communications
Questions to Prevent Awareness Fever
Tuesday, February 9th, 2010 | Social Marketing | 28 Comments
They know about us, who cares if they don’t buy? Would any company ever say this?? Hey, we spent $5M, and made $1M–but at least more people know about us–look at all the awareness we got. No, they would not. Better phrased, they would not be satisfied with that answer. They’d want more information. They’d look at the whole product cycle–from development, to placement, to price, to promotion and beyond.
So, why, fellow health marketing and do-gooders do we settle with “awareness-building?” To be frank, every time I’m in a meeting and I hear the word awareness, my skin crawls. Awareness is great–but there’s a time and place for it. I’m aware of Ritz crackers, but I buy Wheat Thins. I’m aware of Powerade, but I buy Gatorade. There are times I might know about your cause–but I won’t donate. Other times I might know you need help, but I won’t volunteer. I know exercise is healthy, yet I’m still sitting here typing this blog post. There is a reason to these behaviors and decisions. There are motivations, barriers, incentives, costs, and more.
If our friends in the private sector won’t settle, we shouldn’t either. Thus, in the comments, let’s suggest questions to ask when awareness fever strikes our next meeting. Ready, Set, Go.
Questions to Prevent Awareness Fever
- How do we turn awareness into action? submitted by Holly Grande
- How do we measure awareness? submitted by Holly Grande
- What does awareness mean for the campaign? submitted by Holly Grande
- So, what do we want people to do with all that awareness? submitted by Mike Newton-Ward
- Why do you want to increase awareness in the first place? submitted by Steve Radick
- Why does the general public need to know what your division/branch/organization is doing? submitted by Steve Radick
- Why should people care? submitted by Steve Radick
- When did awareness change anything? submitted by Craig Lefebvre
- How can we move people towards action? submitted Fard Johnmar
- What are you really offering people that’s new in exchange for the change you want in their routine? submitted by Peter Mitchell
- How are you so sure people don’t know this already? submitted by Peter Mitchell
- Are people seeking out this kind of information? submitted by Peter Mitchell
- Wouldn’t it be better to offer people something they already want? submitted by Peter Mitchell
- who is already aware, and what they need in order to move them along to the next stage on the path to taking action? submitted by Nedra Weinreich
- Is awareness given, but no action taken? submitted by Christiane Lellig
- Is awareness of the sender’s problem necessary for audience to take an intended action? submitted by Christiane Lellig
- Once we raise awareness in the room, what ACTIONS are the people in the room going to take in their lives? If we can’t answer the question, START OVER with a new plan. submitted by Mike Domitrz
- Your turn. Yes, you–the person nodding their head who’s frustrated with this very same thing. I know you’re out there. (I’ll update this list below with your questions and give you some link love.)
flickr credit: Leo Reynolds
Being Empowered in Government 2.0
Saturday, December 19th, 2009 | government 2.0 | No Comments
The other week I had the honor of chairing the Advanced Learning Institute’s “Social Media and Government” December conference. There were some great presentations, even better discussions and what I was impressed with most–many more sophisticated questions. In government communications, it’s no longer good enough to be the first or to be using social media. More and more, you have to show a return on investment. You have to tie what you are doing to why you are doing it–and focus on what you are trying to accomplish.
When it comes to social media and government, some do not know where to start. Thus, as my keynote at the conference, I presented: Being Empowered–Faces and Places You Need to Know. To me, being empowered is closely related to leadership. We can’t lead our organizations or our colleagues if we aren’t first leading ourselves. Hence, why we must become empowered. Being empowered means two things: being encouraged and being equipped. So, I share my presentation with you here to help you achieve both of those items. The faces will help encourage you and the places will work to better equip you.
If you have added “faces and places,” please leave them in the comments as we are all always learning.
Mr. Roboto is…a Social Marketeer?
Monday, November 16th, 2009 | Education and Resources | No Comments
Yes, you heard correctly. Who ever thought you’d hear the word “robot” used in the same sentence of “social marketing?” Julia Snow of SocialMarketingEast did.
Using online technology xtranormal, Snow created three YouTube tutorials about social marketing–each lasting about a minute and a half–featuring robots. The idea is for anyone to create their own videos or to submit questions that can be addressed in future tutorials.
Below, you can follow part one of the robots explaining what social marketing is and how it’s different from traditional marketing. Part two gives a simplified look at the exchange theory. In part three, the robots discuss segmentation.
We talk about making our communications innovative, unique and creative; thus, I like how Snow and SocialMarketingEast are doing just that. With the help of robots, perhaps we can better brand integrates these social marketing as a field, as well as educate others about its potential.
