reaching members through communications and social media (capta)
TRANSCRIPT
Presented by:
Michelle Eklund Director, Strategic Initiatives
California State PTA
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Welcome! Today we will be discussing how to reach members through communications and social media. My name is Michelle Eklund, and I’m the Director of Strategic Initiatives for California State PTA. I’m part of the professional support team on staff for your state Board of Directors.
What you’ll learn: • Strategies for communicating in a thoughtful
and meaningful way
• Messages that you can use at the unit level
• Tips and best practices for newsletters and social media
• Strategies for handling difficult online situations
• Answers to your most burning questions
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California State PTA invested in a research project to better understand the perceptions of parents, both members and nonmembers. And what we found is that the parents’ image and perceived value of PTA is completely based on the people, programs and tangible benefits they see at their own school. Perceptions about PTA are formed at the local level. If your PTA is running smoothly, your communicating well with your members and showcasing the programs and services that PTA brings to your school, parents have a great impression about PTA. In PTAs that might have trouble working as a team or aren’t communicating well, parents don’t see the value of what PTA brings, they have a very poor impression of PTA. So, you have a tremendous opportunity to influence parents’ perception of PTA in your communication efforts. With that in mind, we’ll first talk about a few strategies for communicating in a more thoughtful and meaningful way with our members and potential members. The first strategy is to look at what your objective is – what are you trying to accomplish. For most of us, this is a little different that what we typically do right? Usually we go straight to the tactic or the “how” and completely bypass everything else. Someone says, “We have an event coming up next month” and we immediately starting working on a flier. But, we usually haven’t taken the time to really even think about our communication objectives or what is it that we are trying to accomplish. So, your PTA is having an event – is the objective to ask for food to be donated, or is your objective to sell tickets? You would need to think about your objective before creating the flier. This doesn’t have to be a step that takes a long time, but it’s definitely an important strategy in communicating.
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The next strategy is to know who you are talking to - understanding your key audience. Maybe your objective is to increase membership among parents. If you spent all your time communicating to mostly teachers, you would hopefully see an increase in PTA membership, but not in the group you most wanted. By understanding your key audience you can better communicate with them to achieve your desired objective or outcome. In knowing who you are talking to you can better develop messages that resonate.
Key Messaging:
• PTA brings valuable programs and services to your school. • PTA is the main connector of parents and families to the
school. • PTA makes “your child’s” school a better place – and thereby
boosts “your child’s” education.
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There are a few key messages about PTA that seems to resonate the most. Program and services - highlight the programs and services that are considered valuable and are being provided at the local school site is a huge messaging component. This could be highlighting your Science Lab and outcomes in a Facebook post. Sharing a quote about how the PTA reading program increased grades in your eNewsletter. Again, making the connection between the PTA and the valuable programs and services. PTA is the main connector of parents and families to the school. Reinforcing that PTA is strengthening relationships between parents, teachers, school administrators, etc. Including a letter and a photo of the PTA president with the school principal in your back to school kit. PTA makes “your child’s” school a better place – and thereby boosts “your child’s” education. Parents want to know that they are helping to make a difference in their child’s education. I heard a quote from a PTA mom that she joined PTA for her kids, and later continued her involvement (aka volunteering) for all children.
Other KEY Points…
• PTA has a seat at the table when the testing requirements and funding for our school is being decided. PTA was instrumental in passing the law that ensures your child will wear a helmet when riding a bike.
• Address primary concerns all parents have about lack of time,
and unbundle the concept of “membership” from the obligation to volunteer. Joining PTA is a valuable act in and of itself, that shows support for the school and their child.
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Some bigger picture messaging about advocacy and legislative accomplishments can be sprinkled in and framed in practical terms and the impact on the local school site – “PTA has a seat at the table when the testing requirements and funding for our school is being decided.” “PTA was instrumental in passing the law that ensures your child will wear a helmet when riding a bike.” Membership specific – Messaging should address primary concerns all parents have about lack of time, and unbundle the concept of “membership” from the obligation to volunteer. Joining PTA is a valuable act in an of itself, that shows support for the school and their child. Any questions so far about the key messaging?
