COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT Catholic Radio

Community Engagement Concept of building awareness and relationships with Catholic organizations within your listening area They need to know you exist You need to have a relationship with them – Engage with them and their mission

“Re-mark-ability” What makes you “remarkable?” Catholic Radio is a word-of-mouth, experiential product Identify your “sneezers” – both people and organizations Be patient – things move slowly in the Catholic world

These are the Catholic influencers within your listening area Identifying COIs is the first step in building a Community Engagement Plan Grassroots Marketing for Catholic Radio Identify Your COIs (Circles of Influence)

Where are they? Who do the influence? How can Catholic Radio help build their ministry? How can they help Catholic Radio? Grassroots Marketing for Catholic Radio Identify Your COIs (Circles of Influence)

Examples of Circles of Influence: Influencers/Movers & Shakers Catholic organizations and institutions Private groups Parish communities ANY Catholic-affiliated organization within your listening area Who are the COIs in your listening area? Circles of Influence

COI/Community Engagement Assessment Do they know about us? Do we have a parish/community liaison? Do we have a presence – Physically? Mentally? What do they need and how can we serve them? What do we need and how can their resources help? Are there strategic partnership possibilities?

Let others do the marketing for you. Don’t re-create, just partner! Latch on to other good people and initiatives. Grassroots Marketing for Catholic Radio Don’t Reinvent the Wheel

Grass Roots Marketing for Catholic Radio Identify Open Opportunities What obvious opportunities are available to you in the next 12 months?  Existing events or programs?  Pastoral changes?  Diocesan campaigns or programs?

Grass Roots Marketing for Catholic Radio Prioritize Outreach and Contacts Who or what are your “low hanging fruit?”  Identify people and opportunities with the most return.  Consider timeline.  Create a plan for outreach and relationship building.

SOCIAL MEDIA FOR CATHOLIC RADIO Catholic Radio

Simply another form of community engagement – 47% say that Facebook is their #1 influencer on purchases Your potential listeners are there It’s not going away – communication has forever been changed by the Internet & social media It is a terrific way to grow your listener base It will further engage your current listeners Why Social Media for Catholic Radio?

Make it part of your marketing plan Pick one or two to start and master them Be certain it has your voice and represents your brand It’s more than likes – it’s about engaging your audience Always focus on your audience You’re a local station – be local on your social media Make a plan Thinking About Social Media

57% of American adults are on Facebook Since 2010, 55 + grew by 80% 35 – 54 grew by 41% 64% of users visit the site daily Facebook users go there to share Social Media Platforms - Facebook

Post daily inspirational quotes, memes or cartoon. Something that isn’t about your station but is within your brand and engages the community. Fill in the blanks or polls. Ask your listeners what their favorite saint is, how they get through Mass with their toddlers, how they find ways to talk about Faith with their coworkers. “Trending Topics”. Share information on something from the news that’s relevant to your listeners, ask them to weigh in. Ask your listeners to participate in your programming via Facebook. Conduct contests or host special giveaways. What can Catholic radio do on Facebook?

Reserve this platform for memorable things; keepsakes that proved especially meaningful and engaging to you and your audience. Your audience can come back time and again and uncover more on your Facebook page. Posting should be limited to 2 or 3 times a day Space your posts out in even intervals. (Ex: 6am, 12pm, 6pm) Consider your target audiences viewing times... It is best to post during the times when online traffic is busiest. Photos and videos are, hands down, the most engaging tool used on Facebook. Facebook Best Practices

Platforms that can be useful to Catholic radio Since 2012, 55 – 64 age bracket on Twitter grew by 79% Twitter is the fastest growing social media network. 44% growth since 2012 Women are 4 times more likely to be on Pinterest 24% of women age 30 – 49 use Pinterest Social Media Platforms – Twitter & Pinterest

Stats, quotes and tips. everybody loves a little factoid. Photo Interesting things about what is going on behind the scenes at the stations. Perfect for show hosts – unlimited tweeting! When holding events, give your attendees a way to participate through hashtags Use a hashtag for your local shows What can Catholic Radio do on Twitter?

The number of tweets you share a day is unlimited Always stay relevant to your audience Stay on brand Be professional, use good grammar, sentence structure and punctuation Quality over quantity Twitter Best Practices

Inspiration boards. saints, prayers, catholic doo-dads, etc… Staff photos Event photos. Pin recipes for different feast and saint days, lenten recipes, etc... Create Pinterest boards for each of your local hosts. What Can Catholic Radio do on Pinterest?