19
Dec
2014
Band Aid 30 and foodbanks

Band Aid 30 and foodbanks

I thought I would take a seasonal break from talking about how you can use inbound marketing to win supporters, members and donors or how to write better not-for-profit blogs and look an the old chestnut (bad Christmas pun quite intentional) that I thought I had head the last of long since. 

I remember from my days at college the discussions about the merits of charitable giving. Actually they were not debates at all, more like a series of aggressive assertions designed to pillory those who disagreed with the anointed truth.

Charities, we were told, were unequivocally ‘bad things’, at best ‘counterproductive’, more likely ‘reactionary’ and to many ‘counter-revolutionary’. By giving or supporting charities one was propping up the iniquities of a rotten system where the ‘correct course’ was to bring about its downfall. To the barricades!

Well that was all in another time and it is fair to say that my University was a strange and wonderful place back then. The most significant barricades were those in the minds of ivory tower ideologues.

Band Aid changed how charity was viewed by a generation

It all changed with Band Aid. It was a pretty awful song with a lyric that was at best patronising and at worse plain stupid, but it raised money, created awareness and transformed the notion of what charitable giving was about. Those involved were making lots of money and perhaps gave up a Sunday afternoon that set them in a good light but so what? It was a good outcome. Organisations like Comic Relief followed on behind and the notion of giving to good causes found a new, younger, less cynical audience.

I found it pretty odd to be listening to a debate, similar if less aggressive to those at my college, on the appearance of this year’s Band Aid 30. While in 30 years much has changed in Africa and much has changed in development aid. We were told by some that the song and its somewhat adapted lyrics were patronising, gave a negative impression of Africa that took no account of the difference 30 years have made and that those involved were mainly concerned with self-promotion. The song was rubbish back then and it’s rubbish now but these voices were wrong back then and they are still wrong now. I was wrong to listen to them, even a bit.

Rubbish then rubbish now

Of course the Band Aid song is still musically dreadful, lyrically suspect and made by a relatively wealthy group of people. But again, so what? At least these days you don’t have to buy the record to give to the cause they promote – there is a website and everything! Also, and I really don’t care if people think I’m being simplistic, but whatever the changes in Africa (which include all manner of great things I didn’t think I would live to see) there is a real immediate crisis in West African states whose infrastructure has been denuded by war around a virus called Ebola. It is absurd in the extreme to claim on the one hand that ‘the West’ isn’t doing enough and to criticise the detail of how western charitable aid is raised.

An industry I’d like to see in recession

I hear something not dis-similar in the UK about giving to Food Banks. It is an obscenity that in this wealthy country people are forced to rely on food banks. While we talk of winning new donors with not-for-profit marketing donating food for the hungry still matters – a lot. The infographic below* is a fine piece of work representing the most depressing set of statistics I’ve seen in 2014.

Some argue that foodbanks are a deliberate act of policy – to transfer responsibility for social welfare in the UK from the State to the not-for-profit sector – and so by giving to food banks we are simply playing the game of the Government, effectively helping their project. That’s as maybe, but it is still the wrong conclusion. To leave it to others or to argue that those in need have to suffer to bring about change is not an argument that humanitarians, of faith or of no faith, can make in a country as well-off as the UK with any credibility. To find out more about the work of a foodbank local to us click here and watch the video.

Even though Foodbanks are an industry I would love to see go into prolonged recession, they will welcome donations this Christmas.

Thanks for reading this blog and enjoy you holiday.

Posted by John Howarth in Not for Profit, 0 comments
21
Nov
2014
How not to end your career on Twitter

How not to end your career on Twitter

Twitter, for a communication channel that has been around for less than a decade, has an impressive record of bringing political careers to a premature close and it has done for a few business leaders too. Reputation management is key for not-for-profit and for commercial business yet we have found all kinds of organisations that fail to even consider the potential risks in a badly managed approach to social media and Twitter in particular. You can read quite a few things about making the most of Twitter and a few on the downside, most of which are common sense. So why does common sense so frequently deserts otherwise intelligent people on Twitter? What are the most common mistakes with Twitter in not for profit.

Why Is Twitter Especially Lethal?

Twitter is the most deadly of the social networks. It is still leading edge, immediate, has massive reach and, because it is limited to 140 characters, is prone to ambiguity:

Leading Edge: The leading edge has always been high risk as well as potentially rewarding. However many people profess to be experts this is still a developing medium and is still new to a lot of people. People will pretend to ‘know’ because they don’t want to appear ‘uncool’ or ‘out of date’ and will bluff when they should take the time to learn. Do you really want to be the one tweeting “LOL” thinking it means ‘lots of love’? Who was that again?

Immediate: The instant nature of Twitter is also it’s biggest single risk. We live in a 24 hour news culture when there is a perceived value in being first, or at least fast. Twitter is quick, easy and mobile. Too easy – too easy to comment without checking facts, too easy to spout glib platitudes just to be seen and far too easy to comment without engaging the brain. And this is the Internet – once you’ve said it, chances are it will be there forever. Tweet in haste, regret at your leisure – so question whether speed is really so important. If the subject really matters it will still be around next morning. Think twice. Sleep on it.

Ambiguity: 140 characters isn’t an ideal length for engaging in complex debate! The need to get your point into a tweet can sometimes limit the clarity of a comment. So take care before you tweet to mean what you say and say what you mean – if in doubt phone a friend.