*Special thanks to the National Social Marketing Centre (NSMC) for featuring these videos in its latest e-bulletin. You can sign-up for the bulletin at the bottom left of NSMC’s home page.
Crisis Communications is Hot, Hot, Hot
Thursday, April 2nd, 2009 | Blog Talk, Case Studies and New Orgs/Campaigns, Interesting Articles, Social Media | 2 Comments
Crisis communications has always been a tricky conversation. And when social media entered the picture, it fueled the fire.
Now, within the past week, I have been hit with “crisis social media communications” discussions almost EVERYWHERE it seems. (So much so, that’s it’s starting to make nervous that the social media angel is prepping me for something - what, I’m not quite sure.)
1. Risk 2.0. The American Public Health Association held a conference on risk communications earlier this week and though I didn’t attend, I followed on Twitter. I must say the tweets coming out of it were fabulous and really insightful. Seems like many are going beyond the “Ah! What do we do?” factor and more into, how do we manage this, be pro-active and be strategic while also transparent, factors. Check it: #risk2.0
2. The Peanut Recall Case. Wednesday evening I attended the Blogging & Cupcakes event at Baked and Wired in Georgetown where social media guy, Andrew Wilson from HHS, presented the peanut recall case study. The case presented discussed how HHS, CDC and the FDA utilized social media in response to the salmonella crisis.
3. 3-Legged Horse Race. Catching up on Livingston Communications blog today, Geoff recently posted about three sessions that are currently competing to present at the fabulous Blog Potomac event coming up shortly. It’s interesting to me that all these sessions are about, you guessed it, crisis social media communications!
(writing this, I just thought of a 4th sign!)
4. Economy Stress and Eek, oh my! I work in public health, and this past week there was also some mixed reactions to SAMHSA’s launch of their “Guide to Get Through the Economy.” Many of my colleagues and friends looked the flurry that unravelled in response to this, and guess what we talked about? Yup, crisis social media communications! (as well as reputation management…who is a close cousin to c.s.m.c.)
What are your thoughts? Have you seen a rise in these types of communications at your own water coolers , conference rooms and happy hours? In the meantime, I’m going to continue to get my typing fingers ready….you never know when the hot, hot, hot, crisis social media communications will come after you.
flickr credit: Cayusa
Federal Web Council Reveals New Study: Putting Citizens First, Transforming Online Government
Wednesday, January 7th, 2009 | government 2.0 | 6 Comments
“There are about 24,000 U.S. Government Web sites now online.”
“Only a minority of government agencies have developed strong Web policies and management controls. Some have hundreds of “legacy” Web sites with outdated or irrelevant content.”
“We have too much content to categorize, search, and manage effectively, and there is no comprehensive system for removing or archiving old or underused content.”
“Agencies should be required and funded to regular content reviews, to ensure their online content is accurate. relevant, mission-related, and written in plain language. They should have a process for archiving content that is no longer in frequent use and no longer required on the Web site.”
According to my twitter search RSS feed, the term “Government 2.0″ is increasing in frequency and popularity. More bloggers and more blog posts continue to emerge on what and how government should improve its online Web presence, leveraging social media. Thus, I was enthused to read last week’s report from the experts themselves: government, to accomplish just this.
Last week, the Federal Web Managers Council, comprised of Cabinet agency Web Directors released its study titled, “Putting Citizens First: Transforming Online Government.” Its purpose is to “recommend specific strategies for revolutionizing how the U.S. Government delivers online services to the American people.
One of the most exciting pieces of the report (in my opinion) is what I understand as the government’s endorsement for more social media:
“The Government should use social media, not just to create transparency, but also to help people accomplish core tasks…To do this, the government must ensure that federal employees who need access to social media tools have them, and that these new ways of delivering content are available to all, including people with disabilities.”
Within this document, the Federal Web Managers Council also reveal their shared vision for the government’s presence online. This vision is for the public to:
- Easily find relevant, accurate, and up-to-date information
- Understand information the first time they read it
- Complete common tasks efficiently
- Get the same answer whether they use the Web, phone, email, live chat, read a brochure, or visit in-person.
- Provide feedback and ideas and hear what the government will do with them
- Access critical information if they have a disability or aren’t proficient in English.
The list of recommendations is not limited to but includes:
- Establish Web Communications as a core government business function
- Help the public complete common government tasks efficiently
- Clean up clutter so people can find what they need online
- Engage the public in a dialogue to improve our customer service
- Ensure under-served populations can access critical information online.
