When the Traditional Communications Office is No Longer Enough

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The channels nonprofit organizations can use to engage their various audiences continue to proliferate…which is both a blessing and a curse. This session will deliver practical, actionable advice on how to build a team and a program that can achieve your goals, while working within your organization’s resource realities.

Transcript of When the Traditional Communications Office is No Longer Enough

Sponsored by: A Service

Of:

When the Traditional Communications Office is No Longer Enough

Michele Levy

January 16, 2013

Sponsored by: A Service

Of:

Advising nonprofits in:

• Strategy

• Planning

• Organizational Development

www.synthesispartnership.com

(617) 969-1881

info@synthesispartnership.com

INTEGRATED PLANNING

Sponsored by: A Service

Of:

Affordable collaborative data

management in the cloud.

Sponsored by: A Service

Of:

Today’s Speaker

Michele Levy Chief Marketing Officer

Walnut Hill School for the Arts

Assisting with chat questions: Jamie Maloney, Nonprofit Webinars

Hosting:

Sam Frank, Synthesis Partnership

When the Traditional Communications Office Is No Longer Enough Michele Levy Chief Marketing Officer Walnut Hill School for the Arts

January 2013

• What’s the new context?

• What’s the difference?

• What’s the required skill set?

First, some context

• How many people in your organization are full

time dedicated to marketing communications?

• Where does it live?

• And…how many people have a marketing role

in addition to their “regular” jobs?

Multichannel engagement…

a blessing and a curse

The marketer’s dilemma

How can I build a team

that will help achieve

my organization’s goals,

while working within my organization’s

resource realities?*

*without making myself insane?

An evolving role

Communications

Department

An evolving role

Integrated

Marketing

Communications

Team

What does that mean???

It’s not just about

PR and publications

any more…

Required: a broader skill set

• Great writer (still), but across a broader range of media

(writing for an annual report ≠ writing for the web ≠ writing for

online newsletters ≠ writing for social media)

• Prolific content generator/repurposer (written, video, photo,

audio)

• Marketing generalist (traditional + new channels)

• Proactive communicator and connector

• Strategic counsel, broad perspective

• Rockstar project manager

• Stickler for quality and brand consistency

• Metrics driven

• Up to date on best practices and emerging tools/channels

The ideal combination?

“Big picture thinking”

meets

“roll up your sleeves doing”

The special sauce

“Sprinkled among every walk of life…

are a handful of people with a

truly extraordinary knack of

making friends and acquaintances.

They are Connectors.”

- Malcolm Gladwell, The Tipping Point

A good marketer makes it everyone’s job

Educate

Equip

Reward

Communicate

Repeat

Ultimately creating brand ambassadors

• Be visible

• Be open

• Be consistent

• Be persistent

Start (and stay) grounded

• Know your goals (strategic plan)

• Know your audience (research)

• Know your most effective channels (best

practices, trends and metrics)

Let’s face it…

• You can’t do everything

• You can’t reach everyone

• You can’t possibly make effective use of

every single channel available

Who are you talking to? Who are you talking to?

Case study: Alumni research

A little background

• Recruited 26 participants

• Three-day, online survey

• Moderated by an alum

• Three types of questions: – Experience as a student

– Experience as an alum

– Our methods of communication, messaging and branding

Which channels are most

effective?

What are their perceptions?

What messaging resonates?

Alumni

Families

Prospects

Donors

Tailored for the alumni audience

Engaging

alums, current

students and

their families

in an ongoing

dialogue.

Next

up…prospects

!

Guiding principles

• How else can I use this asset?

• How can I save money while maintaining

high quality standards?

• How will I track results?

• What will I do differently next time based

on results?

Dev

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pm

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Me

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er

serv

ice

s

Edu

cati

on

Vo

lun

tee

r m

anag

em

en

t

Eve

nts

But most important…

“You can’t

manage

what you

don’t

measure.”

Demonstrate how you can cut costs,

increase quality, build impact

Viewbook

Viewbook + family guide + envelopes

Behind Stowe

38%

23%

54%

Data drives decisions

VS

Facebook delivers lower CPC (36¢ vs 29¢)

But Google wins on CTR (1.36% to zero)

Sponsored by: A Service

Of:

Find listings for our current season of webinars and register at:

NonprofitWebinars.com