Communications on a shoestring…. Joanna Inskip MCIPR Community Newswire

Why do we need to communicate? Why are you trying to reach people? To change opinion and behaviour To influence policy by reaching decision makers To let those in need know how you can support them To raise awareness amongst and attract more supporters, volunteers and funders

How do we communicate? Printed material (marketing) Online (website, e-newsletters) Press (media coverage) PR (events, conferences, partnerships) Social media (twitter, facebook, linkenin, you tube etc)

Who are my target audience? People who may need your services People who already use your services Volunteers – current and potential Funders – individual, government, corporate Decision makers – MP’s, local health authorities, local and central government etc Influencers – media, campaign groups, lobbyists etc

Where does your news and information come from?

How do I find them? Database Bought lists Through other organisations Outreach into communities

How do I reach them? With a mix of appropriate communications! Website Newsletters and e-newsletters Newspapers Television Radio Online news sites Blogs Twitter Facebook You tube

Printed materials Can be costly but a must to reach those not online No good if sit in the office – need a plan to get them out to the right people Need to ensure they show your messages, what you want them to do and how to contact you clearly, but in a way that engages your target audience Audience appropriate – young, old, rural, city, faith, language, culture Focus on the benefits of your service. "What's in it for me?" Write from the their perspective using the words "you" and "your." We will look at layout in e-newsletters

Online - websites A great website can have a big impact on your organisation Use a free blog site as a website, just switch the comments section off and use pages instead of posts. Or use web build platforms Free. The content management systems mean you can add text, images, pages and various other media to your site.

Online - websites Images can play a huge part in the aesthetic of your site Use clear professional images on your home page. Text heavy sites hold less attention. Sourcing images from sites such as istockphoto is fairly cheap. Web copy is short, clear and friendly Keep it short, link to longer copy, not too corporate and must be interesting. Clear signposting How I have arrived at your homepage…where do I go now? Know who’s visiting Knowing how much traffic your website is getting is a great measure of who is interested in your organisation, what they are looking at on your site in and what action they take when in. Google Analytics offers a whole host of web traffic statistics for your site for free.

Signposting

Online – e-newsletters Plan and be clear what you want it to do for you Why are you doing it? – set objectives Who are you sending to? – identify audiences, capture names What are you communicating? – your key messages and calls to action What are your desired outcomes? - What changed ie. More volunteers Set SMART targets – 10% increase in volunteers this year Plan your resources – content, images, links etc

Online – e-newsletters Golden rule…. One audience and one target only A newsletter can't be all things to all users. Choose one small segment of your audience and set the specific goal - Send to current list of donators asking for a £5 donation once a month - Send to local university for them to send to students asking them to join in outdoor fundraising events, not getting the entire general public to know, understand, and support your organisation.

Online – e-newsletters Forget design - it's content that matters While the look of your e-newsletter should match your brand and website, that's as much effort as you need to put into the design. Beyond this though, is the fact that people expect newsletters to be content rich - they want information, deals, tips and tricks - because that’s where they deliver their value. But don’t pack your e-newsletter with text either - get straight to the point, only write what you need to deliver that value, and then save the rest for next month. Use emotive language – save, enjoy, discover, for you, understand…. ALWAYS address it to one person and use the word YOU throughout

How do I work with the media? News is now a 24 hour multiplatform beast needing constant feeding. To provide the food, you need to be quick, slick and news conscious. The key to dealing with the media is learning what they need to satisfy their audiences and seeing if you can deliver this comfortably Each newspaper, radio programme, television news outlet has different editorial views and different audiences so go to the media that have the same audiences as you are trying to reach Think like an editor Write like a journalist Look at it it again like a reader or viewer Understands the news arena, journalists and how to work together.

Which of these made the news?? Please take a look at the following 6 stories. To give you a helping hand… 3 are non-news, 1 is a possible and two turn out to be good news stories. Get into 2 groups and nominate a spokesperson - you will have a ten minutes to decide and we will take five minutes to discuss and feedback

What makes news? Man bites dog – something different Controversy – not always bad, can be just a differing view Relevant to that audience – older people do not want to know about skateboarding (although some might!) Topical – what people are talking about already or linked to it Human interest - real people adding colour to a story Statistics – people like hard facts and comparisons Breaks the ‘so what’ barrier – you may be interested but will enough other people?

