How to Get Your Message Out
“There is no communication that is so simple that it cannot be misunderstood.”
~ Luigina Sgarro
Keys to Press and Communications Infrastructure
Here are our main keys to press and communications infrastructure:
- Build real relationships with members of the press. Remember that you need to have material that helps them in their work.
- Make your emails and social media content personal and narrative-based. People need to see more than stats and figures, they want to see real stories.
- Build your list. It is essential to constantly grow your email and phone lists.
- Have an Organizational Avatar (i.e., someone who embodies your organization’s work such as the leader of the organization, a key volunteer or team member, a program recipient, etc.) and who people like hearing from (e.g., in emails, social media, selfie videos, etc.). This person should focus on keeping people updated on their own story.
Press Relations
Building Relationships with Press
First, create and keep updated a list of press contacts that would be interested in covering your work. It is essential to treat the press as an important relationship (e.g., show respect, follow-up, clearly communicate, etc.). Therefore, do not send a bunch of bcc: messages, instead tailor messages to individual reporters.
Craft Real Stories
The press increasingly does not have time to do extensive research, nor the ability to keep following along with every source. Therefore, it is imperative to craft real stories that the press will cover and consider newsworthy.
Content of Emails
To have good email content, do the following:
- Emphasize narrative-based messages (e.g., stories from a key individual, campaign team members, key updates, etc.), rather than a bland “please donate” or “here’s an update.”
- Always have an ask (e.g., to donate, volunteer, sign a petition [Petitions should always be created by the campaign’s account and NOT link to another site], etc.).
- Write in an easily readable format (e.g., break up paragraphs).
- Spend a lot of time thinking of the subject line and the p.s. line. The subject line is the most read part of any email, the p.s. line is the 2nd most read part of any email.
List Segmentation
List segmentation is all about sending messages tailored to your specific audience. The email list should be treated the same way, by breaking down messages for the whole list or targeted individuals. Here are some examples of ways to segment the list:
- Dedicated supporters
- People who have not engaged yet
- People who have donated $100 or more
After segmenting the list, the next challenge is to consistently develop and deliver content to each segment. It is best to focus on emailing to segments you actually can contact. Send main messages to everyone, and then do additional ones to supporters, donors, and volunteers or do specially targeted ones to those who have not yet donated.
Ladders of Engagement
Ladders of Engagement are an automated series of emails that you can set up in advance when people take certain actions. For example, if someone joins an email list, then they immediately get a “thank you for joining Team X” message. If someone signs a petition, they then get a message one week later asking if they want to volunteer, etc.).
Ladders take a while to create upfront, but they are extremely useful for automatically moving people from one level of support throughout the campaign. Some potential ladders to build include:
- Sign-up for the email listserve
- Sign a petition or RSVP/attend an event
- Sign-up to volunteer
- Donated
Building the Email List
Here are some ways to build the list:
- Online petitions
- Call-to-Action on social media page
- Quick website sign-up pop-up buttons/banners with only two fields (e.g., just email and zip)
- Encourage subscribers to forward and share emails
- Promoted social media content asking people to sign a petition, sign-up for a list, etc.
Social Media
Whether regular posts or paid social media posts, here is how to continue building the public’s interest in your efforts:
- Be personal. It needs to feel like it is relatable and authentic (e.g., selfies more than front-facing photos).
- Talk like a real person. It should not feel like a prepared statement.
- Discuss and analyze the issues. Do not just do feel-good stories. Confront the challenges facing the community and give an opinion on the direction of efforts.
- Selfie videos from a key person or organizational avatar. Frequently have a key person share their thoughts and updates. It should be someone who can serve as a relatable face of the efforts.
- Invite those who like posts to like the page.
Video
Whether on YouTube, Facebook, or other mediums, here are some keys to effective videos:
- Your focus when making videos is to get initial attention (e.g., title and photo) and then keep that attention with valuable content
- Remember once people click on your video, it doesn’t mean they’ll watch the whole thing (in fact most people only watch a few seconds). So from the very beginning of the video you need compelling content that makes people want to keep watching.
- To create compelling content consider the following: get to the point very quickly, make people curious/ask a question they want to know the answer to, have interesting visuals, etc.
- Tip: Spend a lot of time on the title and video photo people see. Most people decide whether to watch based on the title and photo so make sure it’s strong.