Brainstorm implementation strategies
There are many ways to implement the Move Your Way campaign in your local community. This list is based on creative ideas from the Move Your Way pilot communities and evidence-based strategies for getting people active. Use it as a starting point to help you brainstorm ways for using Move Your Way in your own community!
Use built environment promotion
The places where people live, work, and play make a big difference when it comes to physical activity levels. When you’re encouraging people to get active, try using these strategies that take their environment into account:
- Point-of-decision prompts: Use Move Your Way messaging on signs that encourage people to choose to be more active. For example, near a stairwell or wheelchair ramp, put a sign that reads: “Adults need at least 150 minutes of physical activity every week. Try taking the stairs or using the ramp instead of the elevator — it all adds up!”
- Wayfinding signage: Incorporate Move Your Way messages and imagery on signage near trails, parks, playgrounds, and busy pedestrian zones to let people know the distance to other nearby locations. For example, next to a trail mile marker, put a sign that says: “Get a little more active each day. Move Your Way.”
- Educational signage: Sometimes people in your community may need help understanding how they can use everyday equipment to be active — and educational signs can help with this. For example, consider putting a sign near playground benches that reads: “Adults need physical activity, too — and lots of things count!” and has images and descriptions of activities that involve a bench.
- Public awareness activities: Use Move Your Way to plan a launch event for a new or restored park, trail, or greenway. At the launch event, promote the features of the new infrastructure alongside Move Your Way fact sheets and posters to encourage community members to get active and learn about the benefits of physical activity. Remember to build social media into to your promotional efforts!
Host community events
According to The Community Guide, community events are an important piece of community-wide campaigns to promote physical activity and get people moving. Try using these strategies when you’re hosting or participating in events that encourage people to get active:
- Host Move Your Way-themed events: Move Your Way pilot communities have hosted a variety of Move Your Way events, like family 5Ks and winter festivals with activity ideas for colder months.
- Join other community events: Think about how you might build a Move Your Way presence at existing community events! You could organize an activity break during a summer concert series, support active transportation events like Bike-to-Work Day, or pass out Move Your Way resources at health fairs. Consider developing a resource list or calendar that highlights local activities and physical activity events.
Advertise in the community and distribute print materials
The Move Your Way campaign works best when people see messages and materials in many places. Distributing print materials and using environmental advertising can promote physical activity outside of events, programming, and online activities. Try using these strategies to get creative with advertising in the community:
- Use environmental advertising: Consider creating Move Your Way educational billboards, bus advertisements, or other place-based ads in your community.
- Collaborate with partners: You don’t have to distribute the materials on your own! Partners play a vital role in the success of community campaigns. Move Your Way community pilots have worked alongside schools, parks and recreation departments, Safe Routes to School programs, bicycling organizations, libraries, Scouts, chambers of commerce, Kiwanis, community colleges, universities, cooperative extensions, community health coalitions, and more.
- Meet people where they are: Brainstorm where people in your community gather. Maybe it’s the local diner, library, or park. See if your local food bank can hand out fact sheets as part of their food distribution — or if nearby vaccine clinics can distribute Move Your Way resources with their follow-up materials.
Get creative with physical activity programming
You can also include Move Your Way in physical activity programming in your community. Community pilot organizations added Move Your Way messaging, education, and materials into walking challenges, free and low-cost fitness classes, kids run clubs, walking groups, and worksite wellness initiatives.
Use point-of-care prompts
Research shows that health care providers play an important role in promoting physical activity within their community. Try partnering with local health care providers and encouraging them to talk with their patients about the importance of getting more active.
Health care facilities can also promote physical activity by displaying campaign posters in waiting rooms and hallways, distributing fact sheets during patient visits, and playing Move Your Way videos on office televisions.
Harness public affairs activities
Get the word out about physical activity and the Move Your Way campaign through public affairs activities like interviews on local TV broadcasts, coverage in the local paper or an online newsletter, and mentions by radio hosts.
Promote your campaign online and through social media
Social media and other online promotion can be a major element of spreading the word about Move Your Way! Take advantage of Move Your Way’s social media messages and graphics to promote your campaign across platforms. Some Move Your Way pilot communities have taken social media a step further and held challenges encouraging followers to share photos and videos of how they move — and to include the hashtag #MoveYourWay.
Host virtual events and other programming
Promoting physical activity during the COVID-19 pandemic meant a shift to virtual events and programming for communities across the United States. But virtual events don’t have to be limited to pandemic times — they can be a great way to engage community members who might not make it to in-person activities!
For example, many Move Your Way community pilots held virtual launch events. Other community pilots offered Move Your Way-themed virtual fitness classes — which are a great way to provide physical activity opportunities to people in their homes!