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Press & Promotion, Blogs & Social Networking

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Shout About It!

Well that is one way of letting people know what you’re doing but there are more effective ways. First of all it’s important to know what it is you want to shout about. Do you want to:
  • recruit more members?
  • get an audience for a performance, an exhibition or an event?
  • make people aware of where you are and what you do?
  • make your activity of interest to sponsors?

Below you will find guidance on different aspects of press and PR including how to write a press release, plan a PR campaign or make good use of print and the internet. There’s also information on how to plan a marketing campaign

To support this we have listed media contacts across the region. But these are just the tip of the iceberg – many of you will have a personal contact at the local press or radio station which is great. You may know of local publications we’ve not included – so do let us know about those. And there are community newsletters, parish magazines and what’s on listings that find their way into many households – so don’t ignore them.

As this Celebrate website demonstrates new media now offers many different ways of reaching people – you can have your own website –send out a regular e-zine or group text. Follow the online promotion link for some useful advice.

Whatever route you chose – it is important to identify which audience[s] you are trying to reach first so that you don’t waste time and resources for little result.

If you wish to know more about some of the areas covered above then these briefing documents produced by the Voluntary Arts England may be useful.

VAN Briefing: How to write a press release
http://www.vaengland.org.uk/uploaded/map683.pdf

Van Briefing: Planning a marketing campaign
http://www.vaengland.org.uk/uploaded/map681.pdf

Van Briefing: Publicity explained
http://www.vaengland.org.uk/uploaded/map680.pdf

VAN: Briefing: Designing and producing your newsletter
http://www.vaengland.org.uk/uploaded/map200.pdf

VAN: Briefing: Get into print! Working with the press
http://www.vaengland.orgk.u/uploaded/map205.pdf


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Press & PR – some do's and don'ts


Do find out who your local media contact is and get to know them.

Invite them to events, clearly stating what the event is, where it is happening, who will be there and the date and time.

When issuing a press release – do look at the excellent guidelines in the VAN briefing as it tells you very clearly what to do, how to write and present it and the pitfalls to avoid. It covers:
  • Structure and content including Headline
  • The first paragraph
  • The five W's: the introduction should cover the important facts: - Who, What, Where, When, Why? These facts should be in descending order of interest because newspapers cut stories from the bottom up
  • Including a quotation – that should be in quotation marks – and not be bland!
  • A reminder to always date your press release
The VAN briefing also looks at Presentation and Layout and Language and Tone with a reminder to:
  • Keep it clear and simple – use language that is plain, economical and confident.
  • Use short sentences and keep the whole press release to 250 words or less if you possibly can.
  • 'Write for your neighbour rather than a colleague' – i.e. someone who knows nothing about your organisation and doesn't use your jargon. Ask yourself if the ordinary reader could understand what you mean.
  • Avoid jargon.
  • Write from the reader's perspective, not your own. For example, don't start your story with a longwinded explanation about how hard you worked to get funding from a particular charitable trust for an activity – start with telling the public about the activity that they can take part in!
  • Any story you send to a paper will only be used if the editor feels it will be of interest to their readers.
  • Don't use acronyms unless you explain them in full first.
  • Avoid clichés.
  • Be truthful and accurate – it wins you credibility. Beware false claims such as the 'first', the 'only' and the 'biggest'. Incorrect press releases could get you a bad name and come back to haunt you!
Always provide a contact phone number – preferably of someone who has a good knowledge of what is going on and who would be able to answer supplementary questions and don't forget to let that person know that you have supplied their phone number.

