Change the discussion

Top 10 from Selling Your Ideas to the Media Workshop

2010-05-26T01:19:00.004+01:00

Journalists do not have time to seek out stories. Constant opportunities for media exposure by linking business to current events – how did they affect your business? What is your business doing to mitigate/take advantage of situation?
When approaching print media be specific and research the journalists or editors that would link to your topic
Do not underestimate the power of the local newspaper
Tap into trend issues e.g. State of the economy, environment/sustainability/conscience, nostalgia/heritage
Surveymonkey.com
Before contacting media ensure your website is up to date on who you are, what you are doing and have people to back up your statements (testimonials).Be able to instantaneously provide examples of people who have benefitted from your service and are happy to be interviewed – link in with credible players (e.g. Charities) and have something to photograph or film.
Current issues you can relate to – send 6 juicy bullet points to specific journalists. Identify extra snippets of info that could be used as an ‘exclusive’
Be seen to be giving back – identify local projects
Build yourself as an expert commentator - Ask whether the article needs to be about you or can you be an authority on a topic?
Media want a story not a product

Social media

2010-03-24T10:23:00.002Z

I spent the first half of today listening to some of NZ's top social media gurus talk about social media. Titled Nerd or Guru?, the session was pitched as the opportunity to learn about social media. I know lots about social media but running my own company, it's good to get out and hear what others (often my competitors) have to say.

Interestingly, none of the speakers (who were very interesting) were social media experts per se - rather they were agency guys who really understood social media and really understood how to make it work for their clients.

Some of the usual key points emerged, which from the Question and Answer session were obviously top-of-mind for some attendees:

You can't control social media content...but you have to remember that conversations about your company/product/brand will be happening anyway. Best to be involved and aware.
Social media has to happen as part of the company or organisation's wider strategic planning. A social media strategy should be tied to your broader strategic business objectives.
Stories are key when engaging with your audience. Capture them (or enable your audience to) and share them with other customers and clients.
Every negative posting is an opportunity to improve your company's products or services.
Be honest about who you are when posting on online networks. Are you the actual company or are you working on behalf of the company?
Give it a go and have fun. It's an inexpensive way of connecting with your customers.

New Dates Announced for Introduction, Insight & Case Study Analysis Workshops

2009-05-15T05:39:00.002+01:00

Atlas Communications and Media are holding another series of the successful Introduction, Insight & Case Study Analysis Workshops in June.

18 - 19 June 2009, Edinburgh

Social marketing is about changing people’s behaviour for the wider social good. It’s about social change.

What is social marketing? How and where can you use it? How do you get started? The workshop, with a mix of practical and theoretical components will cover:

Day 1
Introduction and overview to social marketing
Understanding behaviour and change
The 5Ps of social marketing plus more...
Insight, exchange and competition
Successful social marketing case-studies
Developing a social marketing toolbox

Day 2
Developing a social marketing plan
Total process planning model
Gathering insight
Planning your intervention
Getting implementation right

New attendees can attend Day 1 only and previous attendees can attend Day 2 only.

Case Studies
To deepen understanding of the key components we undertake in-depth case study analysis of a selection of successful social marketing campaigns. Examples include the Swiss based Aids campaign (the longest running and one of the most successful social marketing campaigns in the world) and Travel Smart (originally developed in Western Australia with the aim of increasing public transport usage). We also review an international selection of television adverts.

Who are the workshops for? People who are involved in creating, managing or implementing behaviour or social change programs.

Location: CBC House,Edinburgh
Dates: 18 - 19 June 2009
Cost: £225 per day ( £195 for public sector, £175 not for profits, charitable status required) £420 both days ( £365 for public sector, £330 not for profits, charitable status required)

Price per day including refreshments and lunch. A detailed workbook containing course information, planning models and links for further learning is also provided.

For more information click here

2009-02-28T01:19:00.003Z

We held another successful Introduction, Insight and Case-study analysis workshop in Edinburgh, Scotland this week. Attendees came from Durham, London, Edinburgh and Glasgow and comments included:
'All very helpful and relevant to my work.'
'The insight process will help develop new projects for us.'
'Will now use social marketing with all our stakeholders.'
'Found the discussion, case-studies and work-book helpful.'

Our next Introduction, Insight and Case-study analysis workshop dates are confirmed as 23 & 24 April 2009. Click here for more information and to register

Social Marketing on a Shoestring

2008-10-12T00:02:00.007+01:00

Getting started on a social marketing program can be challenging - especially if your budget is limited. Much of our work at Atlas is for the public sector and there is always a need to demonstrate value for money. Based on our experience, I developed a poster titled Social Marketing on a Shoestring for the recent World Social Marketing Conference - its content is reproduced below and can be used to guide social marketing programs of all sizes and all budgets!

What are you trying to change?

Define the problem. Be very clear about what exact behaviour change you are looking for and why?

