NNRG – Increasing Engagement and Social Channel Integration

James BarnesRosemary Ferrentino

Joshua FriedmanDavid Nguyen

Solveig Whittle

Northwest Natural Resource Group

6-person non-profit located in Seattle

Certifies small forest landowners (100 acres or less) as Forest Stewardship Council-certified

Supported primarily through grants

Existing website and e-newsletter (1300 customers)

Increase visibility of and revenue from NNRG’s Consulting Tools and Services

Certify over ½ of non industrial forest in Washington and Oregon

Promote Ecosystem Services Market Development

Increase visibility of NNRG in traditional earned media channels like newspapers to reach potential donors and grantors

Organizational Goals

Family71%

Non-profit14%

Business7%

Government7%

Religious1%

Other1%

Landowners

Must be easily integrated into existing staff tasks

Human-centric

Integrated

Start with pilot project

Social Media Plan

Pilot Project• Create presence on all the social media platforms • Pilot Facebook with integrated with existing email marketing

Create Organizational Page

Update Cover Picture (Brand Impression)

Insert Milestones

Customize tabs make more interactive

Like Other pages

Edgerank’s weighted post Videos > Photos > Status Updates

Facebook

Twitter

Create twitter handleStart following influencers,

clients, donors to develop relationships

Understand twitter jargon RT, hashtag, FF, etc.

Post strategiesLink blog and Facebook

updates to twitter

Google Analytics

Overview tabWebsite hitsEngagement activityNew visitors vs returnCampaign effectiveness

Google Analytics

Traffic• Referral sources• Focus efforts in

top drivers• Develop/continue

relationships with referral organizations

Google Analytics

Keyword Traffic• Adwords• Associate words

with NNRG• Know which

words to put on their website, blog, marketing materials.

Google AnalyticsDemographic• Location of traffic• Create strategies

to sustain current area and target untapped areas

• Correspond this map to forestland

Social Tag Placement: on E-Newsletter

Social Tag Placements:

Recommend Social TagsTo be placed in this area Of the e-newsletter.

Share this existing newsletter content out to facebook and twitter sites on frequent basis.

Social Tag Placement: on Website Pages

Social Tag Placements:

Recommend Social TagsTo be placed in this area Of the website.

Recommend Connect with Us vs Sharing to get current users on social sites.

Profile Information

- Would add to the subscribers profile some key information to help target their communications:

- Example:

- Are you a- - Landowner- - FSC resource user- - FSC resource provider- - Other

Thank You - Confirmation

- After email sign up – Take them to a Landing Page that will enable them to:

- also engage with your Social Channels

- Like us on Facebook- Follow Us on Twitter- Link to Blog Site

- inform them of the frequency of emails they receive

Thank You Confirmation Example:

Dedicated Email Campaign• Every now and again, it’s a good idea to simply ASK outright in a dedicated

campaign for subscribers to join your social networks. Instead of just including it in part of an email or embedded deep inside your newsletter, once per quarter (or possibly more often, depending on how fast your list is growing.), asking people to become a part of your social networks. See example below.

• To the extent that you can and are permitted to do so, consider tying incentives into the campaign, some reason why people should join your social network presence.

Dedicated Email Campaign

Adding Email SignUp to your Facebook Page

• Email and Social perfectly paired to work together. • Email and print has been your only 2 mediums of

communications to date.• Use email marketing and social media marketing

together for maximum impact and maximum ROI.• Each are useful for specific communication tactics

and strategies.• Use Your Email List to drive traffic to your Website

and Social communication channels.

Build a Facebook App• Using a Facebook application to drive email

subscriptions is a tested, proven way to get more people to join your mailing list.

Promote Your List In Your Profile

• Make sure your email list is obviously available as a choice in all of your social media platforms.

• To the extent that you can and are permitted to do so, consider tying incentives into the campaign, some reason why people should join your social network presence.

Non Profit Adoption Rates

Non Profits viewed blogging as very important for advancing mission and raising donations

Study University of Massachusetts

Benefits of Blogging

• Creates an authoritative voice for NNRG• Establish NNRG as thought leader by transforming

website from static brochure-ware to a dynamic information hub for the industry

• Provides a way to interact with customers and potential customers which helps to establish trust over time.