Reach: It’s amazing that some people treat a conversation on social media they way they would speak to their friends in the pub seeming without any concept that the world is watching – or could be. Worse, people seem to think they are talking with just their friends – you’re not, and you’re not when you’re on Facebook either. Just as you shouldn’t write anything on a blog that you won’t want to stand by or at least justify five years hence. And just as you shouldn’t say anything to a journalist that you wouldn’t want to stand by in print you shouldn’t say or share anything online that you wouldn’t want the world to know or see. It’s the internet – there is no private.

How to avoid the most common mistakes with Twitter in not for Profit

So Twitter is a high risk medium, but applying a little common sense will keep your career intact. Avoid these most common mistakes with Twitter in not for profit.

New media, same old law.

Twitter is publishing – a one to many medium – so the laws of libel apply. Sally Bercow, an upcoming celebrity and aspiring politician, forgot that and subsequently lost in court. She wasn’t the first and she won’t be the last. So be careful what you say about people and ask yourself if it is really worth it or helps the cause. Understand also that re:tweeting a libellous tweet is compounding a libel and also actionable.

Drunk in charge of an iPhone.

Using Twitter in a chemically altered state is a thoroughly bad idea, but it’s easy, so it happens. Be professional, make it a rule and just don’t go there.

“We don’t get it but that’s OK because the intern does”

It’s amazing how often I’ve heard this. The CEO is too old (for which read lazy) to bother with social networks, the Marketing Manager is too embarrassed to admit their knowledge is scant but the intern is under 25 so they must just know!  Or something like that, so the unmanaged intern gets the job of running the Twitter feed. Ask yourself a serious question – would you put the intern on TV for the organisation? No, thought not! So is Twitter really important to you? If it is then start with a strategy, make sure senior management understand their role in the strategy and if you do involve the intern make sure they are managed.

Criticising the audience.

The difficulties of a the British politician, Emily Thornbury, prompted this blog. She committed the cardinal sin for a politician of appearing to criticise the voters and resigned. The commercial equivalent is criticising the customers, appearing to treat them with contempt, or in not for profit the members or supporters. It happens and it’s lethal. Think about how others may interpret your words.

Things aren’t always what they seem.

It’s the Internet. People are not always who they say they are. The link that you are about to retweet might not lead to what you think it might – so unless you are sure of your source it’s best to check. You don’t have to be a conniving journalist to set someone up on the web – and if you think you have no enemies, think again. There is always somebody with a problem with your company or cause. This is the internet; if they’ve an axe to grind they will be out there in cyberspace.

You are the brand

Sorry to say it but your never off duty. If you have your organisation’s name or Twitter handle in your profile you are representing them, like it or not. Maybe not formally, maybe not legally, maybe not officially but the audience will judge the organisation by its people.

Inappropriate jokes will offend – there’s always one.

Humour can backfire. What works in the bar doesn’t necessarily work online. So be careful with jokes – especially topical jokes about serious vents involving human beings. It might be darkly funny, but it’s usually better to think twice and be boring. Remember outrage is the norm on the web.

Avoid contempt

Contempt for the audience is lethal. Contempt of Court can involve jail and is to be avoided. Even if it is unlikely that you’ll be dragged before The Beak, commenting on matters currently before the courts doesn’t suggest you are trustworthy. It doesn’t matter if the subject is central to your mission or if it is a matter of major concern to your members – you just can’t talk about cases currently before the Courts. Even high ranking public figures seem to struggle with this simple concept.

Is it yours to share?

The internet has changed the world, but it hasn’t change the law on copyright. If you are going to share content then you need to know the owner is happy to do so, properly credited. Images carry ownership and rights – so be careful not to expose your organisation to a rights suit.

Good manners don’t hurt

Getting involved in a debate is one thing – and it’s in the nature of the medium. But keep it professional and don’t get drawn into abuse – leave that to others and if it starts disengage. It’s one of the remarkable things of the medium that some individuals are prepared to say things in public to and about people they have never met that they would never dream of saying in person. Remember, you are the brand.

Don’t be put off

Just stick to eight basic principles:

  • Be sensitive – don’t use a crisis or a tragedy to make a point
  • Stay positive – play your own game and don’t be personal
  • Be literate – check the language you use – and beware of predictive text! If your not sure then get someone to check.
  • Be factual and truthful – check facts, check sources and don’t mislead
  • Keep it clean – stay away from content that might offend – it might be harmless but not everyone is as open minded as you are – you have nothing to gain
  • Be clear – say what you mean, mean what you say, avoid ambiguity. (If you need to make a longer statement on Twitter try using TwitLonger – it’s a great little tool)
  • Only when sober – know your limits, don’t drink and tweet!
  • Plan ahead, be strategic – that way your tweets are considered and thought out

Follow these principles and you should be fine. As for the dark side of social media, follow the principle that performing at your best sometimes means planning for the worst.

Posted by John Howarth in Communications, 0 comments
06
Nov
2014
Movember classic not-for-profit inbound marketing?

Movember classic not-for-profit inbound marketing?

So here we are a few days into November and a considerably larger cross section of the male population than any other month will set about growing a moustache. They will have mixed success. Some will look raffish and interesting, some will look like 1970s throwbacks, some will just fail and only a minority will come from Shoreditch.

They will post increasingly hirsute selfies as the month goes by using the #movember hashtag and in doing so will raise awareness and funds of … err … what, exactly?

Movember, through the Movember Foundation, raises a good deal of money for men’s health causes and, just as important, brings conditions like prostate and testicular cancers to the attention of chaps who don’t really like to talk about that sort of thing.