For more information or to read the report in its entirety, the full report is available here.
Your Turn: What do think of the recommendations, how would you prioritize and what else might you include?
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and/or connect with me on Twitter - @socialbttrfly.
Forget Personal Branding: What About a Sing-A-Long Resume?
Thursday, October 2nd, 2008 | Blog Talk, Social Media, Video | 3 Comments
I have lot more to report from the World Social Marketing Conference, however, this news bit is too good not too share. Last week, I connected with Holly Grande on Twitter, and this girl is smart. Not only is she a rising public relations star, but you may not know that she is also rising singing sensation.
So I might have exaggerated a bit (though she has done voice overs for Radio Disney), but Holly took the usual ‘resume’ section on her blog, and instead of posting her actual resume, Holly provided a new range in entertainment. Literally. Check out Holly’s “Sing-A-Long Resume” below. Who wouldn’t hire someone with this innovative creativty (and bravery)?
You can get catch more of Holly on her blog and at BrazenCareerist. What other unique ways have you or your friends done to re-frame and refresh your resume?
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To 2.0 or not 2.0? That is the Government’s Question
Monday, September 15th, 2008 | Interesting Articles, government 2.0 | 3 Comments
**This article I wrote was originally published at ReadWriteWeb on September 10, 2008. And P.S., I still don’t have the internet, but the install is scheduled for Wednesday…hence the blogging delay. Thank you for your understanding!
And we’ve got the answer. Three of them actually: Listen, learn, and let go.
Let’s face it, Web 2.0 is a buzzword. And when it comes to government, change, and innovation, we have to reach beyond buzzwords. Surprising to some, the government isn’t too far beyond.
The other week Mark Drapeau, Government 2.0 columnist for Mashable, suggested that the government is currently in a state of 1.4, at least when it comes to Twitter.* I would agree, however, as my lovely professors back in grad school taught me to say, “it depends.”
Government is doing some amazing social media initiatives to better serve their constituents, and why not – social media is all about increasing the democratization of communications. The government serves its people, and thus, it’s a perfect match.
We government-familiar types know of the greatness that is CDC – from their virtual world explorations in Whyville and SecondLife, to their numerous podcasts, e-cards, MySpace page and blog, and their CDC-TV channel, they are leading the way. But there’s more.
The EPA has its own cause on Facebook for its EnergySTAR program to stop global warming. The U.S. Intelligence Agency has it’s own data-sharing and social network-esque called Intellipedia. TSA uses its blog Evolution of Security as instrumental to its customer service abilities. Not to mention, there are currently 7 head directors and decision makers with their own blog. But, I will admit that some areas in government just need some more coaching.
If you are within government or outside of government, here are three helpful strategies to be the social media maven for your agency: Listen. Learn. And Let go.
These three strategies are listed in no particular order as they all circle one another. Think back when you learned how to ride a bike. You did not let go of the training wheels, until you have learned how to ride the bike. But, you couldn’t learn how to ride the bike, until you listened to the instructions. Same deal.
Listening
The more you learn about the space, the more comfortable you will become. This will involving listening to webinars and speakers on the topic. For starters, the CDC is having a live web dialogue on September 18th with an expert panel to talk about how government health agencies can integrate social media practices into their initiatives. There are currently 217 people signed up!
Listening also involves learning how to search, and how to search effectively. Largely, learning how to navigate the RSS feeder. I know it looks intimidating. I was at first too. But, it’s called Real Simple Syndication for a reason, because it really can be simple. Check out Google Reader or Bloglines or email me, and we can work together.
Learning
While listening, you will learn. It’s inevitable. I have best found that learning is maximized when you live with what Geoff Livingston said best in one of Buzz Bin blog posts, “You cannot underestimate the value of remaining teachable.” Attending speakers, applying your knowledge and participating in the space as an individual all help facilitate learning.
For example, Sec. Mike Leavitt and a group of world leaders came together in 2007 to create the Pandemic Flu Leadership Blog. Through this short-term blog, conversations and discussions were shared leading up to an offline Leadership Forum. Taking the lessons learned from this experience, Sec. Leavitt launched his own blog on behalf of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services in August 2007.
Letting Go
As your listening and learning combines, eventually, you will feel more comfortable in letting go. And letting go can include baby steps. Like, the case of Sec. Leavitt, you can build upon past activities. Do gather the statistics. Do highlight other case studies.
• Perhaps, instead of creating your own social network, it begins with placing a web badge or banner about your initiative on a social network.
• Perhaps, instead of creating a Twitter account feed, you conduct Twitter searches for your government agency’s name and important keywords.