Traditional • Word of Mouth • Personal Touch • Publications/Fliers • Direct Mail • Advertising • Newspapers
Digital • Website • Email • Social Media • Mobile • Blogs • Video
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The final strategy for communicating effectively is to choose the right tool for the right job. We don’t want to be the person who is trying to cut our pizza with a saw. We want to choose the right tool that will best help us meet our communications objective and communicate with our key audience. If non eof the parents at your local PTA are on Twitter, that might not be the best tool for you to use. There are many ways you can reach members – and potential members – to keep them informed and involved in PTA activities. Word of Mouth Personal Touch Publications/Fliers Direct Mail Advertising Newspapers Website Email Social Media Mobile Blogs Video Today, we’re going to focus specifically on newsletters and social media.
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Let’s talk about newsletters? How many of you are using hard-copy newsletters? How many of you are currently using eNewsletters? [If many are using eNewsletters – move quickly, say “Then this will be a quick review of a best practices for eNewsletters.]
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Hard Copy Pros – Feels official, something tangible Can be photocopied for members with no access to computers Length is only a factor based on your budget Can provide some indication of who’s fallen off the list when returned via mail Electronic Pros – Usually less expensive than hard copy Easily forwarded, can lead to increase readership and circulation Usually quicker, more immediate impact Can be printed and distributed if needed Can link for more information
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Hard Copy Cons – Time-intensive to produce and distribution is usually monthly or quarterly Budget is usually an issue and prevents use of color, mailing Can feel “old school” to younger generations who are usually more mobile-driven Save the trees! Electronic Cons – Too many emails, can get deleted or lost Could be an issue for those with no Internet access Can be easily overlooked or ignored
eNewsletters:
DO • Keep subject lines simple • Create a professional
template • Focus on content, stories,
images and links • Monitor your numbers
DON’T • Sound like SPAM • Be distracting • Be boring • Send everything to
everybody • Use Outlook
• Keep subject lines and headlines simple
• Sound like SPAM
• Create a professional template
• Focus on content, stories, images and links
• Monitor your numbers
• Be distracting
• Be boring
• Send everything to everybody
• Use Outlook
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Let’s look at a few Do’s and Don’t for Newsletters DO - Take the time create a strong subject line. Folks are quick to delete email and if your subject line isn’t clear, your eNewsletter will get deleted. A good strategy is to write your newsletter first. Get all the photos, links, articles, everything completed – then go back and craft your subject line. Same goes with headlines in your hard-copy newsletter. Folks will scan your headlines to see if they want to read the article. Ideally, the headline helps tell your key message, so if they don’t read anything, they at least got that information. DON’T - Use all caps in your subject line or in headlines or spam word such as FREE, Act Now or Last Chance. This type of language feels like a sale pitch and may get your eNewsletter deleted from the Inbox or recycled in the round file. DO - Create a professional template. Include your PTA logo, contact information, links to your social media sites, etc. You want folks to know that this is a real association. It also shows that your PTA cares enough to think about how your audience wants to receive information. You can find one using Microsoft Publisher for hard-copy newsletters. Try not to use Word. DON’T - Use distracting backgrounds or use everything but the kitchen sink in your layout and design. Also be careful not too have too many columns. Usually a one- or two-column eNewsletter is ideal. This helps with being able to clearly read and see everything on a handheld or mobile device. Also be sure there is plenty of white space in your hard-copy newsletter. It’s not pleasing to the eye to see wall-to-wall text. DO – Think about your content. Be brief, use as few words as possible. Include links to read more, or to download fliers. Be sure to also make your eNewsletter visually appealing with images. Try to be more story-driven in your content. Instead of just saying “Basketball Tournament tomorrow,” consider including a photo and a quote about how much basketball means to one of your students. Keep your key messages about PTA in mind – highlight a program or service and demonstrate the value for “their child.” Include a link to “Download the Newsletter” rather than simply attaching the newsletter as a PDF and expecting folks to 1 – open your email 2 – open the PDF attachment and 3 – take action. That’s too many things to do for most audiences. DON’T - Be long-winded, text-heavy with no images links or photos. Don’t be boring. Don’t be demanding in your call to action, but have a clear “ask.” DO – Check your open rates, unsubscribes, etc. This will give you valuable feedback as to what your audience finds interesting and compelling. It’s much harder to track hard-copy newletters. But, don’t let these numbers rule your world in communicating. You should expect a certain amount of unsubscribes, especially at first. And, just because they didn’t “open” it doesn’t mean that they didn’t in fact see it. Preview screens don’t capture open numbers. DON’T – Blast everybody with everything. Ask folks to sign up or opt-in. To get started you may want to automatically add everyone to your list, but then include a quick “You are receiving this because…” introduction. Keep separate lists for separate interests – 3rd grade parents, teachers, sponsors and supporters, entire school, PTA members only, PTA Executive Board only. DON’T – Use Outlook for your eNewsletter. Outlook is a personal email and organization tool. It can’t provide you with the customizable options or reporting that you need in order to have a successful eNewsletter.
