From Media Relations to Social Media

Preparing Your District

for Success

Aug. 23, 2016

Angela JamisonCommunicopia, president/owner

Julie GroceNCASWCD, executive director

Iowa County Soil & Water Conservation District

Today’s session8:30 a.m.

Working with your Local Media – The Basics

News Release template & boilerplate Julie Groce

Writing Exercise-cutlines Julie Groce

10 a.m.

BREAK

10:30 a.m.

Wayne County Public Comment Policy – Ashley Smith

Handling Comments and Questions

Social Media Best Practices

Questions

12 p.m. Lunch

Tell your story to build

trust and understanding

among the public.

Inform, educate and lead

them to conserve our

natural resources.

One way to tell your story and get your

message to the public is through the

local media.

Local Community Newspapers

• Are more likely to use your news

• Must be written in the style they can use

• Limited time and staff, so make it easy for them

Local Community Newspapers

• Meet with them. Buy them coffee. Take them to

lunch. Invite them to a meeting. Build a

relationship. Be a resource.

• Ask them what they want and when

• Meet their deadlines – long lead time, especially

for weeklies

What determines the news?

Timeliness: Has the idea just been announced? Has event just

happened or will it be held in the near future?

Proximity:Will the event affect your state, county or

city? Will it affect the target audience ofthe media outlet?

Importance: Will the event or idea affect few or many?

Is a prominent person supporting the idea?

Conflict: Is there a struggle between individuals,

groups or conflicts between ideas or pointsof view?

What is news? (continued)

Progress: Has significant progress been made?

Unusualness: Is subject/topic something rare or out of the

ordinary? Is it unique? Is it the first time for something?

Human Interest: Does the subject evoke anger, sympathy,

joy or fear?

The compelling Cs:

Crisis, Catastrophe, Crime, Conflict, Change,

Corruption, and Color (human interest)

Know your audience• The media covers news that interests their audience.

• When speaking to reporters, you are really speaking to their audiences.

• Bring relevance

W I I F MWhat’s in it for me?

Media interviewsYou get a call from a local reporter who

wants to interview you.

What do you do?

You have rightsBe courteous; ask questions:

o When is your deadline?

o What is the topic?

o Questions you’ll be asked

o Who is the audience of your publication/news outlet/blog?

o Who else will you interview?

o Why me?

o Will photos be taken?

o When do you want to do the interview?

Never do interview during initial contact.o You need at least a little time to prepare, review your messaging,

call a media relations/PR expert, etc.

Interview tips

• Don’t say too much.

• Limit your answers.

• Wear hat or shirt with organization name on it

• Dark colors better than light or white

“Why” is most important• Journalists are trained to gather the following information

for a story:

Who, What, Where, When, Why, and How

• Explain not only what & how, but why

• “Why” makes an emotional connection with your

audience

Rules to remember• Tell the truth.

• Don’t talk too much. Stick to facts and don’t speculate.

• You are always “on the record.”

• Don’t say “No comment.” If you don’t know, say so; if you can’t answer, explain why.

• Don’t assume the reporter understands you.

• Don’t get mad.

• Don’t ask to see or review the story before it’s aired or published.

Before you finish the interview, give

the reporter your email and mobile

number and offer to clarify or answer

more questions or information as they

are writing it.

Questions?

Be Proactive and Informative

• Provide the media, bloggers and key influencers with

news releases.

• Post on your website, share through social media

• Julie Groce, executive director of NCASWCD, has gotten

results by sending news releases and photo captions.

News Release Template (see handouts)- Julie Groce

Boilerplate About (NAME OF DISTRICT) Soil and Water Conservation District (SWCD)

The (NAME OF DISTRICT) SWCD partners with local, state and federal agencies; businesses, and non-profit organizations to provide technical and financial assistance for the implementation of local conservation. The (NAME OF DISTRICT) SWCD is governed by a five-member board of supervisors. Three board members are elected on the general ballot and two are appointed by the N.C. Soil and Water Conservation Commission upon recommendation of the local district board of supervisors. All supervisors serve four-year terms. The (NAME OF DISTRICT SWCD) helps deliver four key state conservation programs administered by the North Carolina Division of Soil and Water Conservation. They also assist with local interests, such as conservation easements, environmental education centers, parks and demonstration farms. The district board of supervisors has the authority to hire district conservation employees to assist them with implementing soil and water conservation programs. For more information, please visit (insert district web address here).

Writing Exercise:Photo caption/cutline

Please write a photo caption based on this info:

• The district supervisor (left) in this picture is from your

district

• His name is John Smith

• The award is for “District Supervisor of the Year” through

the NC Assn. of Soil and Water Conservation Districts

• The other person in the picture is NC Association of Soil

and Water Conservation Districts President, David Miller.

