Improving the world through engineering the world through engineering 1 Content best practice for Publicity or Web Officers Volunteer

Improving the world through engineering www.imeche.orgImproving the world through engineering 1

Content best practice for Publicity or Web Officers

Volunteer Ambassador Conference York, 5 April 2014


Kathryn BellamyCreative Services Editor,Marketing [email protected]

Member Engagement [email protected]

www.imeche.org/vrc

Welcome and introductions

mailto:[email protected]



Outline of the role and responsibilities Overview of branding, tools and

resources available to you Getting the best from your content Show best practice examples of content

and communications Key contacts Questions

Agenda


Technical training on email or website content management systems

Website access or connectivity Access to member data, its

manipulation or protection

Not on this agenda...


Near You webpages Mailing lists Posters, newsletters, flyers, programme

cards Social media

The role

Promoting local events and initiatives effectively to local members – ensuring members can access up-to-date information quickly and easily

About 1-2 hours’ commitment per event


Organisation and planning collating and chasing the right

information in enough time to advertise events and initiatives effectively to members and non-members

Attention to detail checking through posters and

emails for correct dates, times and venues

Ability to understand what people want from an event and what they want to know about an event

Key skills

What you don’t need: knowledge of design or marketing


What is branding? Public face How we position the

Institution

Getting this right means you can promote your events in a consistent and professional way, in line with HQ, and help members recognise them

Branding


Tools available: templates

Go to www.imeche.org/brandidentityfor downloadable guidelines on: corporate colours, logos, fonts, tone of voice

and templates:posters, PowerPoint slides, programme cards and newsletters

plus a screensaver and banners to borrow


Pulling it all together


Content is a conversation

What do you want your audience to:THINKFEELDO

What is the key insight for them?

COPE: Create content once, publish everywhere

Getting the best from content


Bite, snack, meal

Bite: 2 billion tonnes of food are thrown away annually

Snack: A new Institution report reveals that each year consumers throw away 2 billion tonnes of food

Meal: Today, we produce about four billion metric tonnes of food per annum. Yet due to poor practices in harvesting, storage and transportation, as well as market and consumer wastage, it is estimated that 50% (or 2 billion tonnes) of all food produced never reaches a human stomach. Furthermore, this figure does not reflect the fact that large amounts of land, energy, fertilisers and water have also been lost in the production of foodstuffs which simply end up as waste. In a new report published today, the Institution argues that this level of wastage is a tragedy that cannot continue if we are to succeed in the challenge of sustainably meeting our future food demands.

Content: tricks of the trade


This can be the most important way that members connect with the Institution, so it’s important that the information they find there is up-to-date and relevant

Tools available: Near You

A space for each committee on the Institution websitehttp://nearyou.imeche.org

http://nearyou.imeche.org/


Near You, part of www.imeche.org =one online destination for members

Near You: best practice


Tools available: Near You

Near You uses a content management system called Sitefinity. You need a username and password to edit pages. Tutorial videos are available.

Committee information

Contacts

Events

Galleries


1. Remember that people read differently online be concise, use sub-headings, make page

titles relevant

2. Keep content up-to-date, engaging and refreshed put up photos or presentations on the ‘Past

Events’ page



3. Make sure all committee contacts have the correct email addresses and are able respond to queries

4. If you haven’t got time to update the homepage regularly, keep the information generic and tweak it twice a year


Contact us if you need

any support


Near You: lessons to learn


Near You: better practice




Email is a quick and effective way of attracting members to your events

Members’ contact details will be on your local mailing list automatically – no need to maintain your own lists

For access, you need an administrator's account and password – and an imechenetwork.org email

Tools available: mailing lists (Lyris)

Monthly newsletters for each

UK region are a big hit


Question: What do you want from

your email? No spam Quick, easy to understand

information Clear, short email heading Finally - a reason to attend

an event!

Tools available: email

Can you anticipate

your readers’

questions?


Monthly newsletters are co-ordinated at regional level via Near You. They have above average engagement.

Include regional news from Institution News

If an event is struggling, you can send a reminder about a week before, if absolutely necessary

Near You needs clear, concise event descriptions - make it easy to read and pick up key information at a glance

Email templates are available on the VRC

Best practice


If we have no news from your region you will just see the word text – this prompts you to consider whether you have any news items.

Some news items are added from head office, if there are stories from your region.

If you have no news, this section will be removed from the final draft.

The best news stories are about 20-30 words with a link to the relevant web page eg for a particular event or report


Any details which are not confirmed on NearYou will come through onto the newsletter as shown here. Consider what you would like to be shown....


Use capitals for

the first word only, plus names

Don’t put venue

details in summary


Coming up this month – will be a quick reminder about events that are at the end of the month that we are in.

Again, remember – no capitals please!


Tools available: posters and newsletters

www.imeche.org/brandidentity

Putting up posters and newsletters on Near You and in workplaces is a great way of promoting your events.

Get other committee members to take them to work or university and send them to your local ILOs and ALOs


1) Ask your speakers2) HQ [email protected] 3) Virtual library www.imeche.org/library

or [email protected]) Press offices of relevant or local

companies

Sourcing good images


A great way to publicise what you do to your local community

Separate training session available contact [email protected] Media guide available at

www.imeche.org/vrc/toolkits Lists of regional press contacts available

Tools: print media


http://www.imeche.org/vrc/toolkits


Tools: social media accounts

See the member’s guide to

social media – top 5 tips

What you should think about before setting up an account…

• do you have enough to say?• and enough time?• do you need a new account?• how best can you get your message across?

[email protected]/follow


http://www.imeche.org/follow


Tools: social media platforms

less technical, informal – good to reach students and apprentices

broad audience – news, comments and promotion

professional networking - technical discussion groups, as well as your business contacts

offers elements of Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn, but also enables you to send specific messages to different communities (‘circles’)

video-sharing website on which users can upload, view and share videos

Plus:


At the event

Popup banners available

Your own design or borrow from HQ

Take posters and flyers for forthcoming events

Have the screensaver playing pre-event Feedback forms to find out what people

thought Take photos you can use online or for social

media


Short task

Briefly plan a publicity campaign for an event in 8 weeks’ time A lecture on adapting to flooding from

Theme Manager Dr Tim Fox

5-10 mins to come up with Timeline of what you’d do Which tools you’d use A short description for Near You and email


Pulling it all together


www.imeche.org/vrc

Support and resources


[email protected] marketing, branding and content advice

[email protected] or [email protected] technical and admin support

www.imeche.org/followfor social media support

Key contacts


Questions?

Documents

Improving the world through engineering the world through engineering 1 Content best practice for Publicity or Web Officers Volunteer