Facebook & Twitter & Pinterest, Oh My! Communications Strategies For The Small Anti-Violence Organization Alyson Culin Development & Marketing Director Orange County Rape Crisis Center

What Is Communications? Marketing: The action or business of promoting and selling products or services. Communications: Imparting or exchanging of information or news. Means of connection between people or places. Should be a strategy, not a checklist.

Who is Your Audience? Constituency: Donors Volunteers Board of Directors Staff Grantors Community members ?? Considerations: Age Gender Orientation Ethnicity Geography Interests Values

Communications = Content + Delivery

Content – Ideas? Program updates Service opportunities Agency in the news How to get involved Volunteer needs Call for donations Upcoming events Advocacy opportunities Volunteer spotlight Day-to-day staff stuff Informational articles DV 101 Legislative updates Info about special populations Thank Yous Post-event debriefs Post-campaign To specific people

Delivery – Platforms? Website Newsletters / Annual Report (print or ) Blog Social Media Facebook Twitter Pinterest Instagram… Word of Mouth

Especially relevant in small towns Have good services Train your staff/board: Elevator Speech Agency mission Services offered “What I love about the agency…” Confidentiality issues

Website – Most important thing!! Attractive design, easy to update, user-friendly Consider all audiences: clients, donors, volunteers Put yourself in the user’s shoes: Client: Can you find info about services easily? Can you find the hot line number easily? Donor: Is it easy to donate? Are there too many pages to click through in order to donate? Volunteer: Is it easy to find info about volunteer programs, how to apply, and who to contact? Considerations Help line info should be easy to find. Quick Exit button. Simple and short. ~ 6th grade reading level. Spend $$$ on SEO

Newsletters & Direct Contact Print Might be better for older audiences. Looks more formal Might be more likely to be read (??) Electronic Takes less time, skill Cheap or free Easier to manage contacts Easier to create good- looking materials Easier to segment lists Users can manage their own subscription

Newsletters – Considerations?? Don’t too often Don’t write too much Put a name/ face to your communications Make sure replies go to a person. Always respect requests to unsubscribe – you are legally required to! What do/would you use your marketing system for?

Social Media – Is It Worth It? Goal: What would be the goal(s) of using this platform? Audience: Does our audience use this platform? Knowledge: Do you have someone (staff, volunteer) who is very familiar with the platform and who can commit the amount of time needed to it? Resources: What kind of content would we put on this platform? Does that content already exist, or would we have to recreate it? Do we have the resources (time, talent, treasure) to create that content? Trend: Is this platform just a trend? Is it outdated?

Social Media Platforms YES! eh sure Probably No

Facebook Everyone’s on Facebook! Have a Page, not a Profile. Content Easy to find stuff to post from other sources Easy place to put your own stuff. Can do link/photos/videos. Suggested 2-3 times per day. Minimum: Once per day. Use the content scheduler! Interactivity Algorithm: Shares > Comments > Likes

Twitter Overrated Mostly only insiders talking to each other BUT. Set it up, push FB notifications to Twitter, walk away.

Pinterest New, fastest-growing platform. Audience: women Image-oriented = difficult Content and vibe of platform doesn’t really match goals

Instagram New, fast-growing platform. Audience: young people Image-oriented = difficult Creation-oriented = difficult Content and vibe of platform doesn’t really match goals

Blog Content commitment = high Time commitment = high Suggested minimum = once per week Absolute minimum = once per month Interactivity Push to other platforms

Pitfalls Resources: Need time and talent Decentralization: easier to produce content, difficult to control message Mission drift Hot issues Inappropriate comments & trolls Special concerns: Safety Personal over-sharing Over-sharing about others, identifying details, etc. Images Must have clear communication and protocols for people who are working on marketing

Takeaways Go where the crowd is Create a strategy, not a checklist Consider resources & ROI What is one idea from today that you want to try to implement immediately?