Instagram. Facebook Cover Photos. Twitpics. It seems everywhere you look, things are becoming more visual than ever before. The same goes for the world of public relations. What once was an arena based solely on succinct and efficient writing is now a place where visuals are all but demanded. Here’s how to stay ahead.

Multimedia Content Drives Results

A recent blog post published by PR Newswire discusses a study of press release activity based on PR Newswire.com. The study shows that multimedia content drives better results…77 percent more views actually.

But why? For starters, it is more interesting to look at. The visual content gives a break to the eye from text, and is interesting. Then there is the distribution aspect. When there is a video, picture, etc., that component can be shared on different channels than the text release, increasing the audience exposure. Think social media. The probability that something will be shared increases when multimedia content is involved.

Social Media News Release Provides More Resources

This is where a new concept, the Social Media News Release (or SMNR) comes in. While it may not be completely accepted just yet by PR Professionals, it is definitely something being slowly incorporated into the world of public relations. The difference between an SMNR and a traditional press release is its content. Whereas an old-fashioned release contains a basic headline, subhead, introduction, quote, story information and boilerplate, a SMNR takes it to the next level and anticipates what journalists will want next. Typical components include photos, headshots, logos, social media links and related audio and video clips. A 2012 Survey by PWR New Media says that 87% of journalists want easily accessible images, and 79% say that including an image increases the chances that they will pick up a story.

Making Use of Social Media News Releases

So what can you do to stay ahead in this visual environment?

The first step is getting (or making) the actual multimedia content that you will need later on. Recognize opportunities for taking photos and videos, creating graphics and producing other visual content. The more you have to chose from, the more channels you can expose your message to later. Some things to keep in mind:

• Videos: Make sure the speaker is articulate and speaks loud enough. If the video features an interview, have a simple backdrop and make sure the speaker is dressed in appropriate clothing. Avoid stripes, patterns and metallics on screen. If the video is footage of an event, frame each shot to avoid any distractions in the background. Get short interviews with key staff and attendees on the event grounds.

• Pictures: Like they say, a picture is worth a thousand words. So make sure your picture is telling the story you want it to. Be creative, but don’t get distracted by all those filters and fancy features on most cell phone camera apps. A good picture will speak on its own without anything but maybe a little cropping. In terms of formatting, make sure the picture is the right size and doesn’t become pixelated or blurry when enlarged.

• Graphics: Infographics are a big trend on Pinterest and other social media channels. They are great tools when done right, which is easier said than done. The trick is keeping it simple. Create a path that is easy for the eye to follow, and keep the colors limited and cohesive.

The next step is distributing your content. Determine what the best methods to spread your visuals are. Some ideas include:

• News Releases: For more traditional press coverage, think about spicing up some of your press releases with pictures and links to video content. Make sure to take note of how you are sending the content. Many reporters won’t open up an email attachment due to fear of viruses. Paste the content directly into the email when possible. If you need to send it in an attachment, make sure you save it in multiple formats in case the reporter has a different default program or version than you.

• Facebook: The new timeline feature forces you to be more visual, so embrace it. Make sure you have photos of appropriate dimensions to fit in the cover photo, profile picture, and timeline photo space. Highlight landmark events with pictures, and be creative about it. Don’t be afraid to show pictures of your events, the office environment, or any other ideas you may have to make your brand more personable and approachable. Click here to see a how Greenpeace International uses Facebook to motivate supporters.

• Pinterest: Pinterest may not be the best outlet for everyone, so make sure you take time to consider if the effort it takes to maintain is worth it. If you decide to go for it, make “pin-boards” that are appealing and engaging. Pin pictures, quotes, tutorials, infographics, etc. and write intriguing captions that motivate people to respond. Click here to see how charity:water shares their story on Pinterest.

• Twitter: Twitter is a little different because your visuals show up as links at first, not just pictures. But they are still effective. Including a “twitpic” will increase your chances of getting retweeted.

• Instagram: Instagram is a social phone app that allows users to share pictures.  Like Pinterest, Instagram isn’t for everyone. But ifyou feel like it  would be a good tool for your brand, by all means, go for it. Make sure to follow other organizations like yours and comment on pictures that fit with your missions. Check out @twloha to see the account for To Write Love On Her Arms, an organization dedicated to helping people struggling with depression, addiction, self-injury and suicide.

