CALPACT - Engaging Target Audiences march 15 2012

Using New Media Tools Using New Media Tools for Educating the Public & for Educating the Public & Target AudiencesTarget Audiences

March 2012Photo from Alameda County Food Bank

Today’s Discussion

• Plan your work & identify effective tools for obtaining public support

• Identify ways to target age groups based on usage of specific new media tools

• Explore how to adjust messaging to suit different audiences/new media tools.

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Laying the Foundation: Build a Strong Communications Plan

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What is success? How do you get there?

• Planning now means success later

• Do a few things really well – prioritize

• Stay focused on your goals

• Use the media & dissemination strategies to achieve them.

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Make a Plan to Communicate

• Make communications an organizational priority & write it down

• Think “Dissemination” not “Media Relations”– Go beyond the media

– Own your target audiences

• Utilize proven resources/Ask for help– SmartChart.org

– Communications Trainings

– Ask your team

Finding Your Audience

Who is your KEY AUDIENCE? – What is their age? – What is their socio-economic

background?– Where do they live? – Who do they look to for

information ? – What else?

How READY are they to hear what you are saying?

What are they already thinking about you?

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Activity – Communications Planning in a Box Understanding the 5 basic questions in any communications interaction.

What’s your news? - What is your path to reach your vision? Be specific.- What is your “Solution” or “Call to Action?”

Who is sharing it?- What voices can you access? - How are you unique? - What “role” are you playing?

•Pick just ONE of these and answer it now

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Using Social Media to Reach Your Engagement Goals

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Take Your Audience on a Journey

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Note – one approach of many

How You Will Measure Success (From Last Time)

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The Power of Video Sharing

Youtube is 3rd most popular website in U.S.

Videos can produce immense traffic and interest. •Beyonce’s “Move Your Body” video raised profile of the First Lady’s “Let’s Move” Campaign to stop child obesity.

•Official video has over 18,000,000 views and over 60,000 likes.

•What videos do you ALREADY have?

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The Reach of Facebook

800+ million people on Facebook

Far and away the most popular social media platform.

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“Timeline” – Facebook’s new hyper-visual format provides opportunity for increased engagement & education

“Frictionless Sharing”oNew apps automatically post

updates of activities as status updates. oGives nonprofit activity a higher

profile with apps such as “Causes.”oShares news of donations and poll

and contest votes with users networks.

New Opportunities on Facebook

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300+ million people on Twitter

Addictive platform that allows posts of 140 characters or less

Twitter communities are often especially responsive and conversations have an instantaneous quality

Twitter

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Using Twitter to Educate

Like: Build a community by carefully selecting and using hashtags

Join: Twitter “chats” – scheduled blocks of time to discuss an issue using the same hashtag

Lead: “Twitter Storming” – Have lots of people tweet the same message at a public figure

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Pinterest for Visual Education

Virtual pinboard with a visual and clean format.

Focus is on the visual, not the informational

Nonprofits like the Association of Public Health Libraries are doing great things!

Assn. for Public Health’s “Science as Art” Pinterest Page

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Tumblr for Educating Through Sharing

• Microblogging platform with over 50 million blogs

• Great way for your audience to tell their stories

• Focus is on the visual• Works best as a single-

issue platformImage from “We are the 99%”

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Email to Share Information

Email is still the most effective social media tool. Open rates for newsletter emails approx. 20%

(higher response rate than other social media). TIPS:

o Establish a tone that readers can relate to. o Use eye-catching subject lines.o Keep it short and sweet. Ten words or less for easy legibility in

most email services.o Include one straightforward “ask” in your emails and one-click

actions.o Send e-blasts when most people are likely to read them –

during work hours.

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News Stories Can Open a Dialogue

• News stories provide pre-packaged content.

• Use the current news stories to raise awareness about your cause

• Connect with your public in a way that feels relevant

• Share news stories on: Facebook Twitter Email newsletters Tumblr

Planned Parenthood

Case Study In Engaging the Public: Alameda County Food Bank

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Watch how they make it about more than cans

Try Something New on Lots of Platforms (for Fundraising)

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Make NewsTarget AudiencesMake it Easy

TwitterCelebrityWebsite Payoff

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New WaysTo Engage & Build Teams / Community

Case Study In Engaging the Public: Alameda County Food Bank

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How many pieces of the puzzle can you put

together to reach your target audience?

Adjusting Messages to Different Audiences

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Where Is Your Audience?

Pew 2010

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Where Is Your Audience?

Opportunities for Educating Students

• Meet students where they are – text & social networking

• Ask, ask ask – for help, for advice• Simple questions = complex

answers“What has this program meant to you?”

• Make what you already do work for students

• Make engaging easy - help them help you

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Reality Check on the Students

Pew 2010CHPC 33

75% of 12-17 year-olds now own cell phones

73% use social networking sites

Here’s what is available to them•Take pictures / Share pictures•Play music & games•Exchange videos•Go online•Access social network sites•Use email

Reality Check on the Students

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More from Pew

21% of teens who do not otherwise go online say they access the internet on their cell phone.

41% of teens from households earning less than $30,000 annually say they go online with their cell phone.

44% of African American teens and 35% of Latino teens use their cell phones to go online, compared with 21% of white teens.

Reality Check on the Students

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Reality Check on the Students

CHPC 36

Facebook Stats

Reality Check on Millennials (Ages 18-30)

• 50 Million Millennials (64% of U.S. Citizens)

• More diverse than previous populations

• Majority are optimistic about importance of civic engagement

• Education Strongly Impacts Their Civic Participation

• Are interested in skill-building when engaging with an organization

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Reality Check on Millennials (Ages 18-30)

• Prefer team-oriented activities, even when online

• Want the instant feedback that the online community allows

• Want to produce content for orgs rather than just consuming

• Want to Connect with Respected Leaders when Engaging Online

• Non-political participatory cultures (like Sims) lead to increased civic engagement offline

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Opportunities for Engaging with Millennials

• Offer a personal connection to your work

• Use existing online thought leaders as spokespeople

• Use mobile technology, including texting

• Actively solicit user-generated content of all sorts 39

Opportunities for Engaging with Millennials

Video•Highlight videos on the front page •Encourage anyone to create their own video content.

E-mail•Use e-mail only for major announcements•1-click actions•Include multimedia •Light on text

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What’s Next for Us?

JOIN US IN APRIL:

New media tools for policy advocacy

Dan Cohen, PrincipalFull Court Press Communications

dan@fcpcommunications.com510-271-0640

@dcstpaul / @FullCourtPress