DIGITAL COMMUNICATIONS & SOCIAL MEDIA Connor Moen & Cassian Soltykevych

The APPROACH: Branding and introductory social media Define Your Goals Know Your Audience Increasing Your Reach Using Your Online Presence as Leverage Other Types of Social Media

Increase awareness? Why? Defining goals Increase awareness? Why? Event Turnout? Fundraising? UCC National: convert Facebook Traffic to mailing list, which will build relationship for new prospective donors

Know your audience

Know your audience Language? Wave of Immigration? Hobbies? Ukrainian and beyond Cultural? Political? Recreational? Trial and Error

Share consistently and with relevant information 60%+ - content your audience wants to see 30% - sharing content 10% - what you want your engaged audience to see The Facebook engagement algorithm

What Makes a Good Post? Video (up to 8* more views if directly uploaded through Facebook

What Makes a Good Post? Images (Photography or Graphic Design)

What Makes a Good Post? Web Link with: Featured Image Catchy Headline Make Your Own!

Under the Hood: Facebook Insights - Follow up with Banff Lodge

Facebook SUMMARY The first frontier on social media your organization should expand to Post relevantly, post consistently Trial and error: insights are your best friend online Tie in your Facebook page to your newsletters and website The more often someone sees your brand, the more likely they are to remember it Don’t be afraid to share, like, comment – you’ll help it grow to whatever it becomes!

Other Social Media “Social Media handles are like pets – don’t adopt one if you can’t feed it regularly” Connor Moen

Other social media outlets Twitter Requires dedication and frequent use to get your message out News agencies live on Twitter What’s trending today? That’s what they will report Wikipedia Free to set up Takes a few hours to set up initially, but much less time after the initial set up YouTube Useful as an archive of any videos Don’t forget the password! Instagram & Snapchat are likely not relevant to your organization

Using Social Media for Return of investment Attract Sponsors Capture broader Canadian audience Petition Signatures Grow Email List Fundraise Increase Event Turnout Recruit Members

The mechanics Websites Newsletters – Print & Digital Traditional Media – Newspapers, TV, Radio Advertising

Having something is better than having nothing

Websites: Clean & Simple

Websites Simple is better Don’t make anything “stuck in time” The exception is news Essential components: Contact info Information about the organization Mission, goals, stakeholders, sponsors/donors

Websites Email addresses should have your domain name Eg. “info@cassian.com” is much more professional than “cassian@yahoo.ca” Your biggest investment of money in marketing should be your website Don’t let someone do it for $250 Make sure you own your domain name Never let another group control your website registration

Newsletters: Print & Digital

Newsletters (Digital) Younger generation receiving news and information online But older generations also have e-mail! Newsletter should be connected with website Using links in your newsletter to connect to your website Email with a “BCC” and not just “send to” or “CC”

Newsletters (Digital) DO NOT USE ALL CAPS Alternative, DoN’t mIX caSeS eiThER For a more professional product, use Mailchimp or Constant Contact

Newsletters (Print) Anything is better than nothing Even if it doesn’t look beautiful As long as it is informative Invest in design if possible A graphic designer can go a long way

Newsletters (Print) Print newsletters are still relevant Many people still like to have tangible media People leave their newsletters on their kitchen table They see these pieces over and over again

Advertising

Advertising – Social media One of the most affordable methods of advertising Must be done correctly to be effective Budgets for advertising can start at $1 Easy to do trial and error with little damage Not risking hundreds of dollars

Advertising – Traditional Media Radio Community radio programs/stations very affordable Still popular amongst all age groups Print More affordable Varies from size of publication – national/local/community Television expensive, except for community television

Advertising - Print materials The value of design You’re showing people how reputable your organization is Excellent communication methods include: Stand up banners Brochures Infographics Makes your organization stand out and look professional No NO COMIC SANS or other weird fonts Word Art

Media Suggestions Ask your non-Ukrainian friends to look over a promotional item or a website Can they understand the message you are trying to convey? Do they know what your organization is/does? Producing materials across the board to be professional makes a world of difference Consistency is key Brand recognition People need to see materials several times to understand the organization and message

Key Takeaways A graphic designer makes a world of difference Your sponsors are paying for it - make them look nice! Set your goals with marketing Don't just get a young person to "do social media"

Key Takeaways Don’t spent a ton of time and effort on doing something and then spend $0 on marketing Your marketing budget should be 3-10% of your event budget

Key Takeaways Invest in promoting your organization An investment in marketing is still an investment in your organization! Marketing returns don’t come overnight

Having something is better than having nothing

Make a marketing plan for your organization and events

Share frequently and with relevant information

Know your audience

The more times you see it, the better you’ll remember it

Thank you