The day-to-day tasks at work can be overwhelming; so it’s rare that you’d want to add to it with a strategic planning process. A good strategic plan shows you a snapshot of where you are, where you want to be, and how to get there.
But is it right for you? To help you figure it out, we created this flow chart.
Photo credit: Tamanya Garza, Anaheim, CA 2015
A Disturbance in the Force
Pretty universally, digital marketers are working – and working hard – to discover what their audiences find “relevant” every single day. They are A/B testing, measuring reach, and sometimes being penalized by social networking sites for posting content that was not only irrelevant but altogether terrible. But every once in a while we get the gift of a highly relevant, ready-made event that gets social media sites all atwitter and begging for fun content from brands. Think the birth of Princess Charlotte Elizabeth Diana. Think Mother’s Day. Think #MayThe4thBeWithYou.
These events, which boast a shared relevance across many different demographics, can be a fantastic opportunity to get your social media posts in front of new eyes. It is also a great way to make your core audience laugh, “awwww” or remind them that there is a real person on the other side of the computer screen that shares their values and loves of social media just like they do. If you ensure your content is funny, beautiful or inventive you can also cash in on shares and retweets at a rate higher than many of your other posts. You love it. We know.
Sounds Harder Than Arguing With a Wookie
It’s not. Sure, some companies spend thousands of dollars on stunning graphics and highly-produced YouTube videos but that isn’t the only way to have an impact. Going back to our last blog post, what are your core values? Whataburger, a burger chain known for their convenience and customer service, built an At-At out of ketchup packs for #StarWarsDay 2015. To the untrained eye it’s just a clever image, but to customers, it’s a reminder that Whataburger brings condiments right to your table – an extra bit of customer service you won’t get at Burger King or McDonalds. Find a way to marry your quirky sense of humor and what your customers value most and you’ll be racking up the retweets faster than you can say #awesome.
What Would Han Solo Do?
When creating content for one of these events ask yourself what everyone’s favorite intergalactic outlaw would do. With his sexy swagger, great timing and highly recognizable jawline Han Solo can be a great guide. Do something a little different, a little sexy or a little bold. Make sure the timing is right. It is easier for your audience to view (and share) images or videos during the work day? Think about it. Finally, make sure whatever you create is still highly-identifiable with your brand and says something smart about what you do. Here are some great examples at every price point from 2015:
#MayThe4thBeWithYou, Get Your Brand On 2015:
Pandora Ad for Mother’s Day That is Making Everyone Ugly Cry:
One of my guilty pleasures is binge-watching TV shows on Netflix, and I recently caught up on the first three seasons of The Mindy Project. For those of you who know me, that’s strange – I’m much more what Netflix might label the “Dark, Gritty Crime Dramas with a Strong Female Lead” type. Since watching The Mindy Project, and suddenly finding myself interested in how this oddly affirming show came to be, the marketer in me decided to a little research.
Mindy Kaling, like her character Mindy Lahiri, is witty and sarcastic and terribly intelligent. She’s beautiful and confident and abashedly unashamed of her enjoyment of pop culture and junk food. Rather than take a self-deprecating approach to her comedy, as women who don’t look like Ana Faris are often asked to do, Mindy is ALWAYS outrageously confident. She loves to say things like, “I have the right to life, liberty and chicken wings,” and “It is so weird being my own role model.”
It is with this mix of abundant confidence and a ridiculous commitment to being hilarious that Kaling has also become a marketing powerhouse in the entertainment industry. From a fashion blog that lists details about each gorgeous ensemble she wears on her show to her Facebook feed filled with merciless teasing of her colleagues and articles about how she is revolutionizing television, Kaling has leveraged the cult interest in her show effectively and with style. One of the busiest women in television (she created, writes, stars in and produces The Mindy Project) Kaling has built a creative social media empire that is equal parts serious and frivolous without losing sight of her brand or what her audience wants.
In spite of her current success Mindy Kaling’s journey has never, ever been easy. This isn’t the first time Kaling has had to create and produce a show so that she would have space to write the characters she wanted to play. She was even offered a sketch show at one point, but the now-defunct network decided she was not funny or pretty enough to play herself. Seriously.
Kaling’s unrelenting belief in her work could teach us a lot about how to survive in a highly competitive arts industry: be resilient, create the brand you wish existed, give customers what they want and don’t compromise your vision just rework your plan. In Kaling’s own words:
“…write your own part. It is the only way I’ve gotten anywhere. It is much harder work, but sometimes you have to take destiny into your own hands. It forces you to think about what your strengths really are, and once you find them, you can showcase them, and no one can stop you.”