Content Strategy

• Post once per week minimum• Acquiring Content– Curate 25% of posts (feed reader)– Existing NNRH news & events content is blog worthy– Guest Bloggers– Freelance Writers– New original NNRG content

Hosting

• Bluehost.com is an excellent full service hosting provider offering the following:– Basic hosting beginning at $4.95 per month– A dedicated IP address for an annual fee of $30– One year free domain name registration– Free Wordpress installation via C-panel– Excellent 24/7 technical support– It is recommended to have your blog hosted in a sub-

domain - blog.yourcompanyname.com

• Resist the temptation to use Blogger for hosting

Selecting a Domain Name• Make it Relevant – Describe the domain you are seeking• Dot-Com Only – Most people assume a .com when typing a domain name • Easy to Type – Avoid domain names that are difficult to type• Easy to Remember – Word of mouth is critical• No Hyphens or Numbers – Hard to type and remember• Short as Possible - Easy to type and remember • Set Expectations – Communicate the purpose or subject of the blog

(Boat.com, CareerBuilder.com, AutoTrader.com, Drugstore.com).• Make it Unique – Do no not use plural, hyphenated or misspelled versions

of an existing domain.• Avoid Copyright Infringement – Check with copyright.gov before you buy.

Platform

• Wordpress blog publishing platform.• Thesis Theme Framework premium Wordpress

theme -- $87 • Plugins– Disqus comment monitoring system widget– Twitter for Wordpress Twitter feed sidebar widget – Share this Social sharing widget (Email, Facebook, Twitter,

Google +1, Like and more) – Google Analytics for Wordpress

Posting

• Make articles informative, interesting and conversational.

• Write about anything that would be of interest to your

readers:

– how-to articles, current industry trends, upcoming events,

feedback on articles you’ve read etc.

• Blog posts should be range between 400 and 600 words.

• Most blog posts should include a relevant image or video

SEO

• Keyword research (Google’s Keyword Tool)• Incorporate 3 to 5 keywords into the following:– Page Titles and Meta descriptions – Page headings – Body content – Internal and external linking – Emphasis (bold, italic) – Bullets and numbering – Images – URLs

Linking

Internal Linking

• Link from the blog to NNRG.org– One link per post

maximum– Use relevant keyword in

anchor text

• Link form NNRG.org to blog in the footer and top level global navigation

External Linking

• Link out generously to:– Authoritative blogs/sites

in your industry– Education (.edu) sites– major news sources like

the WSJ

Blog Promotion

• Post frequently as frequency and recency are rewarded• Guest blog on industry blogs• Include RSS and Email subscription functionality• ShareThis social media bookmarking and sharing plugin• Syndicate blog posts to Facebook and Twitter• Link to other blogs in your posts (Trackbacks and awareness)• Comment on relevant blogs• Participate in online forums• Mention blog in letterhead, business cards and email

signatures• At critical mass issue a press release

Conclusion

• Increase Awareness• Wider, More Engaged Audience• Dynamic Advocacy Platform

Recommendations by End of 2012:

• Blog, Facebook, and Twitter Presence• Integrated Email Marketing Campaign• Google Analytics

Pilot Project

• Create presence on all the social media platforms • Pilot Facebook with integrated with existing email marketing

Conclusion

Metrics (by May 30, 2013)

• 200 Facebook “Likes”• 100 Twitter followers• Increase average monthly website hits by 50%• Increase email list subscribers by 20%

References

• Aaker, Jennifer Lynn., Andy Smith, and Carlye Adler. The Dragonfly Effect: Quick, Effective, and Powerful Ways to Use Social Media to Drive Social Change. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 2010. Print.

• Blanchard, Olivier. Social Media ROI: Managing and Measuring Social Media Efforts in Your Organization. Indianapolis, IN: Que, 2011. Print.

• Fishkin, Rand (2011). 12 rules for selecting the right domain name. Retrieved from

• http://www.seomoz.org/blog/how-to-choose-the-right-domain-name

• John Kaplan• Hannah Yourd• Conversation with Dan Stonington, Executive Director, NNRG