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As you consider switching to an electronic newsletter – keep in mind your audience. AND… Mobile - Smartphone usage is up 465% in the past few years with more than 50% of the population using smartphones. And this is regardless of socio-economic status. High-income, low-income, college-educated, high school or less than high-school education, Northern California or Southern California – People have mobile phones with access to the Internet, email and social media sites. They may not have Internet access or a computer in the home, but statistics show that on average, one person in the household will have a mobile device. Email - Continues to be a preferred method of receiving information with 91% of consumers using email daily.
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There are plenty of free and low-cost services that your PTA can utilize for developing eNewsletters: Mail Chimp – “Forever Free” plan includes up to 2,000 subscribers and 12,000 emails per month. You can also add on options and packages for low monthly fees depending on your needs. Benchmark – Services as low at $10 per month for up to 600 emails per month Constant Contact – Services around $15-30 per month depending on the number of subscribers you have. But, they also offer a discount if you pre-pay for 6 months.
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Let’s talk about advertising. This is often a question – can your PTA accept advertising in your newsletter? (Per Ninth District PTA Communications VP, Laura Schumacher) Advertising in PTA publications is addressed in the Toolkit Accepting Advertising. It is legal for PTA publications to accept advertising – but with some important precautions: Will the newsletter be mailed directly to parents home address or will it be distributed to students to take home. If it’s distributed in school, you have to check with your school district to find out if they allow students to carry home publications with commercial advertising. If a PTA receives income for paid advertising, then it may be considered taxable unrelated business income. Paid advertising may be considered to be subsidizing your newsletter and you are receiving “printing” in lieu of income. You would probably have to talk to a tax expert about that. PTA recommends you print a disclaimer for any publication carrying advertising.
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Don’t forget about…LinkedIn, Instagram, Tumblr… And Google +, Del.ic.ious, Foursquare, Reddit, Digg, Meetup, Blogger, Flickr, Vimeo, Yelp, …and yes, MySpace is making a comeback. The list of social media networks goes on and on. Conversations are happening all over the web in thousands of social media environments – far too many, in fact, for your PTA to be everywhere. That’s why it’s critical that you have a clear communications objective and know who you are trying to reach. If your parents aren’t on LinkedIn, then you wouldn’t spend your time trying to communicate with them on that platform. If your members are on Facebook, and prefer to get information on Facebook, then that’s probably a place you should be. As you head into the next year, it’s best to focus your communication efforts in a few key areas that will offer you the biggest return on your investment of time.