PNC Arts Alive announces that the application process for year seven funding opened TODAY Monday, January 5, 2015. Visual and performing arts groups that meet the eligibility requirements may submit applications for programs that will take place between June 1, 2015 and December 31, 2016.
UPDATED funding guidelines, eligibility information and application will be available via www.pncartsalive.com. The application will not be available before then.
The deadline for submission is February 6, 2015 at 5:00 p.m.
PNC Arts Alive is a multi-year, multi-million dollar initiative of the PNC Foundation, designed to support visual and performing arts organizations. The goal is to increase engagement in the arts, develop new audiences and make the arts more accessible to diverse communities in the Greater Philadelphia/Southern New Jersey region.
NOTE: You are receiving this email because you are a PNC Arts Alive past applicant, grantee or website visitor. Please check the eligibility guidelines to determine if your organization qualifies.
As a millennial, there are two statements that I often hear that irritate me to no end. The first is the misconception that “social media is for young people.” And the second is that online fundraising should be separate from “traditional fundraising plans.”
I feel confident that the misconception that only young people utilize social media is less widespread than it used to be. And, statistics show it’s not even true. According to iStrategyLabs, “the 35+ demographic now represents more than 30% of the entire user base” on Facebook. Furthermore, “the 55+ [Facebook] audience grew a whopping 922.7% in 2009.”
What is true, however, is that nonprofits are still acting like social media audiences are not potential users or, more importantly, potential donors of their institutions. Which leads me to the second misconception, the need for separation of traditional and online fundraising.
The key to fundraising, whether traditional or not, is effective communication and relationship building. You can plan the most posh fundraising gala on the planet, but if you can’t effectively invite people to attend, you won’t raise a cent for your institution. Social media is the way people are communicating in today’s world. Nonprofits need to start getting better at it.
Some nonprofits are incorporating social media, but most are barely tapping the surface. Simply starting a Facebook page or Twitter profile won’t get you very far. On the contrary, I would argue that setting up an account you hardly use has a negative impact on your institution’s public image. The operative word in social media is social. If you’re not going to interact with people regularly, then you’re not effectively communicating.
What’s more, it is not only individuals utilizing social media. If you search Twitter today you will find over 100 Foundations that use the networking site to disseminate information. Facebook even has a special section unique to Nonprofits that allow individuals to search for different causes. Your potential donors are out there and they’re looking to talk to you. And, the best part of social media is that these communications will most likely go viral and be spread through “word of mouth,” thus multiplying your efforts.
As with any new venture, it takes planning. Do not start a new online fundraising initiative until you have effectively adapted your annual appeal for the web. A social media communications plan needs to be developed and incorporated into all aspects of a strategic plan in order to be the most effective.
It’s been widely reported* — and you’ll probably remember all of them — because the following are the top ten trending hashtags used in 2014:
What does this mean for marketers? To me it demonstrates the power of people’s responses to current events. It also tells me that social media marketers need to be up on breaking news and have sharp enough analytical skills to know which trends’ use will benefit their brand and act fast enough to be relevant. For example, DiGiorno Pizza blew it on the use of domestic violence awareness hashtag #WhyIStayed (“You had pizza.”)
*From CNN.
I, Rachel Dukeman, founded R&R Creative in 2007 during an economic downturn in an effort to broaden arts and cultural audiences through effective market research, audience engagement, and marketing services on a contract-by-contract basis. The pressure to maintain programmatic quality during the Recession forced nonprofits to hone their entrepreneurial skills and ability to manage projects according to priority, viability and strategic direction in a high velocity climate. More succinctly, they were forced to do more with less, being held accountable for the “success” of each program. In response, R&R Creative further developed tools to make planning easy to implement and metrics to track progress towards set goals.
The Greater Philadelphia Cultural Alliance’s 2014 Portfolio noted a distinct set of organizations that not only recovered from the recession faster than the sector as a whole… they grew. These “Growth” organizations: spend more on marketing and fundraising, rely more on paid attendance and hire independent contractors. Proving to R&R Creative that our approach to helping the cultural nonprofit sector was a step in the right direction.
It is the current goal of R&R Creative to impact on the arts and culture sector in the best way possible: by improving policy and management strategy.