Or does it? Some have suggested that because only 3% of Movember hashtags during October use the word ‘cancer’ Movember (1) is failing to get the message across. In fact Movember themselves reportedly admit that only around half those involved have increased awareness of the issues (2). One especially humourless article in 2013 even described Movember as “divisive, gender normative, racist and ineffective” (3).

So is Movember is lost cause?

Far from it. Movember is classic not for profit inbound marketing. Using social media to build awareness and find new supporters and donors is what Movember is all about. Starting with a big number and drawing interest toward an issue lies at the heart of digital not for profit marketing campaigns. The point of these campaigns is to gain engagement, to capture interest with social media and web content and to take those people who are sufficiently bothered on a journey toward greater awareness.

So if half of those involved increased their awareness that’s a great result because half of a very large number is still a large number!

All marketing is a numbers game.

Movember, through the massive engagement their event generates, are in a position to connect with and educate a target audience who have been traditionally hard to reach but who have made themselves available to them through inbound connections.

When a proportion of those engaging on social media visit blogs, engage with useful content, download informative material or are educated through fact sheets, white papers or vlogs, games or apps then the donor funnel is being filled by the people who will eventually contribute, support and donate to your organisation.

Me, I’ve had a beard for as long as I can remember, so I don’t need to grow one, but I wish Movember nothing but success again this year.

Get our free eBook and discover how great content is at the heart of not-for-profit inbound marketing:

Public Impact has been able to broaden the audience for not-for-profit organisations through effective search marketing and valuable blog and web content and has put in place social media strategies to broaden engagement.

Find out how you it can work for your organisation by downloading our blogging for not-for-profit, or you could also look at our eBook on using twitter to get more customers and doners.

Notes

  1. Hubspot Research. It is worth stating here that we appreciate Movember has broadened it’s agenda on Men’s Health, but the same principles apply.
  2. Sharvisi & Singh, New Statesman 27.11.13
  3. Ibid
Posted by John Howarth in Communications, Not for Profit, 0 comments
13
Oct
2014
Some typical branding mistakes

Some typical branding mistakes

Public Impact brand expert John Howarth has written on food for newspapers and magazines as well as his own blog. Here he writes about how great products can fail to do themselves justice with typical branding mistakes:

“A couple of weeks ago I visited the Thame Food Festival.For those reading this blog from a far (and London!), Thame is not a typographical error, but a small town in Oxfordshire. Thame is slightly off the beaten track for most people, in that it isn’t exactly on the road to or from anywhere much other than, maybe, Aylesbury. To make this worse Thame had no railways station from 1963 to 1987 when a ‘parkway’ halt opened two miles out of town. So for an unremittingly urban soul like me Thame qualifies as ‘the middle of nowhere’. That said and maybe because of all that, the place has more life about it than many of South East England’s small towns.

“The festival was an enjoyable affair. As ever with these things the food demonstrations were over-subscribed with insufficient space and wildly inadequate PA systems. Raymond Blanc (whose Le Manoir aux Quat’Saisons is only a few miles away) and the rest battled bravely to be heard to little avail beyond the front few rows. I’m never convinced by these things – live cookery demos are there to pull in the crowds – one rarely learns a lot and the view is dreadful. Only if you are a real showman does it have impact.

“The rest of it, for those who have never been to a food festival, if essentially a glorified market. There are two varieties – tents in a muddy field or stalls in a town market place. Strangely enough the latter is always better. So you stroll around, check out the cottage industries, nibble the samples, buy the odd portion, plump for the lunch that tempts you most and drink a little of what you fancy. All quite civilised, especially on a lovely early Autumn day during one of the very best Septembers in living memory – at least in these parts. It’s not so charming in the drizzle, but this year Thame was lucky.

Good Food, Bad Brands

“The food at these things is intermittently good, sometimes great, sometimes disappointing and frequently overpriced – which is not surprising, food festivals are a day out for a self-selecting audience of middle-class folk with disposable income. What is surprising and a little depressing is the predominance of badly thought out branding. In a highly competitive market an effective brand that projects the product to the target audience in the right way is key but so often small food producers let themselves down with brands that are not memorable or, worse, fail to connect with the audience. This isn’t just evident at food festivals. In Sky’s recent series ‘Cooks to Market’, the most common criticism of the contestants was of their poor, sometimes laughable, attempts at branding.

The Do It Yourself Brand

“Much of this is the curse of the DIY brand – one of the most typical branding mistakes. Much more is confusion of what a brand actually is and who the most important people are in the process.

“The main motivation for DIY is cost aided and abetted by the mistaken notion that access to inexpensive design technology makes everyone a designer. While it was never true that buying a pencil and a paintbrush for a few quid made you an artist it is equally true that the ability to turn on PhotoShop does not a designer make. Cost is just as fundamental an error. Consider this:

  • How much less does it cost to implement a bad identity over a good one?
  • Once the logo is done is that it? How does it transfer to the packaging, web?
  • Who else challenged your thinking before the idea went onto paper or the screen?
  • Why, exactly, are you an expert in these areas – or do they really not matter than much?
  • Do you just like green?

Save Now, Pay Later

“The cost of getting your brand right at startup is invariably much less than putting it right later. Investing properly in a proper plan that helps you avoid the most common mistakes also provides the right foundation for second phase expansion. Investors and buyers for multiples will look at the brand as much as they look at the product.

