Good research doesn’t speak for itself. A practical guide to think tank communication strategy, plus a free workbook to define your target audiences.

Think tanks like to believe that good research speaks for itself. It doesn’t.

Building an effective think tank communication strategy is what closes that gap. These organisations play a vital role in shaping public policy and informing societal debates. They produce high-quality, evidence-based research on everything from economic reform and climate policy to human rights and international cooperation. Their work is essential to any functioning democracy.

But here is the uncomfortable truth: even the best research has no impact if no one sees it, understands it, or uses it.

And this is where many think tanks still fall short: communication is too often treated as an afterthought rather than a strategic lever of policy influence.

Think Tank Communication: Closing the Gap Between Research and Impact

Here’s what typically happens : a think tank identifies a topic that is emerging, or about to explode, in public debate. It mobilises experts, builds a scientific committee, conducts in-depth research, and develops a strong set of policy recommendations.

And then, at the very end, someone asks: “How are we actually going to communicate this?”

This is where things get complicated. Because by that point, it’s already too late to build a truly effective think tank communication strategy. The narrative hasn’t been shaped. The audiences haven’t been clearly defined. The formats haven’t been anticipated. Communication ends up playing catch-up with research and impact suffers as a result.

At CREATED, we have worked with enough think tanks to say this clearly: if you care about policy influence, you need to treat communication strategy as part of the research process.

Here’s our methodology:

The first step is Define. Before any asset is produced, before a brief goes to a designer or a video producer, the project needs a clear answer to three questions. Who are we trying to reach, and specifically enough that we could name them? What do we need them to do — not “be aware,” but actually do? And what is the one thing they need to hear to get there?

These questions sound simple. In practice, they take a full day with a research team that has strong opinions about its own work and limited patience for communication planning. But without answers, everything produced in the next four years will be generic by default.

The second is Create. The assets the project actually needs, built for the audiences identified in Define. A website that explains the research to a policymaker in three minutes, not to a peer reviewer. A video that shows a beneficiary, not a workflow diagram. Editorial that a journalist can quote without having to rewrite it first.

The third is Amplify. Getting the work in front of the right people at the right moment. A published report is not a distributed one. Amplify is the difference between a launch event that fills a room and a launch event that generates coverage, follow-up meetings, and a mention in the next committee report.
Here’s what that actually looks like in practice:

1. DEFINE Your Target Audiences Early

Who are you trying to influence? Policymakers? Journalists? Civil society organisations? The general public?

“General public” means everything and nothing.

If you can’t define it, you can’t reach it. Which segments are you actually targeting: by age, geography, gender? Who is already convinced, and who can still be persuaded?

Your research dissemination strategy depends entirely on this. Without clarity on audiences, your communication will be generic and ineffective.

2. CREATE a Public Affairs Communication Strategy in Parallel

A strong think tank communication strategy should answer:

• Which channels will you use (media relations, events, digital campaigns, social media)?
• Which formats will resonate (reports, policy briefs, videos, op-eds)?
• What is your narrative and framing?

2. AMPLIFY at the Right Moment

Timing is everything in think tank communication strategy and public policy. Publishing a report is not enough. You need to insert your ideas into the debate at the right moment, when policymakers and media are paying attention.

Measuring Think Tank Impact: Tracking Influence, Not Just Outcomes

Too many think tanks measure their communication strategy success in binary terms: “Was the policy adopted? Yes or no.”. The real question is: “how did your research shape the debate, influence stakeholders, and contribute to decision-making over time?”. If you only look at final policy adoption, you are missing most of the story.

What does real impact look like?

⟶ Your Ideas Are Being Reused
Are your key messages showing up in media coverage, political speeches, expert commentary? If yes, you are influencing the narrative.

⟶ You Are Reaching the Right People
Not just “more people” but the right people. A targeted audience of policymakers and influencers is far more valuable than broad but irrelevant visibility.

⟶ You Are Building Alliances
This is where think tanks are often underestimated. Through events, roundtables and convenings, they connect: policymakers, experts, NGOs and private sector actors. These connections create coalitions. And coalitions are what actually drive policy change.

What Content Actually Works for Think Tank Communication?

Let’s move from theory to practice. What kind of content supports effective research dissemination and policy influence in think tank communication strategy?

1. Dedicated Websites as Knowledge Hubs

A dedicated project website is one of the most effective tools in think tank communication strategy. It allows you to:

• Centralise all research outputs and resources
• Structure complex policy issues clearly
• Create a distinct identity for the project

It also solves a key strategic issue: it shifts visibility away from the think tank itself and towards the issue.

From an SEO perspective, these platforms are powerful:

• They improve discoverability of policy research
• They provide measurable insights through analytics
• They act as long-term knowledge hubs for stakeholders

2. Educational Video Content: Essential for Modern Policy Communication

Let’s face it: very few people will read a 100-page policy report. In fast-moving political environments, attention is limited. This is why video has become a critical tool in think tank communication strategy.

Educational videos allow you to:

• Translate complex research into accessible content
• Reach non-expert audiences without losing accuracy
• Adapt content across platforms (websites, conferences, social media)

Short-form video formats, especially on platforms like Instagram and TikTok, are increasingly powerful in pushing policy narratives into the public sphere. 

Think tank video production often fails in a predictable way: a well-made film that reaches no one, because the distribution question was never asked before the shoot. The video existed as a deliverable, not as part of a communication strategy.

At CREATED, we follow a Define–Create–Amplify sequence precisely to prevent this. Define establishes the audience, the objective, and the timing before a single frame is shot. Create produces the video and the formats it needs to travel: a cut for social, a version for events, a transcript for the press team. Amplify places it in front of the right people at the moment they’re paying attention. Skipping Define doesn’t save time. It produces a video that answers a question nobody asked.

3. Educational Video Content: Essential for Modern Policy Communication

On the TEMA project, funded by the European Union’s Horizon Europe programme, the challenge was clear: how do you communicate highly technical real-time prediction solutions for emergency response to very different audiences? You can learn more about our approach here.We invite you to read more about our work for the TANGO project. The core challenge was science communication: making highly technical content understandable without oversimplifying it

Conclusion

The think tanks that communicate well aren’t the ones with the largest budgets or the most staff. They’re the ones that made a decision — early, and deliberately — to treat communication as part of the research process rather than a service called in at the end.

A good think tank communication strategy requires a different set of questions asked at the right moment: who needs to hear this, in what form, and when. 

If this piece gave you one of those questions to bring into your next project meeting, that’s where the work starts.

For communication officers and peers who want to keep thinking through these problems, The Signal lands monthly — no agency news, no round-ups, just analysis of what’s actually shifting in communication.