• Perhaps, instead of creating your own blog, first do a guest entry on an already established blog.
• Perhaps, when pitching new information or publications to traditional news outlets, see if that media organization has a relevant blog column or social media reporter and share your information with him or her.
The ideas are endless, which is why being relevant is core. Let’s not be doing things for the sake of doing them. Let’s connect in meaningful ways. The tools may be new, but the importance of relationship-building and support remain constant. I’m excited to have the opportunity to highlight in this Government 2.0 column ways our government is being innovative as we all listen, learn and let go together.
*Context and attribution corrected.
Greenwashing: What is it, how do we evaluate it, and what does it mean?
Friday, January 11th, 2008 | Green Marketing, Interesting Articles | No Comments
This post provides some answers to these questions and some points to ponder.
First, the term greenwashing is taken from the term whitewashing. Whitewashing means to hide, cover or conceal unpleasant facts or details, especially in a political context or to manipulate. According to the Greenwashing Index, Greenwashing is:
“It’s greenwashing when a company or organization spends more time and money claiming to be “green” through advertising and marketing than actually implementing business practices that minimize environmental impact. It’s whitewashing, but with a green brush.”
Knowing this information, enter in the Greenwashing Index, promoted by EnviroMedia Social Marketing and University of Oregon School of Journalism and Communication. The purpose of the Greenwashing Index is “to educate consumers about how to “read” an ad and encourage them to decide for themselves if what they’re seeing is greenwashing.” The index hopes to curb the growth of greenwashing and encourage real environmental responsibility and change.
The index measures and scores advertising claims based on the following five criteria:
- The ad misleads with words.
- The ad misleads with visuals and/or graphics.
- The ad makes a green claim that is vague or seemingly unprovable.
- The ad overstates or exaggerates how green the product/company/service actually is.
- The ad leaves out or masks important information, making the green claim sound better than it is.
To detect greenwashing, Sourcewatch offers the following tips:
- Follow the money trail.
- Follow the membership trail.
- Follow the paper trail.
- Look for skeletons in the company’s closet.
- Test for access to information.
- Test for international consistency.
- Check how they handle their critics.
- Test for consistency over time.
As my previous post mentioned, the FTC began a workshop of hearings yesterday a year early about the growing buzz and concerns regarding green marketing. To listen to the FTC hearings about the, click here. The workshops could results in updating the FTC’s green guides, which outlines the FCC’s laws regarding environmental claims for advertiser, marketers and consumers. These guidelines were originally created in 1992. Though the green guides were updated in 1998, they haven’t been changed since.
Now the final piece: What does this mean to us….as social marketers?
Personally, I think evaluation tools are great, despite the lack of them and the lack of priority in evaluation processes. The evaluation step is one too many organization and marketing directors overlook or skip. I see the Greenwashing Index as another great evaluations tool for us, and I offer up the suggestion that perhaps we should have more such evaluation tools to help keep the private sector accountable and responsible. Doing such, I think, would increase our success in our social marketing endeavors.
More on evaluation procedures and steps in the next post. =)
Future Social Marketers Unite
Saturday, January 5th, 2008 | Back to School Monday Minutes, Identity Crisis | No Comments
As the debate on the creation of a National Social Marketing Association continues, future social marketing and SM-related students/practitioners should check out FLiP (Future Leaders in Philanthropy). It is another online community that offers many great resources and connections for those exploring philanthropic related fields. According to the its homepage, FLiP’s mission statement includes:
We are the future leaders in philanthropy. By working together, we will further our careers, serve our organizations’ mission, and change the world. FLiP is dedicated to creating a community and a network where other future leaders can meet, learn, exchange ideas, and contribute to each other’s success.
They offer interviews with young professionals in a variety of social change/philanthropy related careers. They offers resources for further education, career guides, views from fellow interns, opportunities to network, online presence on Facebook, MySpace and AOL and much more.
This community is great for making connections with those who have related interests and goals. In the meantime, there is a Massachusetts Social Marketing Association and WOMMA (Word-of-Mouth-Marketing Association). However, a national social marketing association is still in progress. Nedra Weinreich, on her blog Spare Change, offers a better history about the creation of a professional social marketing society. Weinreich also offers her views on the status of such an organization. The big debate seems to rest on whether or not the SM Association should be underneath the AMA (American Marketing Association) or be its own separate identity.