“One up from DIY is hiring a mate or a freelance designer to doodle a logo. It’s definitely a better idea than playing with Photoshop yourself, but consider this also:

  • How much do they know, or do they want to find out about your business?
  • Do they know your target customer? Did they ask who buys the product?
  • What do you get for your money? An Illustrator file, a .jpg and a .png – is that it?
  • Will they advise you how to manage your branding, or how it might look in context, do they have any expertise in actually marketing anything?
  • Do they just like green?

The Friend with Photoshop

“If you just want an inexpensive but professional logo for your firm or your products then a freelance will do fine and won’t cost you than much, but if you want a strategy for growth its worth questioning whether the solo artworker has the experience of multiple markets, has worked with the marketing and growth of a real business and therefore gets exactly why your brands are assets to be developed and how they will acquire real value and not just a neat badge.

“Here are a couple of examples from Thame. First a company selling excellent artisan salami called Salty Sea Pigs. A strange name, an odd identity that requires too much explanation (including an overly complex logo that just doesn’t work technically on screen) and questionable association. Old sea dogs eating food preserved for months on end, salt tack and ship biscuits, rum and the lash? Really? But it tastes great and they deserve better – you can order it here (and they do beef too – not that you would have reason to know, of course as the brand is pretty specific).

“Second an outfit we’ve no desire to do them down and we didn’t taste their stuff – which could be terrific for all we know. That said we pretty much know that the symbolism employed by Grim Reaper Foods is niche market stuff at best. We know what they are trying to say – our sauces are really hot, devilishly so (and by implication you have to be really tough to handle them). Fine, but that appeal is to student hot chili eating contests, metal heads and the machismo of ordering the hottest curry on the menu. When it comes to food retail that’s a limited demographic – though it is gradually changing the majority of food purchases are made by women. Beyond the adverturous sould at food festivals, broader food audiences audiences are pretty conservative so sybolism more commonly associated with poison is going against the grain somewhat. A niche market pitch is one thing, but here the money is in products that are scalable and saleable.

It’s About the Audience, Not About You

“So is it all about you, or is it about the customer? Will your identity broaden or restict your audience? Where are the right places to promote ourselves? Does the brand appeal to the audience? In fact, most important of all, who IS your customer? Why make typical branding mistakes when they are so easy to avoid with the right advice?

“Anyway, it was a good day out.”

Posted by John Howarth in Brand, 0 comments
29
Sep
2014
Responsive websites: 6 clear reasons why you need one

Responsive websites: 6 clear reasons why you need one

It is easy to be cynical. After all every single technology trend is presented by one brand of techie as ‘absolutely essential’ and dismissed by others in various ways. The poor old business decision maker, marketing director or communications manager, who more often than not does not have a technical background, is left wondering who and what to believe. Listening to technicians is sometimes like listening to preachers of rival faiths – this is after all an industry that routinely puts the term ‘evangelist’ on the business cards of technical marketing staff.

I always remember two particular technicians pontificating. One telling us that Windows would never catch on because it wouldn’t work with database technology and another opining that websites should not have visuals and that website design was a matter for technicans who understood website design. Not him then!

It’s not about Technology

So let’s get a few things straight at the outset.

The web is not really about technology anymore. Sure, technical trends matter, new techniques and gizmos will always come around, but the web is a communication channel, a store or various kinds of hangout. It is that, not the technology, that really matters to you and your customers.

Neither is the web so much about computers as it used to be – at least not the ones that sit on your desk at work wired to a network. The web is about all sorts of devices and the web can pop-up on all sorts of places and screens. The most prevalent and what has changed the world is the use of smartphones and tablet computers across fast broadband and wi-fi.

80% of the world’s population have a mobile phone and one in five have a smart phone, in the UK there are at least 25 million smartphones and, according to US consultancy IDC, 87% of connected devices will be smartphones or tablets by 2017. PC sales have slowed – they will be around for a long time, but they just aren’t the way we browse the web anymore.

So what is a responsive website?

For the purposes of this discussion it’s a site that responds to the device on which it is being displayed and adjusts its presentation accordingly so that it is;

Readable – so not just a miniature version of the site for a PC browser, but appearing at the right sizes for a phone or table screen.

Looks right – the site’s layout is adapted, navigation is moved around so that it is logical and images are automatically resized to fit the screen and it all looks like it was meant to be there.

Usable – the site takes advantage of the features of the device on which it appears – such as working along with the common iOS features of Apple devices while panning, scrolling, pinching and pulling is eliminated or limited.

That’s it basically, the rest is technical detail. RWD (responsive web design) is one route, not the only route, to solving the problem of multiple devices. There are other ways to do it – specific mobile website design that draws from the same data and some may be right in some circumstances. There is also the ‘app’ based route:  the idea that conventional web is much less suited to mobile devices. You pay your money and take your choice, your customers/viewers fundamentally don’t care.

The big advantage of RWD is that it is a single piece of coding for a single website with a single url (address) that just appears – more elegant, more cost effective, more adaptable to new screen sizes and more cost effective. Simples.

Why does any of this really matter to your business?

Well it isn’t just about devices, it’s about patterns of use. Not only do people now browse the web on different devices, they use it in different places. According to Neilsen only one in five UK smartphone users say they never use their phone while watching TV while more than 60% do so regularly – and more than half of them every day.

Online shopping has also shifted radically toward the table and phone with 41% growth of tablet-based shopping in the past year according to research by Rakuten – who among other things own Play.com along with steady growth in overall m-commerce.

