. 

5. Defend the importance of your cultural project 

Project promotion is a pain for any cultural organisation now since the media are interested mostly in politics. There are some exceptions though. One of the most notable examples going to prove that is the decision of Novoye Vremya magazine to publish on its cover 10 people who have achieved success in the cultural sphere and who are actually cultural figures instead of the usual portraits of politicians. The editor-in-chief commented: “Culture is the future and what is happening now is the past.” There is a trend for culture today and it is important join it! To help you with this, we have developed a series of arguments on why culture and creativity are important for various spheres of life. This is not an exhaustive list, you can expand it and we can carry out together campaigns like the Things the Culture Can Change in Society. You shouldn’t only talk about culture being important but you should also argue well for that, why it is important here and now for the country, for the city and for your community.

6. Notable examples

There are few examples of culture communication and marketing in the countries of our region. So feel free to draw on interesting practices abroad, or come up with your own creative ideas. For example, The Guardian has a network for culture professionals and one of its sections is about communication. Every week they publish a case about how museums, theatres, and other cultural organisations engage their audiences. For example, on Museum Selfie Day, all citizens who visit a museum are asked to take a selfie and post it on social media.