Try and think of an interesting angle – something that will make a good story line, and if possible send a good picture but be sure to:
  • Add 'with picture' under the headline of the release.
  • Include a 'photocaption' at the end, giving the names of people in the picture so they can be easily identified (write down who they are when you take the picture, otherwise you may get confused).
  • Give the ages of any children included in the picture.
  • Attach a label to the back of the photo identifying exactly what the picture is of, in case it gets lost.
  • Use a good, clear image with a strong, simple subject.
  • Check with the journalist what size and format they will require (e.g. jpeg, tiff, eps) if you are sending digital images. Many papers now prefer to receive images via email or on disc, but these must be of a high standard and resolution.
A reminder however that there is no guarantee that you will get your story into the paper as there is a lot of competition for space, although it may go on a newspaper's website.


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Marketing


Unlike getting publicity through the press, Marketing is something that you have control over. You can decide what your publicity material is going to look like, how much you are going to spend on it, where it will be distributed etc. Again the Voluntary Arts Network [or VAN] briefings offer excellent guidance. For help in understanding what a marketing campaign is and how to plan one go to:

VAN Briefing: No 75 Planning a Marketing Campaign
http://www.voluntaryarts.org/uploaded/map681.pdf

Other relevant briefings include:

VAN Briefing: No. 74: Publicity explained
http://www.voluntaryarts.org/uploaded/map680.pdf
VAN Briefing: No. 76: A guide to good design
ttp://www.voluntaryarts.org/uploaded/map682.pdf
VAN Briefing: No. 77: How to write a press release
http://www.voluntaryarts.org/uploaded/map683.pdf


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Online promotion


In this day and age – electronic media has opened up so many possibilities for marketing and promotion. Think how often you go to a website to :
  • Find out about a company.
  • See what's on.
  • Buy tickets etc.
And of course the joy is this information is now available 24 hours a day. If you are going to have a website for your group decide what you want it to do because the size and look of the site can vary and so can your budget:
  • Do you want an electronic billboard?
  • Do you want to have everything about your group on it including archive material?
  • Do you want to use it to communicate with members?
Have a think about it. Maybe have a sub committee to talk it through. It's a good idea to look at a number of other sites to help you decide what you do like/want and what you don't. It may be that someone in the group has the skills to set you one up. You also need to decide who is going to keep it fresh and up to date. Again there are VAN briefings to help you in some aspects of preparing a website.

VAN Briefing: The latest developments in web technology
http://www.vaengland.org.uk/uploaded/map6439.pdf

VAN Briefing: Making your website for everyone
http://www.vaengland.org.uk/uploaded/map2147.pdf

VAN Briefing: Writing for the web
http://www.vaengland.org.uk/uploaded/map679.pdf


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Blogs & Social Networking Sites


A blog is similar to a website, but is much easier to create and update. It also allows others to communicate easily with you and your group. It can be used to display photos, post information about events and gives people opportunities to leave feedback and comments. You can design and alter the layout of your blog to suit your needs and tastes. Visitors can also subscribe to your blog, allowing them to keep up to date with the latest news and developments without having to check back all the time.

These sites both offer free blog hosting and give good instructions on how to set up your blog:

Blogger
www.blogger.com
Word Press
www.wordpress.org

Social Networking Sites provide you with a profile page to which you can add information about yourself or group. Each site varies in layout and tools available, however most feature internet messaging, public notice boards, chat, blogging and file sharing. Whilst originally designed for individuals and especially popular with young people, many organisations are expanding their online presence through creating profiles on these pages.

The three main social networking sites are:

Facebook
www.facebook.com

Bebo
www.bebo.com

My Space
www.myspace.com

VAN provides a very useful help sheet on new web technology, which includes a section on blogs and social networking and gives further advice on how to use them effectively.

VAN Briefing: The latest developments in web technology:
http://www.vaengland.org.uk/uploaded/map6439.pdf

VAN Briefing: Making your website for everyone
http://www.vaengland.org.uk/uploaded/map2147.pdf

VAN Briefing: Writing for the web
http://www.vaengland.org.uk/uploaded/map679.pdf



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Local community websites


Local community websites are ideal places to advertise your group or event and find out what’s happening in your area. Many local newspaper websites also provide this service- check out the media directory for contact details.
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