Who is your target audience(s)?

What causes the behaviour?

As you go deeper into the problem definition area, other related behaviors will come to the fore and it’s easy to get diverted. BUT resist the temptation to change the world all at once. Aim to change it one behaviour, one audience segment at a time.

Resources

Know and work within your budget and timeframes. If your project has a fixed amount of funding and a clear end date, ensure you get some results – perhaps with a pilot project - within that timeframe.

Extensive formative research may be useful if you get additional funding and are able to extend the project. It won’t be very helpful if results are expected in the current time period.

Familiarise yourself with the resources of organisations such as the National Social Marketing Centre (UK) and others. Tap into existing resources and tools which may be useful for your project.

There are lots of great resources and tools available – it’s very important to stay focused on your behaviour change goal and your audience.

What is social marketing?

Build understanding and knowledge amongst stakeholders about social marketing.
Ensure key decision makers are clear about its potentials, benefits and limitations.
Circulate case-studies and articles which are interesting and relevant on a regular basis.
Remember many people are time-poor and have many priorities. Focus on quality information rather than circulating everything which may be interesting.
Build organisational capability and understanding of the benefits and role of social marketing.
Be aware of perceptions and barriers against adopting a social marketing framework.
Develop responses and resources to overcome these barriers.
Resources and information should be appropriate to the level of the person you are aiming to inform and educate.

Have a social marketing champion within your project or organisation who understands the concepts and can work with planners, funders, policy-makers and the target audience.

Ensure your champion has empathy and respect for your target audience.

Research 1

Effective research is key in the development of all effective social marketing interventions. This does not need to be primary research. The first research step should be to conduct desk research encompassing the following:

An extensive literature review (both academic and non-academic)
Theoretical frameworks - a good tip is to look at the identified causes of the behaviour and the research appropriate theoretical models
Identification of existing social marketing resources
Existing research with the target group and/or about the behaviour

Beware of information overload.

Try and retain information which is useful and relevant for your behaviour goal. Reference and file material which may be useful and summarise these findings into a research report. This can be incorporated into the scoping report and used as a reference as you move through the various stages of the programme.

Research 2

Identify opinion leaders who can provide insight into your target audience either through knowledge or via informal focus-groups.

Some baseline research is vital.

Choose surveys over focus-groups if your research budget is tight. Online surveys such as Survey Monkey and Survey Gold can be very useful and cost-effective. However ensure this is an effective way of engaging with your target audience.

Students can be used for clearly-defined tasks such as gathering quantitative research data. However, take care to ensure they understand the context the data will be used in and they have the appropriate inter-personal communication skills.

Build insight

Get to know your audience – get into the communities, engage with them on their home-ground, ask open-ended questions and learn about why they behave the way they do.

This takes time but the benefits are multiple; you have a greater insight and understanding,

you are able to develop mutual respect and build important relationships with opinion leaders. Capture the insight gained from this stage into a research report so that others can benefit from this knowledge.

Keep up-to-date with the developments of the discipline.

Ensure you read newly published text books and case-studies
Build networks and join online communities and listservs
Use these networks to find out how other practitioners have overcome challenges

Plan

Have a planning model and process which you adopt. This will give you a framework to work through and ensure you move through the planning process into implementation. Retain an open mind regarding interventions until the scoping stage is complete.

There are many planning models and frameworks available. Choose one that sits well with your project and stick to it. The planning will get complicated and at some points, the temptation is to jump in and get started.

RESIST. FOCUS.

A small-scale intervention with a clearly defined group will be more effective than a wide range of interventions with a number of groups. Use the research and planning stage to identify where you will get value for money. Ensure you are not tackling the most entrenched segment of the audience.

Implementation

Effective implementation is key to achieving behaviour change.
Ensure there are clearly defined roles and responsibilities for implementation.
Ensure there are regular project and check-up meetings.
Celebrate successes and avoid blame when things don’t go as planned.
Ensure your program is flexible and able to continually change and respond to feedback.

Finally, remember – change takes time – it will not happen overnight.

Hi and welcome

2008-09-01T16:33:00.004+01:00

Welcome to Change the Discussion, the Atlas Communications & Media blog.

I chose the name Change the Discussion because all social marketers (and those interested in social marketing) are interested in change and this blog is to facilitate discussion. I also feel we, professional communicators need to change the discussion. We shouldn't be asking What is social marketing?, we need to be asking How can I incorporate a social marketing approach into the work I do?

With a foot on both sides of the world - Atlas Communications and Media have offices in Scotland and New Zealand - I am hoping to build an online community where those of us who work in social marketing can network, build connections, spread the word(s) about social marketing and as the name suggests, Change the Discussion.

The blog will have postings on all aspects of social marketing from training to development to shared case-studies - both serious and fun. Enjoy and feel free to suggest any topics of interest.