Turning Developmental Guidance into Daily Moments of Learning
The Challenge
Colorado’s Early Learning and Development Guidelines provide a framework for understanding how children grow and learn from birth through age eight. These guidelines are intended for educators, caregivers, and families to support developmental milestones.
The guidelines are comprehensive but complex, making them difficult to translate into everyday practice. Many caregivers and providers were either unaware of the guidelines or unsure how to apply them. The challenge was simplifying and activating the content so it could be easily understood and used across diverse audiences.
Our Approach
SE2 approached this work through a sustained, multi-year strategy designed to translate Colorado’s Early Learning and Development Guidelines into practical, everyday use for both caregivers and providers.
At the core was an always-on paid media effort that built ongoing awareness and encouraged caregivers to engage with the guidelines over time. This was paired with a user-centered website experience that allowed families to easily explore content tailored to their child’s age, making developmental information feel relevant, timely, and actionable.
To extend impact beyond awareness, SE2 developed toolkits in English and Spanish that equipped providers with resources to better educate and engage parents in early childhood learning. These materials helped bridge the gap between what children need to thrive and how caregivers can support that development at home.
Statewide and niche earned media was used to reach parents and caregivers through parenting sites and news articles.
In parallel, additional resources were created specifically for providers to support the delivery of high-quality early childhood experiences, ensuring the guidelines were not only understood but consistently applied in care settings across Colorado.
The Impact
The Early Learning and Development Guidelines helped establish a shared understanding of child development across Colorado’s early childhood system—aligning providers, educators, and families around common milestones and best practices. By translating research into practical, age-based guidance, the Guidelines supported more consistent, developmentally appropriate care and learning experiences across settings.
Earned media and communications efforts significantly expanded awareness of the Guidelines statewide. Coverage included features on Univision Colorado and Educa Radio, reaching both English- and Spanish-speaking audiences. Social media amplification further extended reach, with key coverage generating over 59,000 impressions, SE2 content adding 15,700+ impressions, and partner shares contributing an additional 19,000+ impressions—driving broad visibility without additional media spend.
Reaching Rural Communities with Messages of Dignity, Recovery, and Hope
The Challenge
Rural communities across Region 15 (Colorado’s Chaffee, Custer, Fremont, and Park Counties) faced the opioid crisis under uniquely difficult conditions. Geographic isolation, limited treatment availability, workforce shortages, and transportation barriers made accessing care harder than in urban areas. At the same time, stigma surrounding substance use disorder ran deep in small communities where privacy is limited and fear of judgment can prevent people from seeking help.
Many residents did not see treatment as accessible or meant for them. Misconceptions about addiction, recovery, and medication-assisted treatment continued to reinforce silence and delay care. Region 15 needed a campaign that could reduce stigma, normalize recovery, and connect people to local treatment and support in ways that felt credible, respectful, and relevant to rural life.
The challenge was not only to raise awareness, but to create trust and open the door to treatment in communities where asking for help often feels risky.
Our Approach
SE2 partnered with the Region 15 Opioid Governance Committee to develop a stigma-reduction and treatment awareness campaign grounded in real stories, rural identity, and harm-reduction principles.
The campaign centered on storytelling that reflected the lived experiences of people in recovery, family members, and community members. Creative featured real voices and plainspoken language, reinforcing that recovery is possible and that people who use drugs are neighbors, parents, workers, and friends. Messaging emphasized dignity, connection, and hope rather than fear or shame.
To reach rural audiences effectively, SE2 deployed a multi-channel strategy that balanced scale with relevance. Paid media ran across Meta, Display, and YouTube, with creative optimized for mobile-first consumption. Display and social placements ensured repeated exposure in everyday digital environments, while video storytelling on YouTube allowed space for deeper engagement and emotional resonance.
Earned media amplified the campaign through trusted local outlets, helping normalize conversations about addiction and recovery within communities themselves. In parallel, SE2 supported the development and promotion of a campaign website that served as a central hub for treatment information and local resources. The site provided a clear, stigma-free pathway to help, designed to be accessible and easy to navigate for both English- and Spanish-speaking users.
Throughout the campaign, SE2 used performance data to guide optimization, ensuring resources were focused on the channels and creative approaches that resonated most with rural audiences.
The Impact
The Region 15 campaign demonstrated strong reach, engagement, and early signs of stigma reduction across rural communities. Key outcomes included:
- More than 3.1 million impressions delivered across paid media channels in the first month, providing broad regional visibility.
- Over 10,000 total clicks, with an overall 0.32% click-through rate, indicating strong engagement for a public health stigma-reduction campaign.
- Earned media coverage across local outlets, generating 23,000 impressions and reinforcing campaign messages through trusted rural news sources.
- More than 6,000 website visits to the campaign resource hub in the first month, creating a direct pathway to treatment information and local support.
Together, these results show that stigma-reduction messaging rooted in storytelling and rural realities can break through silence and connect people to care. The Region 15 campaign helped shift the narrative around opioid use from shame to support, reinforcing that recovery is possible and treatment is available, even in the most rural parts of Colorado.