Putting these trends together with what we know of online behaviour reveals the importance of designs that work across a range of devices. Since its emergence the online store has evolved toward a familiar and consistent format defined by the big players and adopted widely. In other words we ‘expect’ an online store to behave in a particular way just as retail experts will explain that we have expectations of the way a physical store is laid out, or what the experience involves. When it is different it is a barrier to those unfamiliar. The same rules apply to the web, only more so.

That means when a site appears on a mobile device we want it to behave as a site would on a PC browser AND to be consistent with the features of the phone.

All over this means that, however the techies choose to debate the technology there are six clear reasons why a responsive website is an absolute must have.

1. Mobile is the future and the now

Mobile accounts for more users more of the time and more searches (20% of all Google searches and more than half of local searches). One in four emails gets opened on a phone. If you can’t be seen properly on a mobile device you are already behind the curve.

2. Social media and blogs generate mobile visits

More than half the reading of social media, where links promote mobile-readable blogs happen through mobile devices. Links from blogs and social media to your website are less effective if the website can’t be seen properly.

3. A site that responds quickly is (still) essential

It was always true – if you have to wait your too late. People aren’t just lazy they are impatient and will just not wait around for your site, so optimising for mobile devices matters.

4. SEO is better with a single address

Google prefers sites with a single address over separate mobile sites. They have said so and if you think about how search engines actually do their thing it’s common sense.

5. Fulfil user expectations or else

Responsive sites deliver a familiar experience. If a user doesn’t get or can’t find what they want they will take their custom elsewhere. That means how it looks, how it feels and how the store behaves. Google say unless the experience is what people want there is a more than 60% chance users will leave immediately.

6. The site is more likely to work on future devices

You would be right to be cynical about ‘future proofing’ – it doesn’t really exist in technology. But some things are more future proofed than others. Because RWD ‘responds’ to the size of the screen rather than the type of device it is more likely to look right when a new screen size comes along on a new device. It’s not a guarantee – but the technology of RWD lends itself to relatively easy adaptation if necessary.

So choosing a responsive design is about the need to respond to how people view the web now and how they will do so in the future. It affects your choice of CMS, the design of your site and how you think about the audience.

Posted by John Howarth in Web & Digital, 0 comments
04
Aug
2014
5 essential Instagram tips

5 essential Instagram tips

Driven by the increased numbers of smartphone users the image-based social network, Instagram, has now reached 200 million active users, sharing 60miliion photos a day.

The reach of Instagram, in particular in the USA, means that major brands are taking the network seriously. Instagram is fast overtaking other visual content networks like Flickr, Tumblr and Pinterest, its ethos is somewhat different but this gives it immense appeal in youth-oriented markets.  Lifestyle businesses without an Instagram account are already behind the curve, but any business can benefit from Instagram as part of their content marketing mix.

To make sure you’re using this social media platform to grow your business and generate more leads, Here are four essential instagram tips to make an impact:

1. Have a call to action in your bio (profile description)

Before thinking about your Instagram content, think about your profile. Your profile description is as important as having a well presented logo or bang-on-brand profile picture. The description, limited to 150 characters, should include a call to action and use hashtags. ie. #finedining #food #Londonrestaurants #indianfood. Book now at www.20centraj.com.”

2. Use photo & video apps to brand your images

There are great applications such as PicPlayPost and iMovie to edit videos. PhotoCollage, PicLab and PicsArt have the features you need to place your logo on the images.

3. Promote your Instagram post on other social media

Using Twitter, Facebook or Linkedin amplifies the reach of your Instagram marketing. Don’t just use text – post the image too sometimes to give viewers a flavour.

You can use an embed code found on your picture from the desktop version (not from your phone). From your phone you can use the ‘Share’ option to post to your Facebook profile or the pages you manage. You may also select to share your post on Twitter, Tumblr or Flickr. Use text that draws the reader to your feed – “more at Instagram @20centraj”, for example.

Public_Impact_Instagram_Images

Images from Public Impact’s Instagram – follow us @publicimpact

4. Direct your Instagram to your website

Each of your posts should direct back to your website with a call to action.

5. Stay cool, think square

Remember, Instagram images post 620 pixels square – so you are going to have to crop many of your images. There’s an art to a good crop, but it always helps to ‘think square’ when you are taking the image. This can be harder than you might think – years of using SLR and rangefinder style digital cameras may have formed rectangular ‘portrait’ or ‘landscape’ habits that your brain will follow without conscious thought. Ironically for such an ‘instant’ medium, old school users of Hassleblad, Rolliflex and other fabulously expensive square format machines have a distinct advantage.

Also remember that Instagram is relentlessly mobile – it’s a pain to post from your desktop PC, but a breeze from your smartphone or tablet.

And of course Instagram is social media – so the same rules apply – stay on brand, formulate and implement an Instagram Strategy, be careful of that damaging image and share, share, share.

If you found this article useful you will love our FREE social marketing eBook – many of the same rules apply.

Posted by John Howarth in Creative & Content, 0 comments
20
Jul
2014
Questions you MUST Ask when choosing a Content Management System (CMS)

Questions you MUST Ask when choosing a Content Management System (CMS)

Content Management Systems have changed spectacularly over the years. What was once a high-end luxury is now available widely and is used on low budget websites. There are now thousands of CMS solutions on the market. Some are out of the box commercial solutions but many more are available as Open Source CMS software. They do many of the same things in slightly different ways and the possibilities are almost endless.

Nonetheless many of the issues around choosing a CMS remain as they ever were. Even though the initial sums of money involved may be significantly less than they once were the significance of the decision should not be underestimated. These are some of the things you should be thinking about when you choose a CMS.

