 The COVID-19 pandemic has brought about unprecedented challenges, causing fear, uncertainty and damage worldwide. This has led to false information and discrimination, inflicting greater harm to migrants. We need to act fast to communicate factual, clear information to assist the most vulnerable and stop hate speech before it takes root. Communication campaigns are vital to fill information gaps, raise awareness and counter misinformation so migrants are safe, supported, aware of their rights and have access to vital assistance in emergencies. IOM has put together a quick-fire toolkit on how to produce effective communication campaigns in all migration settings. Here are the top five takeaways. 1. Know your audiences and involve them The term audience includes many different groups of people who have different preferences for the way they access, receive, share and act on information. These different audience groups will also not use the same terms or language to speak about migration. Who are the audiences we want to reach and how best we communicate with them? Are we delivering information in the right language or format through the right channel? 2. Research the context Each and every migration context is different. To produce effective awareness raising, information or behavior change campaigns, we need to analyze all the factors that influence the way people manage their lives and access information. Researching the context helps shape a relevant, targeted and more effective campaign. 3. Set clear and realistic objectives This sounds obvious, but sometimes if the ultimate goal is unclear it can lead to a weaker campaign. It needs time and resources to explore what the campaign will be about and why it is important. Ideally, key stakeholders in target audience groups should be involved to help inform messaging and visual information. Migration campaigns tackle complex issues like internal displacement, crisis, safe versus unsafe migration and human trafficking. Providing information to support people means giving them opportunity to speak about their experiences safely. 4. Lead with strong visual content In a noisy information landscape there is so much to take in. People's attention span is shrinking. There is very little time to convey the campaign message. The message needs to be short, clear, consistent and visually striking. Language and images should reflect local context and speak to the people they are trying to reach. Avoid stereotypes, gender imbalance, images that are derogatory or show people only as victims. People must give informed consent for their image to be used an assessment taken as to whether this could put them at risk. 5. Use data Campaigns should be based on evidence and use data to inform, raise awareness and fight false information with facts. IOM provides the biggest global repository of migration and displacement data that can be helped support the campaign's objectives. The campaign should also generate its own data to track and assess impact and use this information to meet goals. Effective campaigns are based on simple principles of good two-way communication. Interacting with audiences, understanding their realities and involving them will make for better results. Download the IOM Communication Campaign Toolkit.