Chances are there are tons of people out there who don’t much about drug abuse or the fact that it affects millions of young people each year. Make some awesome flyers so they can find out the 411 and how they can make a difference too.

Double Check

First, make sure you have the option of posting your signs on telephone polls and community bulletin boards. If your town won’t allow you to do that, see if you can pass out flyers at your town hall, public library, a local business or at school.

Do Some Research

Gather some data for the signs and figure out how you want to present it. Do Something has some great info on drug info including facts and dangers.

Investigate

Call your local AA and find out the details of drug abuse in your area. Don’t be afraid to include this info on your posters. The truth is powerful!

Details

See if you can get a quote from a recovering addict. Include it in your campaign. Again, the truth is powerful!

Images

Images are powerful and are as much a part of the message as the chosen words so don’t be afraid to use them. So if that recovering addict is willing to show his/her face, let them!

Power in People

Now that you’ve got all this info, get some friends together to help you design and complete the posters or flyers. They can also help you put them up when you’re done.

Variety is key

Keep in mind, that in order to make this campaign effective, you have to vary your strategy. So think about making a few different kinds of signs:

• Small flyers to pass out to people
• Big, colorful posters to post on telephone polls: you want these to stand out because people will be driving and/or walking by them so you want to grab their attention.
• Informative flyers to post on cork boards or town message boards.

Timing

April is Alcohol Awareness month! So that’s a great time for a campaign but if you’ve miss the date, don’t be hesitant to start a campaign. But there’s no Drug Awareness Month … Huh? So maybe you can start a campaign to change that!

Be Bold

Think of strange places you can put up posters and see if you can get permission to post them there. Marketers have put up ads in odd places because it’s an effective tactic. Like the doors in bathroom stalls of restaurants, cafes, and/or even in restrooms of your local bus or train station.

Post and Repost

While going out one day and posting is great, keep in mind that weather may damage posters so you’ll want to go out periodically and repost your signs. You also won’t catch everyone in one day so schedule a few days to go out and distribute fliers.

The Extra Mile

You can also recruit speakers to come in and speak to students at your school, church, and/or community center. Contact your local AA or look in the yellow pages. You can even go to your local police station and ask for resources. They’re usually more than willing to help support a positive cause.

And don’t forget to let Do Something know the amazing things you’ve done!