Does the CMS help meet your business goals?

Is your business operating online? If not now will your business be operating online in the near future? What contribution to the business is expected or intended to be generated through the website or is the web likely to remain simply an overhead – a virtual hole into which you pour real money? Will you website be a local, national or international presence for your organisation and will it operate in one or several languages? Will we be operating intranet and extranet sites from the same platform as the main website? Where does the web presence mesh with back-end solutions like Customer Relationship Management, accounts stick control (inventory) and billing?

Questions like these should dominate the thinking before you start to consider the features of your next CMS. It is not just about where you are today, CMS decisions tend to be long term – so it is about what your website will mean to your business over the foreseeable future?

What is the total cost of ownership?

Open Source software is the preferred choice of many organisations as a matter of policy, in particular in the UK Government and third sectors. Like most one size fits all policies this approach is a little one dimensional, not least because it is predicated upon the ‘FREE’ licence that Open Source software offers. What it fails to consider is the total cost of ownership – so whatever the policy may be it is important to consider what will be necessary to ensure the operation of the site.

At the very least you will want to think about:

  • The cost of website design
  • The cost of programming and implementing the initial solution.
  • The cost of plug-ins, add-ons and third party components required
  • The hosting arrangements and other necessary infrastructure
  • The requirement for support and its likely cost including the cost of upgrading
  • The cost of developing the initial solution and of future changes to the system
    (such as look-and-feel refreshes, how frequent they will need to be)
  • The call of the system on internal resources
  • The initial and on-going costs of training

It is always worth reminding oneself that there is no such thing as ‘free’ – everything costs something, somehow, somewhere.

What does the future of our website look like?

We’re not talking about colours and fonts here! You wouldn’t dream of developing your corporate IT without a strategy, you wouldn’t run your marketing or communications without strategies in place, so why on earth wouldn’t you have a clearly defined strategy for your website? If you do, then does the potential CMS mesh with that strategy? If you don’t then it’s time to get a strategy!

Does the CMS enable or limit the possibilities for eCommerce, digital and inbound marketing?

This is potentially complex and could have major implications for your strategy. The landscape of online business and marketing is changing. The nature of web content and its relation to search engines, sharing through social networks and the move toward mobile devices are on the face of it technical changes but more significant is the way they have altered and will continue to alter online consumer behaviour. People search, compare, recommend, discuss and review their purchases as never before. Both on-line reputation and the ability to be found matter increasingly. This change in behaviour is driving business toward ‘Inbound Marketing’ – capturing interest and building relationships with prospects and customers through you site by deploying and sharing engaging, useful content. This new frontier will be adopted by more and more firms andnot-for-profit businesses in the years ahead – whether the CMS will assist this process or make life more difficult is a factor to consider. The arguments are set out in an interesting polemic on how the marketing leading CMS WordPress shapes up (or doesn’t). WordPress evolved from the blogging world – which gave it some massive advantages as well as low initial cost as Open Source software. Whether it offers a future route for inbound marketing remains to be seem. At the very least this aspect of your next CMS is well worth considering.

How are we going to support the site?

Once you have established a web strategy you are in a better position to determine the support overhead that a CMS site will carry. The number of users and the level of control over their access and publications rights will be important as will the degree of central intervention over publication. The balance between in-house and specialist out of house support will depend upon the nature of your IT arrangements as well as the capacity and technical abilities of the in-house support desk. The cost of external support will depend upon the requirement for time/incidents and also the competitiveness of the market. Balance this against the availability of support for licenced solutions that carry a commercial fee. And watch the small print – if your contract is merely user support and you’re not covered for preventative maintenance and upgrading you could be in for some nasty surprises.

What is my level of dependency on the initial vendor?

Like so many areas of technology the wrong choices over a CMS solution can leave you dependent upon a single company. Even worse, you could be at the mercy of an individual freelancer who, feudal servitude having been inconveniently abolished by the time of the 3.5 inch floppy disk, may well disappear on a whim for an extended motorbike tour of Bolivia. Market leading software will normally carry with it a developed and competitive after market. This is certainly the case with both the Open Source and leaving commercial CMS solutions. However research suggests that bespoke or ‘home grown’ CMS solutions exist in as many as a third of CMS installations. Such approaches may offer initial advantages in functionality but can prove both unadaptable and unsupportable over the medium term.

The right CMS is a big decision. There is no magic bullet, but asking the right questions is a good start.Independent advice and web strategy development, as provided by Public Impact, can deliver a better decision and better value.

Posted by John Howarth in Web & Digital, 0 comments
14
Jun
2014
7 More Excuses for Postponing Inbound Marketing

7 More Excuses for Postponing Inbound Marketing

There are always a lot more reasons put forward for not doing something than for getting on with it. It may be an urban myth but the people who came up with the idea of organising climbs over the Harbour Bridge at Sydney, New South Wales were faced with one excuse after another from the City of Sydney and North Sydney Councils till they asked for all the reasons they could possibly think of for not allowing the climbs. They gradually knocked them away one-by-one till there was no good reason left for not going ahead. The Bridge Climb is now a major tourist attraction that pays for the routine maintenance of the Harbour Bridge.

Is Inbound Marketing your Harbour Bridge Climb? In our last blog we looked at seven typical excuses that hold up inbound marketing in not-for-profit.