As this blog has hinted at, I believe this relates to the ‘identity crisis’ that all of strategic communications is facing, whether commercial or not, in seeking universally accepted definitions. How do you draw the lines between what is and what is not advertising, marketing, dare I say journalism, corporate social responsibility, word of mouth marketing, social marketing, viral marketing, sponsorship, etc. I have my own ideas, of course. But, I’m more curious about learning what others think about this topic.
- Should social marketing have its own professional organization?
- How would you decide who could and could not join?
- Should it me under the AMA? If so, then should word-of-mouth-marketing also be under the AMA instead of having its own organization?
- ETC. There are much more questions than answers about this topic. Feel free to leave your own questions as comments.
Blogging: Finding Magellan in an Identity Crisis
Sunday, December 30th, 2007 | Back to School Monday Minutes, Blog Talk, Identity Crisis | No Comments
After my last post, I received an email asking how other non-profits or social causes could also use blogging technology for its purposes. Below, I list someways blogging can be used by non-profits as well as some strengths and limitations of the technology.
First Things First
I come with the view that like in the commercial sector, finding an umbrella term to put all non-profit marketing and advertising under is difficult. Research studies have been explored, textbooks written, debates held and still universal definitions are lacking. Some used to think a few years back the IMC, Integrated Marketing Communications would be the end-all classification system for advertising. Yet, this debate still continues. Do we put public relations under this? Why the term marketing? Where does viral belong? etc.
Therefore, just like the commercial advertising arena suffers from an identity crisis, so does the community of non-profit/health communications/social causes/etc. Though, I might classify many of these as social marketing. But then, where do we put corporate social responsibility or cause marketing? (These both have profit aims…) So, yikes! Is there overlap? Is overlap the right word? What are we to do? The questions and debates continue. In discussing these terms and looking at definitions, I am going to offer up that is depends largely on your end objective. I agree there’s more to this debate, but for practical considerations (and when looking to use blogging technology) I say, first determine your end objective to decide if, and what type, of blogging is right for you.
Examples of Blogging Being Used by Non-Profits:
Citizen’s League in Minnesota. They have two blogs. One that is updated with public policy news, trends and updates. The other who is from the point of view of a person which has similar content, but the first person point of view adds relevance and personalizes the stories.
Children Matter. A Christian non-profit ministry who uses a blog for its message.
Strengths of Blogging
1. A blog can provide an outlet for stories to be told regarding the issue or project. This can also be created as a way to get more involved and to increase participation. It can also make the message for personal and relevant. Interplast has their volunteers upload information and share stories about their experiences regarding their work site.
2. Helps build an online community. This includes expanding your traditional media lists to include other bloggers, online social networks, websites and more.
3. Blogging has no geographic limitations unlike a lot of traditional media (tv, radio, magazine, newspapers).
4. Requires small tangible finances. But, may require more employee/volunteer hours and time to manage.
5. Can boost media coverage by expanding your traditional media list to include fellow bloggers, social networks, online communities, websites and more.
6. Put your already-drafted press releases to good work by setting up an RSS feed on your blog to provide up-to-date news about your organization. this allows others to know what the organization is up to, gives those interested more information to talk about and can increase your media coverage.
7. Provide information and resources via a blog. A blog is one way to provide the same information you could on a website or brochure, but in an interactive, fun, and personal manner. For example, instead of telling what the participants do throughout the year. Have the voice of your blog be told through the ‘Volunteer Sarah’ and give it a diary feel.
8. From your blog, you can also provide information on how to get involved, donate, volunteer, and participate. This could include a sign-up page for the weekly email blasts.
9. Blogs also are a way to track, organize and build a resource for an organization/cause. If it comes time to write a report, you can search your blog for all relevant information regarding ‘XYZ’ and poof- you have all the information you need already written.
10. Use a blog as your organization’s website.
11. For good feedback, use your blog as a sounding board or discussion forum. Also, blog stats and analytics could help you find more target audiences interested in your cause.
12. Add your blog to the Nonprofit Blog Exchange using this form to automatically get plugged into an online community and to increase traffic.
Limits of Blogging
1. If you use a free service (blogger, wordpress, etc.), sometimes you are limited with the type of content you can post. Examples including: limitations for customizing options including how you organize content or the design unless you have someone with the expertise to do so, or upgrade your blog service.
2. The domain name can be tricky. Unless you want to purchase a domain, your domain name will (usually) include the blog service you are using. However, domains can be purchased for something like $10/year. This blog also provide many helpful tips and resources for creating your own domain.
3. Must provide quality information at a consistent rate.
More Sources
Should Your Non-Profit Launch a Blog?
Alexandra Bornkessel
Email: socialbutterfly4change@gmail.com
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