Communications tools and their uses
Because of the amazing work that SMIF staff and our partners do every day, there is a never-ending list of wonderful things we could promote about our organization. This could take the form of articles that we or our clients are mentioned in, videos of events that staff presented at, testimonials from people who attended our own events, and so on. It is critical to funnel those items into specific tools, which each have a specific purpose. This helps our organization look professional, and creates a set of rules for Communications staff to follow.
When making a request, we encourage staff to always start with the goal in mind, rather than the tool. We may follow up with a creative brief form to gather more information, and then we will make a recommendation about which tool(s) to use based on what we learned. We will share the information through the tools that allow us to reach the target audience(s) in the most effective way.
Take a look at the below guide to learn more about what each tool is intended for and how we make our decisions about which tools to use.
Audience
General Public. Location will vary depending on which papers pick it up. RFPs also get sent to targeted audiences in addition to the media.
Intended use
The media typically like to publish our press releases about open grants, grant awards (especially as it pertains to awards that were made in their coverage area), programs that are seeking applicants, and “big news” like the total dollars we invested in businesses for the year or our COVID response efforts.
Frequency
Media relations is delicate, and it is important that we send press releases that have content that would likely be picked up by a paper. A press release is a very helpful tool at times, but we have other tools that have a much wider, more targeted reach.
Audience
General Public and SMIF’s audience (gets added to TTI newsletter, blog, social media). The Owatonna People’s Press and Albert Lea Tribune almost always publish the op-ed. Usually at least a couple of others as well.
Intended use
Op-eds are a proven way for SMIF to get coverage in regional papers. This is helpful when we have items that we want to talk about that might not be appropriate for a press release. Because Tim is well-known in the region, there are many papers that like to pick up these thought pieces. Owatonna People’s Press and Albert Lea news almost always pick them up. Additional papers pick them up depending on topic and if it pertains to their location.
Frequency
Monthly. Topics are developed based on what is critical to promote at certain times of the year. Sometimes the op-ed speaks more to what is going on in the world at the moment. It is an opportunity to be timely and to write “thought pieces” about relevant topics.
Audience
Each newsletter is targeted to a specific audience. The bulk of our newsletters target each of our three overarching program areas (early childhood, economic development, affiliate funds). The newsletter with the widest audience is our Taking the Initiative Newsletter which reaches anyone who is connected to SMIF in some way (about 6,000 people). E-newsletters are important for reminding our partners of what we are up to and how we can help them.
Intended use
These are really strong tools for sharing existing content (blog posts, impact report stories, articles), helpful resources, new staff announcements, open grant or program RFPs or awards, upcoming events, exciting partner news, etc.) We generally do not write new stories for newsletters.
Frequency
Most newsletters are sent out 3 or 4 times a year depending on workflow and the quality and quantity of content we have available to share.
Audience
Blogs get posted to our website and social media, and shared through our targeted e-newsletters. They are a very powerful tool to tell a story about SMIF’s impact and reach a variety of audiences.
Intended Use
Blogs are used to share stories about SMIF’s impact. They can take the form of a long story or they can be a short partner spotlight. They can also be “from the desk” of a staff member which is a great way to introduce a wide audience to more people in our organization (and to put a face on our organization instead of always having anonymous posts). This is also an opportunity to show thought leadership. Great blogging makes our organization look credible and relevant. Blogs are also an important way to add keywords on our website that could increase our visibility when people search for specific words in Google. Without the blog, our website could remain invisible on Google.
Frequency
We do about 10 blog posts a year but would love to focus more time on this area if we have the capacity. Communications sets a plan each year to cover stories that touch on all areas of programming, in addition to having an eye towards DEI by showcasing a diverse range of people (age, race, gender, geographic location). If staff or service members ever want to write a thought piece related to your program area (examples here and here), just let us know what you are thinking and we will help pin down the topic and support you with editing.
Audience
Segmented by specific SMIF audiences.
Intended use
Targeted emails are a great way to get the word out about something to a very targeted audience – examples include our COVID relief information and event announcements. They are also a great alternative to press releases. Sometimes we want to get the word out about something that we feel is good news to share, but it might not be quite press release material, depending on the goals and intended audience. We would share this information (through Constant Contact) with a targeted audience that would benefit from knowing this information. Press releases are never guaranteed to reach the audience you want, but targeted emails are.
Frequency
As needed.
Audience
Targeted to people who know about us and friends of those people. We have about 5,000 people engaged through our social media channels (total).
Intended use
Timely content (ours or relevant partner or industry content), important news, repurposing of content from blog and press releases.
Frequency
As items come up.
Audience
1) People who know about us 2) People who are searching for information and find our website because it has content that will help them. We have about 38,000 unique visitors to our website in one year.
Intended use
The website is a place to keep static content about SMIF that people always need access to. The purpose is to provide summary information of our programs and opportunities. We want the website to turn visitors into prospects. Website content is largely intended to be permanent content except for the homepage, blog, events calendar and grant or program applications and guidelines. Websites are meant to be “evergreen” (unchanging) as much as possible.
Frequency
Updates are made as needed to the pages mentioned above. Overall content should be reviewed quarterly to make sure it is still relevant.
Note
We only add partner information to the website if it pertains to our partnerships that support our programming (i.e. we always list sponsors, funders of programs, etc. on the relevant pages). The website is not a place to add videos of events that we attended, etc. Oftentimes content that we are asked to add to the website would be better suited for an e-newsletter with the goal being that we want it to reach a targeted audience.
Audience
Our print materials (SMIF marketing booklet, impact report, program fact sheets, county fact sheets) are primarily for donors or people who attend our in-person events.
Intended Use
Print materials should be minimal, but are useful for in-person visits with donors or for staff to have on-hand at events. They should ultimately drive people to the website for more information.
Frequency
Booklet items (marketing booklet and impact report) are printed annually. Quite a lot of time and money goes into the production and printing of these two pieces so the content should be information that can be shared for a year. Other print items, like the county and program fact sheets, are updated once or twice a year and are printed in-house.