 “Our Trustees Won’t Spend Money on Technology”

The web long since stopped being about technology. It is really about content and information underpinning promotion and awareness raising. However the same instinct remains with many trustees and board members – we should only spend on the mission, rather than the overheads. However that didn’t stop organisation printing leaflets, or brochures or appeal envelopes or producing tins to shake. The web is now the come of many other things. Marketing software and web integration is certainly an investment and needs a business case – and in an ideal world that case would be funded entirely from purpose developed grant aid. Consider using an external resource to help you build the case and the funding appeal so that 100% of donations ARE spent on the mission.

“People Won’t Fill in Forms”

They certainly won’t if they want information that they believe is more valuable to you than to them – like you Annual Report or Case Studies that tell the story of how you help. All sorts of people willingly provide information in return for something of value that you can provide. You demonstrate that value by providing useful information within your online content. Sharing the right information is important. Adding forms and landing pages to your site quickly proves this thinking wrong.

“We’ll end up asking too often by email”

It’s true that if you only bombard your contacts with donation appeals they will get tired and unsubscribe quickly – and that would be a shame. So don’t! You need the right combination of content and useful information that educates, enlightens and enthuses your audience mixed with a ‘soft-sell’ of information on how to donate and what it will enable you to do. The donate button might always be present somewhere – but readers will forgive that if it isn’t always the main purpose of the mailing.

“We concentrate on one or two annual appeals”

It really isn’t a question of one or the other. As not-for-profit moves toward events that are ‘moments’ in the virtual world, such as Movember, the importance of social networks, content strategies and inbound marketing to support appeals makes more and more sense. Try thinking about how content and inbound activity can support and enhance the build up to an annual event.

“We don’t have time to create new content”

Perhaps not. Activity expands to fill the time available and those of us who have worked in not-for-profit know that staff don’t spend their time sitting round with nothing to do. There’s even pressure on our time to think. But take a step back for a moment. Think about the content that you already have – on your current site, in newsletters, in magazines, in reports and studies, in the output of government departments or of the European Union. The fact is there is more content out there than you realise. The think a little about the news agenda – anniversaries are always a good start. Pretty soon you have the outline of an editorial plan just based on re-using what is there already.

“Our audience is not on Facebook”

Perhaps not – but maybe it is on Instagram, or LinkedIn or Twitter or watching YouTube. The fact is it is out there somewhere and only by asking your supporters and a little worthwhile trial and error will you know what’s best. Focus on the social networks that produce the most traction. Remember that social networks grow and change constantly. Ruling these channels out would be a big mistake.

“We’re Just Not Ready”

Nobody is ever ready but everyone kind of is! This is the most common excuse of the lot. You almost certainly have some of the essentials and in a technical sense being ready is easy – you have a website, a social network account and you know how to send an email. You have people too, so you are more ready than you think and you can get going but to do it well you do need to prepare a little then commit. You’ll need to optimise your website, you’ll need quality content, you’ll need to mug up on how emails can work and you need to understand the value of blogging in not-for-profit, easy ways to write better not-for-profit blogs and plan an editorial schedule. Most of all you need to know what you want to achieve and how you are going to execute you goals – an inbound marketing strategy. Assessing the readiness of your organisation is another key use for the skills of an external consultant who can set out a road map toward a fully functioning inbound strategy.

Posted by John Howarth in Creative & Content, Not for Profit, Web & Digital, 0 comments
12
May
2014
7 excuses for postponing inbound marketing

7 excuses for postponing inbound marketing

Let’s start with six of the most dangerous words in the English language: ‘we’ve always done it this way’. Inbound Marketing in not-for-profit is a relatively new way of doing things. Like any new approach it requires change, but the biggest change is a change of mindset. Not-for-profit organisations, charities and NGOs can be among the most innovative advertisers and inventive marketers but just like private sector companies they can also find numerous excuses to put off change to another day.The excuses that we hear in our work, professional and personal, in the UK third sector are pretty typical reasons never to change that can be applied with a few changes to any situation. The danger is that by failing to grasp the nettle of shifting marketing efforts to the integrated digital approach know as inbound marketing good causes run the risk of having to play catch up in an unforgiving world.

1. “Our Trustees Don’t Understand Inbound Marketing”

This is probably right, they almost don’t get it as things stand. But there was a time when they didn’t get the notion of a website, or an email system or even having a computer in the office. However, it is essential for any charity, but particularly smaller charities and ‘not-for-profit SMEs’ that the Trustees learn how you can use inbound marketing to win supporters, members and donors. You also need Trustees to buy in to any move to inbound marketing. That means educating the board. Workshop approaches using external expertise can help broaden understanding and build the business case based on the excellent ROI from Inbound Marketing for not-for-profit organisations.

2. “Our target audience is older and not online”

Says who? It is a dangerous myth that needs to be dismissed. Research in both the UK and USA shows that not only are the target age groups of most charities and not-for-profits online, they are increasingly using mobile devices and talking to their friends on social networks. The perception is just plain wrong – most target audiences are reachable online. Think about who your customer really is. Look at the research, work out where they live online.

3. “Direct mail works for us – so we focus on that”

First of all postal direct mail is far more expensive than it once was. Second, it depends what you mean by ‘works’. Returns from postal direct mail appeals above 1% were considered stella in the days when direct mail was the main route to market for many NGOs and evidence suggests that not much has changed. Even a highly targeted list amounts to a scatter gun approach. Though first impressions might suggest otherwisesocial networks can offer a much more targetted approach. By contrast inbound marketing enables engagement by those who are interested in the work of your organisation. It doesn’t take a genius to work out that those with an interest are more likely to become active supporters or contributors. Take some of that direct mail budget, say half, and apply it consistently to direct marketing then assess the return on investment.

