25 ways to increase your organizations communication capacity

25 Ways to Increase Your Organization's Communication Capacity

Without Hiring New Staff

Tirza HollenhorstifPeople@tirzalyntirzalyn@ifpeople.net

Mark SuttonArtez Interactive@marksuttonmsutton@artez.com

Join the conversation: #10NTC.25W

Why Does it MatterTight budgets = No new staff

 > need to communicate across > channels

 Stakeholder expectations of interactivity are Up

More noise to cut through

Agenda1. Communications Strategy

2. Process – Scale it

3. Who’s Involved?

Strategy( a really, really good one)

1. Define Your Goals

Where are you going?

How will you measure if you are heading in the right direction?

Keep track of goals withquantitative data…

Comments

New names added to email

file

Increased donations

Voting participants

Influential Friends

Content of keywordsIncreased webpage hits

Influential blogs linked to

you

Define Your GoalsIncrease

Engagement

Acquire New Supporters

Build Relationships

Increase Donations

Personas are… Descriptions of

individuals that represent your target

They’re not real people

Just archetypes that represent real people.

2. Define Your Audience

3. Go Where Your Audience Is Speak their language

Address their aspirations

Meet their needs

Go to their communities

TestTest

TestTest

TestTest

Our staff knows fashion. We sell things you can’t

find anywhere else.

We want to target young women.

http://dcgoodwillfashions.blogspot.com/

http://www.fashionofgoodwill.org/

4. Clarify your Key Messages

Starts with the mission

Defines your ‘elevator’ pitch

The context for all communications

Differentiators

Directed to stakeholders

5. Research Your Keywords

Your site has two audiences….People & Robots

6. Listen

Broadcast Platform Conversation Medium

7. Build Your Social Database

“Relentlessly Build Your Email Database” –Ted Hart

Process Automation

8. Stop Entering Data

Stop Entering DataPlone > Saleforce

Staff never touches data

Custom reporting

Automatic response

9. Use an RSS Reader

Consume more Data More Efficiently

10. Cross Post

Most social media tools have a widgets or features that allow you to bring content in or push it out!

11. Schedule Tweets

What to Schedule?

Schedule calendar events

Non-time sensitive ideas

Links to partners or affiliates

Schedule Re-Tweets

12. Communications Calendar

Key for new forms of communication

Decide what you can do, don’t over commit

Establish the structure & responsibility

Get in a Rhythm

Make Communications Part of Everyone’s Job

13. Create and Use Templates

Easier to Begin

Most communications have replicable formatInformal

Consistency

Saves Time

14. Create a Central Info Bank

Central repository of: Success stories About us paragraphs Quotes Photos Recent statistics

15. Teach Writing for the Web

Conversational

Direct

Informal

Skimmable

Essay style college writing does not work on the web. So, what works?

16. Be Deliberate About what tools you use

17. Get More People Participating

Delegate Ownership

Incorporate routine communications into your process

Train, document, train

18. Use ChecklistsPress releases Press releases

should not go out should not go out without your URL – without your URL – ever!ever!

Clarify standards

Document process

Enforce quality

Get new staff up to speed

Example Checklist

Email Announcements:

Does your subject line entice readers to open?

Are you making the most of the preview pane?

Is your email easy on the eyes?

Does the message come through, even if the images don’t?

Does this email have a personal touch?

Are you being CAN-SPAM compliant?

19. Identify Guest Bloggers

Spread the Work & Expand

Perspectives

Program Staff

Board members

Practitioners Volunteers

Experts (doctors, etc)

Partners

20. ‘Digital Natives’ on Staff

Social media, digital comms is not ‘new’

Not about the tools, it’s about the connections

Natural ‘conversation’ and relationships more likely than broadcasting

possibly ‘edgy’

21. Interns, Interns, Interns

Take the grunt work off your plate.

Offer an opportunity to learn (and learn from them!)

Not fixed overhead (seasonal/project based)

Management & recruitment time a consideration

22. Expand beyond Text“A Picture is worth

1000 Words…”

Easy & Powerful

Fast & Inexpensive

Not every piece of content has to be a viral juggernaut

Repurpose content Events, Galas, Etc

23. Supporters as Fundraisers

Supporters as fundraisers

Supporters as content generators Videos Blog posts Tweets

24. Test, measure and adjust.

Try new things, not all will work

Define success and measure

Cut the things the aren’t working

Test, measure and adjust.Test, measure and adjust.

Figure out the right formula for your organization

25. Have Fun & Be Creative

Thank you!

Mark SuttonPresident, Artez US

msutton@artez.com

Twitter: @marksutton

www.artez.com

Tirza HollenhorstIfPeople

tirzalyn@ifpeople.net

Twitter: @tirzalyn

www.ifpeople.net

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