There are plenty of ways to incorporate visual content into your messaging strategy that keeps you from being boring. Be smart about it–trying to conquer all social media channels at once is going to most likely spread you too thin. Choose the strategies most appropriate for your brand and do a good job maintaining them. The more interesting the content you provide is, the more widespread your audience is going to become. And the more likely your stories are going to spread. So get on it!

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Jenna Stasiewicz assists with marketing and public relations efforts at Red Rooster Group. She has a BA in Public Communications with a minor in Graphic Design from American University. Contact us at info@redroostergroup.com.

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As the Principal of Red Rooster Group, I am committed to growing our business and instituted a marketing campaign that kicked off at the end of last year. While we are still in the early stages of the campaign, it is pulling a good response so far, and so I wanted to share it with you in the hopes of inspiring your marketing efforts this year.

The Plan

The plan included developing a list of 250 Jewish Communities Centers with multiple names for each organization, creating an 8-page brochure around the specific needs of JCCs, and hiring someone to make follow-up calls. Here’s exactly how the campaign has unfolded so far, including the steps we took, what it cost, and the results.

To begin with, I knew that to achieve real results, more than a one-time, quick effort would be required, and that relying on my time and abilities to make follow-up calls would be a mistake. So instead of trying to do everything myself, I planned out a specific campaign and enlisted others to help execute it.

Determining the Market

Like most design firms, Red Rooster Group has a particular area of specialty (branding for nonprofit organizations), but also works with a variety of clients. We understood that to be successful in marketing, you need to focus your promotion as much as possible, and so instead of creating a general capabilities brochure, we decided to focus on one particular market. In fact, this was a very focused market. Instead of nonprofit organizations, or even Jewish nonprofits, we decided to focus on Jewish Communities Centers based on our previous experience in helping three JCCs with their marketing. There are about 250 JCCs in North America, making it large enough to do a reasonable campaign and expect a decent result, and small enough to be focused and manageable.

List Development

The first step was building a list of the 250 Jewish Community Centers in North America. After we compiled a list of the organizations themselves, we hired someone off Craigslist to research the names of people for certain job titles such as executive director associate director, development officers, and board presidents. We assigned this at a flat rate of $200.

We now had a custom, qualified list of people in our target audience. You’ll notice that we got multiple names for each organization, aiming for at least two – one from the professional staff side and one from the board side, figuring that decisions can come from either direction and that it is better to have multiple people in the organization who have heard of you.

List Management

The list was originally created in Excel, which made it very easy to monitor as the names were added. It also made it easy to sort the list by state, which is how we decided to group the mailings. Ultimately, we found that this was not meeting our needs in terms of tracking the calls, and so after a lot of research into online CRM (Customer Relationship Management) systems (we’ll be posting an article about this), we decided on salesforce.com and are in the process of uploading the lists into that online platform. This will allow us to input the interactions of each call made from our office or from remote locations.

The Brochure

While we were working on the lists, we were developing the brochure. Instead of showing our work with minimal copy, like most design firms, we created a marketing piece that demonstrated our understanding of the particular marketing challenges facing JCCs, including increasing their membership, improving their fundraising efforts, and helping them streamline their internal communications processes. This 8-page, saddle-stitched brochure features work that we had done for three other JCCs in addressing those particular needs.

The brochure had an introduction about their needs and a list of services. In addition, we invite the recipient to engage with us by including an interactive quiz that they can use to rate their marketing efforts in 10 different areas. This is intended to dramatically show their marketing needs (in effect helping them qualify themselves) and convey how we can help them.

The process for producing the brochure included determining the overall approach and content, compiling the case studies, writing copy, creating the marketing checklist, and doing all the pre-press to get it ready for printing. Given that we were drawing on our own experiences and case studies for the actual content, we were able to do this fairly expediently. The cost of our time spent on this piece was about $2,500. Printing 1,000 copies of the 8-page brochure cost $1,100.

The Mailing Package

The mailing package consisted of the brochure and a cover letter in a bright red 9 x 12 envelope to capture people’s attention. We created the cover letters in InDesign, and merged the names from the Excel file (exporting it as a CSV file). We printed them on our letterhead on our in-house printer in groups as we mailed them so they would have the current date. On a few occasions where we knew the particular recipient, we customized the letter; otherwise, we sent the generic letter.

We used the Avery mailing labels that come six per sheet and ran them through our printer to add our logo and address. We hand-addressed the labels to the recipients to give it a personal touch and to help it stand out from other mail.