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Facebook is probably the least scary of the social media world right? Most of us use Facebook, or at least have a Facebook account. For the most part, we understand how Facebook works. So, one of the first things to look at is setting up a “Page” for your PTA. This is different that the “profile” that you and I have. We have a personal profile for individuals. But, setting up a profile for a business or organization is a violation of Facebook policy and you could be shut down. So, you’ll want to be sure that you have a PTA Facebook Page. And, here’s why…
Five Reasons for a PTA Facebook Page:
1. Remind parents of upcoming events, PTA meetings, deadlines, etc.
2. Build relationships with key audiences – make the connection feel personal through photos, comments, likes and sharing
3. Recruit volunteers for events and/or leadership roles 4. Educate key audiences on how the PTA benefits their
children, the school and the community 5. Discuss important issues and mobilize parents into action
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Five reasons for a PTA Facebook page: Remind parents of upcoming events, PTA meetings, deadlines, etc. Build relationships with key audiences – make the connection feel personal through photos, comments, likes and sharing Recruit volunteers for events and/or leadership roles Educate key audiences on how the PTA benefits their children, the school and the community Discuss important issues and mobilize parents into action
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Be sure to: Upload a photo – PTA logo, school mascot with PTA underneath Complete your PTA profile - add a description, link to school website. Add a cover image for your PTA – could be a photo of your school, photo of your PTA board, picture of kids doing activities, or you could even use whatever the state PTA is using. Create a “friendly URL.” Once you have 25 likes you can create a friendly URL such as facebook.com/CaliforniaStatePTA. This is much easier for your members to remember and find.
Set more than one administrator
Vary your posts
Like comments, respond to messages
Schedule your posts
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Assign responsibilities, share tasks and have more than one administrator for your PTA Facebook Page. This lets you have a backup and someone can always access the account. You can decide who should be admin – perhaps the President, Communications VP and the Programs and Member Services Chair. Vary your posts, share links, photos, ask questions. You can find Facebook posts from what you are already doing: Post link to your eNewsletter Create individual links from each article Share posts from state PTA or National PTA Create photo albums for PTA events PTA meeting reminders School announcements Resources for parents in the community Engage! Commit to monitoring your Page. Respond to as many posts, comments and messages as possible in a timely manner. Use this as a customer service tool. Set a schedule for posting – too few posts and your audience will forget about you, too many and they will “unlike” your page.
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Facebook allows you to schedule posts for your Facebook Page. This means you can schedule Facebook posts in one sitting. You don’t need to log in every day if you don’t want to. You can pre-schedule important information such as holidays, testing reminders, PTA meetings, half day schedule, etc.
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Why set up a Twitter account for your PTA? One big reason is that there are already a tremendous amount of people using Twitter. But, before you jump in and set up a Twitter account for your PTA, you should consider your communications objective and key audiences – Is Twitter the best place to accomplish your goals? If your key audience isn’t on Twitter, or prefers another communication tool, you’ll just be spinning your wheels and won’t be any closer to achieving the objectives you outlined. You’ll want to also look at your capacity, and return on your investment of time. Twitter takes longer for most of us to learn, and it’s not meant to be a platform for just re-posting what you have on Facebook. If you don’t have time to learn how to be successful at Twitter, your PTA is probably better served by focusing your communication efforts in other areas. Again, it’s about knowing your audience and your limitations. But, with that being said, there is room for PTA to be a powerful voice on Twitter on a larger scale – adding to the overall voice and power of PTA. Twitter is a great place to demonstrate the depth and breadth of PTA expertise, positions, advocacy efforts, value to the community, stories and more.
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So, Twitter can seem to have it’s own language right? Hashtags, Retweets, @ Mentions. It can all seems very confusing. To help ease some of that confusion, we have handouts for the common Twitter Terms. (Go through terms – Tweet, RT, Mention, DM and Hashtag.) My advice is to set up a personal Twitter account so you can observe, learn and experiment. Try that for 6 months and then revisit starting a Twitter account for your PTA. After six months of going your regular communication efforts and adding in Facebook, you’ll have a better idea if Twitter makes sense for your PTA.
