Two of Us: A National Public Education Campaign On Healthy Marriage and Relationships

Background: Over the past decade a broad consensus has emerged: changes in American marriage and family structure have decreased the mean level of child well-being in the population, lowered the well-being of many adults, increased family poverty, and placed a large financial burden on our society.

Program background: Based on original quantitative research conducted by TRU in 2008 on behalf of the National Healthy Marriage Resource Center, findings showed that young adults have high aspirations and expectations for marriage; however, many acknowledge they lack the skills to establish and maintain healthy relationships and marriages. Based on these and other audience findings, ICF created a multimedia, national public education campaign to promote a convenient, online resource for young adults seeking to build and maintain healthy relationships (www.twoofus.org). Using both traditional earned media outreach tactics to disseminate research findings and a multi-year phased media buy, ICF significantly increased awareness about key campaign themes (e.g.relationships and marriages take work; relationships and marriages have ups and downs).

Evaluation Methods and Results: Using Web analytics, we specifically tracked not only website visits, but numbers of visitors who joined the online community. In later phases, we grew the Facebook fanpage from < 50 people to more than 12,000. We also targeted our audience in key online sites (Pandora, YouTube, I Heart Radio, and others) to bring our messages directly to them with the call to action just a click away. To sustain the program beyond the length of the existing grant funding, we have actively encouraged community members to move to the Facebook community.

Conclusions: Providing proven relationship enhancement strategies in a convenient, private space (online) enhances the likelihood that young adults will engage these tips and tools. By providing relationship skills on the front end (rather than counseling when more serious problems develop), people can take a more active role in strengthening their relationships/marriages.

Implications for research and/or practice: The majority of the research provided via TwoOfUs.org had been housed within a Community of Practice website, serving only those within narrow practice areas (academics, researchers, and marriage education experts). To reach the general public, a consumer-friendly site with interactive features and plain language tips was key to program success. Further, by employing both traditional and new media strategies we did not simply build it and wait for them to come; we went to them and said here we are.