• District supervisor was presented the award at the NC

Association of Soil and Water Districts Annual Meeting

held in Charlotte, N.C., January 8-10, 2017.

Caption Example

David Miller (right), president of the North Carolina Association of Soil and

Water Conservation Districts (NCASWCD), presents John Smith, chairman

of the Chatham Soil and Water Conservation Districts (SWCD), with the

District Supervisor of the Year award at the organization’s annual meeting

held at the University Hilton in Charlotte, January 8-10, 2017. Smith, who

has served over 30 years as a Chatham SWCD board member, was

recognized for outstanding conservation leadership at the local, state and

national level. He was instrumental for helping to implement the Triangle

Waterways project that fixed flooding issues along roadways in Research

Triangle Park. NCASWCD is a non-profit 501 (c)(3) organization that

supports the 492 district soil and water supervisors and 96 districts in

North Carolina that implement conservation programs.

What additional information would have

been helpful?

Public Comment Policy

Ashley Smith

Wayne SWCD department head

How to handle public

comments and questions

• Prepare. What are the worst questions you could be

asked? Craft answers

• Acknowledge the person making the comment or asking

the question. Ask them their name and use it.

• Show genuine empathy and concern. Be human.

• OK not to have the answer, but find it out and get back to

them.

What is Social Media?Simple Definition

Any tool or service that uses the internet to facilitate

conversations.

Online tools people use to share content, profiles,

opinions, insights, experiences, perspectives and

media itself, thus facilitating conversations and

interaction online between groups of people.

Why Use Social Media for Business?

Over 75% of all Internet users use social media. They make up a sizable portion of all Web traffic.

This year Microsoft paid $26.2 billion for Linkedin

Facebook = 1.59 Billion Users

Twitter = 316 million active users

•

Advertising on Social Media

$24 billion was spent on social

media ads last year.

Why? They get measurable

results if done right.

Social Media Strategy

A way to reach your target audience

Who is your target audience?

Are they on Linkedin, Facebook, Twitter?

Engage your audience; drive them to your website for more.

Social media doesn’t replace a website, it supplements it.

Key Tenets of Social Media

Transparency

Authenticity

Never delete a comment from a social media post

Social Media Content

Get into the heads of your audience and

have a relevant conversation with them

inspiring them to further engage with

your organization.

Blog

Add a Blog page to your website.

Blogging showcases your expertise and creates valuable content that attracts traffic to your site.

Share your blog posts via social media to get people back to your website.

New, unique content added to website is good for search engine optimization– showing up higher on Google & other searches.

What to share?

• Be informative

• People like & share good content

• Respond & engage like a real human being. Be

a social listener.

• Use photos and video taken from your mobile

device

• Take photos and video by holding your phone

horizontally, not vertical.

Build your Go-To idea list

• Follow thought leaders on Facebook, Twitter.

• Subscribe to news feeds

• Read blogs, trade magazines, newspapers

Editorial Calendar

• What should you post & when?

• Have a plan, write it down by month

January

New Year, New You post: Promote healthy eating and exercise habits.

Drug Facts Week – January 26-February 1, 2015: Information on using prescription medicine responsibly.

Art attending State of Wake Forest dinner with Mayor Jones.

February

Post related to Valentine’s Day: Special promotion.

American Heart Month: Heart Health; special promotion on vitamins.

Art picking up trash along Ligon Mill Road with the Wakefield Rotary club.

March

National Doctors’ Day – March 30, 2015: Post about supportive local doctors or about a specific local doctor that works with Village Pharmacy. Could also ask followers to post how a doctor made a difference in their life.

St. Patrick’s Day: Post on something that shouldn’t look green and how to treat infection.

April

Cinco de May – April 5, 2015: Post about how to eat a healthy Cinco De Mayo meal.

National Health Week – April 6-12, 2015: Post about key health issues, public awareness, localize if possible.

70% - add value, build recognition

10% self promotion

20% sharing others’ ideas & posts

Sharing Posts from NCASWCD

Social Media Tip

• Add your social media addresses to business

cards, icon & link from website, add to all of

your collateral and add to bottom of emails.

• List in newsletters and on customer

correspondence

Questions?

Connect with AngelaAngela Bendorf Jamison

(919) 827-1689angela@communicopiaPR.com

http://www.linkedin.com/in/communicopiapr

facebook.com/communicopiaPR

facebook.com/abjamison

Instagram - ncPRlady

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Thank you!