Tweeting for your PTA:
• Start by listening and observing • Learn the “rules” of Twitter • Learn common terms • Be conversational and tweet
several times a day o RT others o Recognize new followers o Respond to @mentions o Use hashtags strategically
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Start slowly by listening and observing. Use this time to learn Twitter rules and common terms: Tweets are 140 characters or less and includes spaces It’s okay to use text abbreviations such as edu for education @ Mention is how you address or mention someone DM is a direct message or private message to that person only # hashtags are ways to follow conversations around a certain subject Hashtags are free, anyone can create one, you don’t need to register it, just start using it Some hashtags are already being used commonly such as #CAeducation #PTAadvocacy #schools #teachers [Handout glossary of Twitter terms]
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How many of you know what this is? Instagram. For those who don’t know, Instagram is a free app for iPhone or Android that lets people take photos, apply filters to change the look of the photos and then share them. Users can share them on Instagram while also choosing to share them to Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr and Foursquare. Every day, 55 million photos are uploaded, 86 million comments are posted and 691 million users like various photos in their feeds on Instagram. If your strategy includes marketing to Generation Y or Millennials (ages 18-29), Instagram is kind of a big deal.
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There’s three tips for using Instagram for your PTA: It’s mobile based, no “computer” access, so be sure you are comfortable logging in and logging out of your personal account. Use popular hashtags – and use lots of them. Unlike Twitter or Facebook where you may want to include one or two hashtags, on Instagram nerly most of your post will be hashtags. That’s how folks will find you. Same tips for all social media site – post regularly. If you don’t post, you don’t exist.
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YouTube is the third largest search engine just behind Google and Yahoo. That means that people are turning to YouTube to find out information.
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YouTube will populate “suggested videos” at the end of your video. To avoid inappropriate suggestions be sure to tag everything you upload with: Children PTA Parents Teachers Kids Schools Family Be sure to include descriptions of your videos to increase the likelihood that your videos will be found in search.
More Helpful Tips:
• Evaluate the “need” to have a PTA presence in all social media sites
• Consider developing a content calendar
• Keep all social media passwords in one place – Excel doc or hard copy
• Publicize your PTA social media sites
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Some additional best practices: Really look at the need to be in all social media sites. Again, just because Pinterest is popular doesn’t mean that you are going to reach your key audience there with the right message. Social media isn’t about being everywhere. It’s about having meaningful conversations with people online. It’s about engagement, so you will want to do a few things well rather than everything poorly. If you can establish a presence in more than one social media site, feel you can meet your communication objectives and reach your audiences there, and have the time to do it well – go for it! Think about setting up a content calendar. This is just a schedule of what you are going to post when and where. It will help reduce last minute “fire drills” and communication emergencies. Keep a record of all social media passwords, logins, etc. This can be in an Excel document or even a hard copy. Be sure to keep this private, but shared with key members of your PTA Executive Board. Publicize your social media sites – add “Like us on FB” icon to your website. Add your Twitter stream as a tab in Facebook. Tweets links to your blog, or Facebook photo albums. Include social media icons and hyperlinks in your electronic newsletter. Let people know at your PTA meetings – Like us on Facebook for all the latest updates and information about what’s happening at our school and for our PTA.
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Another popular question is photos – can you post images of students. (Per California State PTA Vice President for Communications, Kathryn Cross) Use a general disclaimer at the start of the school year for photo permissions. Perhaps see if you can get in the back-to-school packet from the school, or add a line to the school’s photo policy. Use photo where the students cannot be easily identified, and having permission for those who are. Perhaps also not using their last names in the caption. Electronic permission is acceptable, just hang on to the email.
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A common question regarding Facebook is about handling difficult situations online. People saying nasty things, or getting out of hand. Most PTAs want to know how they can handle those situations online. And there’s a rule of thumb that you can follow – At the end of the day, it is your PTA page and as an association you don’t need to allow anything on the page that you don’t want. At the state level we have a link to our social media policy on the “About Us” section in Facebook. But, even though we can remove just about anything that we want, we recognize the value of having an open forum where people can respectfully express their opinion, even if it differs from ours. So try not to remove or hide posts. These conversations about your PTA are happening anyway, now you just have an opportunity to be included in the dialogue and help facilitate the discussion. Take it as an opportunity to engage in discussion, answer questions and maybe even clear up any miscommunication. You can also move the conversation offline. “Thank you for your feedback. Please email [email protected] for further assistance.” However, if someone is abusive, uses foul language, is harassing or is trying to use your PTA Facebook page as a way to jump on their soapbox, then consider hiding their posts or blocking them. Remember, that you can also hide and remove any posts that are sales-related.