4. “Our priority is raising awareness”

And … inbound marketing in not-for-profit is an excellent method of doing just that, indeed it is central to the whole idea of inbound marketing. Your potential supporters are out there online looking for information about the cause you advocate. If they don’t find you they will find someone else. New and useful content – blogs, infographics, vlogs and trusted information pages – all helps online searchers find your information. It’s also cost effective.

5. “We are too busy to sort out our website”

Research by Public Impact has revealed that many third sector bodies have websites that are out-of-date, out-of-order or which are unable to work effectively on mobile devices. Remember those shops where the window display never changes – those ones where you don’t feel inclined to go inside until one day they aren’t there any longer? By neglecting your web presence you are neglecting the shop window of the organisation. So why doesn’t the website get priority? Often this is because the website has been seen as a cost – something that doesn’t or can’t wash its face. Inbound marketing turns your website into a machine for generating new prospects – so think about the content of your site and what your home page says about your organisation. Does it look like the sort of place you want to invest your money.

6. “We’ve had a blog and we just can’t find enough stories”

This is certainly an issue with which many people have problems. Those problems are largely questions of organisation and, once again, turning the thinking of the organisation outward. First of all there are many thousands of stories just waiting to be told in the third sector – many more so than in commercial organisations. Those stories; successes, needs, the implementation of projects, the production of positive outcomes, are inspiring and engaging. They are entirely appropriate content which most not-for-profits neglect. Content production can be learned with appropriate training or it can be bought in but think about what you have already first and how it can help tell your story.

The_Power_of_Not_for_Profit_Blogging_Infographic

7. “Inbound marketing is not part of our strategic plan”

Perhaps not right now, but the products of inbound marketing certainly are: new members, more donors, active supporters, improved awareness and there is a budget in the plan for developing these areas. In any case, plans are revised – as part of the plan. It they are not then they should be as a strategy, to be successful, must be a constantly evolving document. Prepare a plan for inbound marketing that meshes with your strategic plan that contributes to the goals of the plan and helps deliver those objectives.

That’s enough excuses for now – but there are more in the next blog on inbound marketing in not-for-profit!

Posted by John Howarth in Creative & Content, Not for Profit, Web & Digital, 0 comments
10
Apr
2014
5 Tips BEFORE you start a not-for-profit website project

5 Tips BEFORE you start a not-for-profit website project

More than ever, not for profit and charity organisations are looking to get good value for money when commissioning digital services like website design and web content. Public Impact thinks creatively about how client and agency can work together to deliver better web design, more effective websites and deliver measurable return on investment.

Before you start stop and think about what you are trying to achieve. These are our top five tips.

1. Prioritise the biggest challenge

NGO’s and other third sector bodies do lots of different things: advocacy, fundraising, providing services, giving information – you name it. Focussing on the elements that can have the biggest impact online is the key to using the web to maximum effect.

When funds are limited it is important to demonstrate the effectiveness of the website. To demonstrate a valuable return on investment it pays to do the most important thing really well – so prioritise. In doing so remember it is the visitors to the site, not necessarily your own staff who are the most important people to consider. Once you have shown that you can save money, improve donations, retain members more effectively then you’ll be able to justify other areas of work.

So start by looking at your current web stats to get a good idea of where your visitors are heading then consider a full external audit of your site

2. Know your audience

You need to be on receive. Most organisations can tell you something about their audience – their supporters, customers, donors and members. But just because your audience had particular views and profiles that doesn’t mean they will always be the same. The online world changes rapidly and a deeper engagement with your visitors will pay dividends and the insights you gain from audience research will help you to create an effective website and avoid some costly mistakes.

The most effective research will be quick and easy for the user and highly informative for you. It doesn’t need to be expensive but you will almost certainly benefit from professional help.

Your research should give you a series of profiles. It’s good to phrase these as fictional characters with personalities and character traits. These ‘personas’ give a human face to your audience abstract and help you communicate within the organisation with whom your site is seeking to communicate.

3. Too many bells and whistles are just noise

There are some excellent, freely available technical solutions out there to meet the needs of your users. It is easy to get carried away and employ too many. Remember your priorities. Identify the function that will be most useful to most people – perhaps it’s finding the nearest service to them, perhaps it is about the availability of a course of a facilitator. Make sure it is something that adds value to your site rather than detracting by producing useless or incomprehensible information.

4. Go open source

Open Source software (freely licenced in the public domain) can deliver quality and cost-effective solutions. If an agency isn’t offering you an open source solution, at least as an option, find someone who will. There are large supporting markets in Open Source web tools which mean you are not hostage to proprietary systems or rising upgrade licence fees.

There are many easy to use Content Management Systems (CMS) and their adoption by in-house teams can be smooth. But the right choice for your organisation is important – that depends on the nature of your site, your web traffic and your objectives. Make sure you get the right advice about the right Open Source tools for the job to rule out avoidable and expensive mistakes later

 

5. Get to know internal stakeholders

The biggest risk to a project running to time and on budget is often the failure to ensure that internal stakeholders are onside.

Understanding this right at the beginning produces results at the business end of the project. To dispense with the stage of project planning that achieves stakeholder buy-in, including at the most senior level is a false economy. When a genuine consensus is achieved on a project it makes a massive difference to the likely success.

Workshop engagement sessions for internal stakeholders at the start of the project are a proven method of delivering the inclusive leadership without which success is all the harder to achieve.

Posted by John Howarth in Not for Profit, Web & Digital, 0 comments