Communicate!

Helping you win loyal friends through your communications

Let Me Get Right to the Point

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I’m on your website right now…and baby, I know what I want. Where do I find it?

You can make it easy for me with a landing page.

John Haydon explains, “A landing page is a page on your website where you want visitors to complete a specific transaction, such as donating money or joining an email list.” Or even buying a book, another product, or a service.

The landing page is where I do what you want.

You’ve won me over.  You’ve seduced me.  I’m ready to give in.

So, don’t make me search up and down your home page. That might spoil the moment.

Don’t hide your offer on a back page.  When I find it, I might not be in the mood.

Create a page that does nothing else but what you brought me here to do.  The minute I walk in the joint, I should see it.

And then say thank you.

Because I don’t pop my cork for every website I see.

People Will Pay Attention If You Help Them Solve Their Problems

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Phoenix Hospital Car Seat Helper“What’s the right car seat for my child?”

I know a lot of parents who’ve wondered about this question.  Some have done extensive research online to figure it out.

The Phoenix Children’s Hospital created an app for that. According to Jay Baer in his book Youtility, “Parents enter the height and weight of their child, and it instantly recommends the appropriate type and size of car seat.”

The Car Seat Helper is free, and it solves a pressing problem for parents.  But what does it do for Phoenix Children’s Hospital?

  • Answers a question that would take too much time to answer case by case.
  • Prevents injuries, which is part of the hospital’s mission.
  • Creates a glow around the hospital that leads parents to choose it for their children.
  • Shows the hospital’s expertise and commitment to grantmakers and donors.

Nonprofits struggle to reach through the murk of messages people receive to make our own message heard.  But there’s a simple answer.

Solve people’s problems and you’ll get their attention.  Solve a problem that’s related to your organization’s mission, and you may win a friend.

 

Live, on Social Media: Your Event!

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Every event your organization holds is really two events: the one happening before your eyes and the one happening on social media.distorted mirror

What? You aren’t posting about your event on social media? Well, some of your guests are.

They’re snapping photos with their phones and instantly posting them on Facebook or Instagram.

They’re quoting your speakers on Twitter.

They’re live-blogging during the event and posing their opinions afterwards.

You planned your real-life event so carefully.  You left nothing to chance. So…

How can you make sure your real-life event is just as good on social media?

Here are eight suggestions from Bizbash.com, translated into nonprofit.

  1. Listen. Assign someone to follow what participants in your event are saying about it in real time.
  2. Post about the event yourself.  Ritu Sharma of Social Media for Nonprofits suggests creating a “command center” where your staff and friends will have “adequate power supply, the best seats and vantage point in the house.”
  3. Speak with the same voice. Do you want to be earnest? Funny? Ironic? Confiding? Settle on a tone and a relationship with the audience and keep it up.
  4. Keep it personal. Write like a human being–and write back to other human beings by name when they post about your event.
  5. Expect the unexpected and plan for it. What are you going to do if the lights go out? If your keynote speaker says something offensive? Know what to do.
  6. Put Twitter first. As Martha C. White says, “Tweets are the language of real-time social media conversation.”
  7. Woo “influencers.” Find people who have a big following among the audience you want to make your own. Get those people involved in your event, online or off.
  8. Be imaginative. Where might people be talking about your event? What terms might they be using besides the official event title? Search widely.
Social media are just as important between those big events. Which Social Media are Right for You?  Find out! Sign up for a free guide at www.dennisfischman.com.

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