What makes a story newsworthy? There is a list of five factors, which are considered when deciding if a story is newsworthy. Normally, a story should perform well in at least two areas. 1. Timing - The word news means exactly that - things which are new. If it happened today, it's news. If it happened last week, it's no longer news. 2. Proximity - Stories which happen near to us have more relevance. 3. Significance - The number of people affected by the story is important. A plane crash in which hundreds of people died is more significant than a crash killing a dozen. 4. Prominence - Famous people get more coverage just because they are famous. If you break both your legs it won't make the news, but if Beckham breaks his toe it's big news. 5. Human interest – You and what you do. Journalists need a human face to the facts and figures – it could be you.

Finding that news angle Add something new to an existing topical story or debate Add some human interest – real people to go with the figures issued Launch a campaign on ‘world women’s day’ Send out stories to journalists during the ‘silly season’ – Christmas and summer when the MP’s are (hopefully) not creating news React – to a story in your field Be proactive – and create a story in your field Statistics – create simple ‘facts’ and present them with a real life example

What’s in a news release? Date: for release Good headline: grab the journalists attention The facts: Who? What ? Where? When? Why? A quote or two from real people to bring the facts in the story to life or add opinion (a great place to get your key message in and have more chance of it making the cut) A ‘case study’ – for the media a real person to add the human interest readers desire A call to action The word ‘end’ Contact details! Notes to editors: more info about your organisation, what you can offer a journalists ie. Photos, interview with your CEO, case study etc

Photos, online and visuals 66% of people consider radio to be a reliable and accurate source for news, compared with 58% for online, 54% for TV and just 34% for newspapers. It is the first time that news websites have overtaken television as a trusted source for current affairs. (Ofcom research May 2010) Newspaper websites, Google, internet news sites are increasingly used and trusted. BBC news website is used as a source by many journalists (NUJ). A photo increases the chances of a story being picked up by 30% (NUJ 2004) A single image can tell a powerful story…….

Picture paints a thousand words…. Community Newswire ran the story and photos from the Dorset Wildlife Trust that captured a rare pregnant male seahorse. The picture helped to prove to environmentalists that seahorses are breeding in British waters. The story proved to be very popular and was used by an array of newspapers and broadcasters, including The Times, Daily Telegraph, Radio 2, American broadcaster ABC and local press.

PR – a quick reminder….. Public relations is the discipline which looks after reputation, with the aim of earning understanding and support and influencing opinion and behaviour. It is the planned and sustained effort to establish and maintain goodwill and mutual understanding between an organisation and its publics. Events, conferences, partnerships, sponsorships…..who you work with, what you say, what you do all influence what people think about you – your reputation Activities need to be planned so you are prepared for anything, can make the most of an opportunity and can be measured to see what works.

Social media – just another way to communicate? NO. This time people can answer back! YES. Another channel in your communications mix and its free! Social Networks – Facebook - Relationships, social graph Video & Photo Sharing E.g. Flickr - Creative reputation, reporting Micro-blogging – Twitter - Updates and recommendations Bookmarking - Del.icio.us - Organising, recommending

Social media is….. People connecting with each other Sites that facilitate the uploading and sharing of information and content …… getting started Find your audience – look on twitter, facebook etc and find ‘interest groups’ or similar charities” and start to engage with them Get out there and be found – start with a couple of networks ie twitter and facebook. Start to ‘follow’ people and oranisations with similar ethics or services to you Own your subject – if you work with young people, retweet or link to sites of interest to them and others working with young people It’s a conversation so avoid corporate or policy speak – it’s a turn off

If you have news, put it out there on all your platforms

What would you tweet? Take a look at four first paragraphs of a story and in a group decide what would you tweet? Remember 140 characters. 137 looks like…… Prime Minister David Cameron condemns violence in Egypt in joint statement outside Downing Street with UN Secretary General

A quick word re YouTube? You don’t need professional film to be on YouTube. 2 minutes of you and someone you support chatting, taken on an i-phone of digital camera with video and there you go!

Finally remember You will not get every story in the media – don’t take it personally! Community Newswire takes your stories and if newsworthy turns them into news stories