email marketing and pr webinar
TRANSCRIPT
Hillary Bond
Communications Coordinator
National Safe Place
Form of direct marketing using
electronic mail as a means of
communicating messages to a
targeted audience
Messages intended to:
◦ Educate/Inform
◦ Raise Awareness
◦ Establish ongoing relationships
◦ Spark action
◦ Promote organization/event
Saves time and money Empowering Effective Reaches a targeted audience Great ROI
What can it do for your organization:
◦ Increase website traffic ◦ Promote identity awareness ◦ Broaden your audience ◦ Generate donations/Increase donor base ◦ Promote special events ◦ Increase volunteer base
Approximately 147 million people in U.S. use email, most use it
every day.
45% of American adults (including non-internet users) send or read
email every day
91% of Internet users between 18 and 64 send or read email
46% of email users say they’re addicted to email
51% check email 4 or more times a day
50% check email while on vacation
Manage email lists
Provide easy-to-use templates
Send readable formats (HTML and/or Text)
Handle unsubscribe links required by law (CAN-SPAM)
Ensure email delivery and track results
Standard email programs (ie: Outlook, Hotmail) not
designed for group messaging
◦ Limited number of emails sent at one time
◦ No formatting control
◦ List break up more susceptible to filters
◦ No tracking/reporting of email results
◦ Sending mass emails through Outlook means you’ll
receive all bouncebacks and autoreplies
◦ Takes more time
Federal law that sets the rules for commercial email
Requirements:
◦ “Real” (clearly identified) sender address
◦ Working “Reply To” address
◦ Clearly-defined content (reason to contact recipient)
◦ Working “Unsubscribe” link
◦ Clearly-identified corporate address
Read more about CAN-SPAM at www.ftc.gov/spam
Build your list where you connect
◦ Website “Please sign up for our e-Newsletter” Single vs. Double Opt-in
◦ Social Networking sites Twitter Facebook LinkedIn
◦ Community events, meetings, conferences, trade shows
◦ Email Signature
Announcements ◦ Frequency: event-driven ◦ Press releases, holiday greetings, thank you cards,
etc. ◦ Use content to build deeper relationships
Newsletters ◦ Frequency: regular (weekly, monthly) ◦ Lots of educational content (typically non-
promotional) ◦ Summarize information, be concise
Promotions/Invitations ◦ Frequency: can vary depending on organizational
goals, events ◦ Focus on promotion, limited content ◦ Use content to invite click-through or other action
Types of e-newsletter content ◦ Success Stories
◦ Interviews with industry experts
◦ Q&A Column
◦ Back Stage Passes
◦ Save The Date
◦ Empowering How-Tos
◦ Action Alerts
TIP: Survey your readers at least a couple times each
year to find out what they want to know about, what
questions they have and what kind of information they
want to receive from you.
Share your expertise
Use facts & testimonials
Hold contests & giveaways
Promote relevant partnerships
Advocacy efforts
Relevant media coverage
Keep it short and to the point (About 1,000 words)
Include photos and graphics
Make people central to your content
Microcontent
If your readers don’t see something
interesting after skimming your email for just
a few seconds, your email is gone from their
minds and so is your organization.
Every email has four key pieces of
microcontent:
◦ The Subject Line
◦ The From Line
◦ The Headings and Subheadings
◦ The Next Step or Call to Action
Subject Line ◦ Change it every time
◦ Beware of telling people what to do (ie:
Register, Donate, Help, etc.)
◦ Describe the candy, not the wrapper
◦ Keep it short (30-40 characters)
The From Line ◦ The same every time
◦ Organization/program name
The Headings and Subheadings ◦ Descriptive headlines and subheads with
active verbs and vivid nouns
◦ Should answer question “Why should I
continue reading?”
Call to Action ◦ Should stand out on its own
As you write e-newsletter articles, ask yourself these
questions:
◦ How will this article make our readers feel?
◦ Does this article show our readers how important they are to us?
◦ Does it celebrate successes they helped our organization bring
about?
◦ Is this article educational or informational?
◦ Is this article promoting our organization?
Simplicity and skimmable
structure over complexity and
size
Make words easy to read
Make sure your logo is present
and large enough to make an
impact
Use a custom template
Stick with basic fonts
Design for the preview pane
Use images wisely
Appropriate timing (when to send your
email marketing) differs from industry to
industry
Conventional wisdom: send messages
midweek—Tuesdays, Wednesdays,
Thursdays
Best advice: send emails on different days
and determine which day has more
“opens”
“Public relations is the planned effort to influence
opinion (attitudes) through good character and
responsible performance, based upon mutually
satisfactory two-way communication.”
–Scott Cutlip, Fellow PRSA, APR
Start by visiting your community’s Chamber of Commerce and find a list of local media outlets (newspaper, radio, TV)
Search websites for contact information
Find appropriate “beat” reporters (those who cover the kind of news you have to share)
Compile a list with contact names, their media outlet, phone, email and notes about news interests and preferred contact methods.
Reach out to each contact and introduce yourself and briefly inform them about your program or organization
Contact media ONLY when you have relevant,
timely news to share (an announcement,
important statistical information, an event, etc.)
Adhere to preferred contact method
Be short, to the point—who, what, when, where,
why must be focus of message
Make it easy for reporter to use your
information—ask yourself “What’s in it for the
reader”
Include organizational logo, name of contact person, phone number and email address
For Immediate Release or Embargoed until specific date
Write a concise, informative, no more than six or seven words
Start press release with most important information—lead sentence should be no more than 25 words.
Answer the who, what, where, when, why questions
Provide a quote from your executive director or other relevant expert in body of release
Boilerplate: written in in smaller text and inserted into page footer is this shot paragraph describing your organization/program.
Informative and doesn’t sound like a sales push
Answers who, what, where, when, and why
It is short: one page or less
Provides a quote or testimony, if needed
Includes facts
Properly identifies people referenced in the release
Has been spell-checked
Tense is correct
Researched intended media and targeted the release
appropriately
You should have a media kit on file and ready to send when at a
moment’s notice. Suggested contents include:
◦ Fact sheet about agency and Safe Place
◦ Press release specific to Safe Place or event
◦ Background information event or program being promoted
◦ Recent agency or program newsletter
◦ Suggested activities to help promote the event or program
◦ Contact information for individual associated with event or program
◦ Suggested interview questions
A social media presence provides opportunity for social engagement, allows you to learn more about your community
Easy way to disseminate information, links, PSAs, event information, news, success stories
Must manage your social media pages and strive to update at least 2 times a day
Content suggestions: ◦ Hold photo contests ◦ Poll your friends/follwers and ask questions ◦ Promote your e-newsletter and blog content ◦ Share success stories and honor donors ◦ Get relevant news updates from Google alerts and
share ◦ Use videos and graphics