Hiring Someone to Make Calls

The next stage was the mailing and follow-up calls. Instead of mailing out all 250 pieces at once, our strategy was to mail out a limited number of packets so that we could make follow-up calls. It’s ideal if the call comes from the principal of the company who is best able to speak about the services. However, I knew from past experience that these attempts would be short-lived, and not wanting to repeat that mistake, I hired someone to make the follow-up calls.

This person did not necessarily know about our design (in fact, knew little about it), but was a sales person in a different sector and was good at establishing rapport with people. The purpose of the calls was not to sell design, but to establish a connection, assess their needs, qualify them, and line up an appointment. The calls were also intended to gauge feedback on the direct-mail piece, determine their marketing challenges, and to get a sense of the overall needs faced by that market so that we are learning as well.

Training

I spent half the day with him, explaining our business and how we help clients, and another half day explaining the particular needs of the market we were targeting, as well as the particular approaches to take, potential objections he might hear, and how to handle those objections.

Instead of setting him free and expecting magical results, I provided direction, oversight, and feedback to monitor his progress, and provided support so that we learn what about what makes successful calls. I listened in as he called and found that he was doing an effective job in breaking through and catching people’s attention –  and that’s the key on the phone – getting through to people establishing rapport so that they will hear what you have to say.

Mailing & Calling

We mailed approximately 20 to 30 packets per week (we grouped them by state) and contained the calling sessions to a few hours each morning, so as not to burn out and to spread out the calls. On any given day, he could make approximately a dozen calls (this included reviewing the organization’s websites to get a sense of what they did before making each call) and was able to reach one or two  people each time. For the others, we left voicemail messages, so that they would know that we were following up on the brochure. It reinforced the fact that we wanted to work with them and prepared them for the fact we would be calling them again. We then waited several days before calling these people in order to give them a chance to call us back.

Results

We started in late November and then held off two weeks before the holidays. We have mailed out 3 sets of 20 packages so far (out of a total of 500) and are in the process of making the follow-up calls. Given that it takes several calls to actually get through to people, and that we haven’t actually spoken with that many people yet, so far we have had several positive responses, including:

• An executive director who called us in response to the mailing.
• A board member who said that she had received the piece and was impressed and would present it at their board meeting.
• An executive director who passed it on to their marketing director, who e-mailed me to set up a call to discuss their needs.
• An executive director came in for an appointment, which led to a proposal for a quarterly newsletter (which we are waiting to hear back about).

Given the limited amount of packages that have gone out, I am buoyed by these results and confident that this type of targeted mailing, coupled with the follow-up calls, will result in many new clients. I would expect that we can reasonably get 10 projects from this campaign, and I’ll estimate $10,000 each, yielding $100,000 worth of work, not including future work that may result from these clients. Our total investment in actual outlay was less than $6,000. Not a bad return on investment.

Budget

Here’s our budget for out-of-pocket costs (which doesn’t include our time in coordinating the effort, and in training and monitoring the telemarketer, which I consider part of my daily sponsor responsibilities).

Designing copywriting of the brochure (our in-house time): $2,500
Printing: $1,100
Envelopes: $300 (confirm)
Mailing Labels: $40
Postage: $200
Calling: $1,500
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Total: $5,640

WAKE UP CALL: The Takeaways

1. Be Targeted. A brochure that addresses the specific needs of an audience is much more likely to resonate with that group and draw better response than one that says you can do everything. Being focused takes discipline since you don’t want to exclude other potential clients, but I believe that by limiting the scope and focusing on the needs of one particular audience, you’re more likely to achieve success. You can then build on that success to run other targeted campaigns. After all, each audience wants to see you as a specialist in their particular needs.

2. Planning: This initiative didn’t happen overnight – it took nine months to pull off, including conceptualizing what we would do, producing the brochure, compiling the mailing lists, setting up the database, and hiring the person to make the calls – but it was worth the effort. Now that the campaign is underway, it feels great that we have a systematic plan in place. And we can reproduce this type of campaign for another market.

3. Having a System: In order to make this campaign a success, we knew that we needed to have the proper infrastructure. This included a good CRM system for tracking which groups we mailed to each week, whom we called, and what was said. When we realized that Excel was insufficient for this task, I committed to investing in the proper infrastructure not only for this campaign, but one that would also allow us to grow as an agency.

4. Persistence: I decided that this is a market that we were going after and wanted to capture a certain market share, so I saw this campaign as part of a long-term effort. I was committed to not getting discouraged, even if this particular mailing didn’t achieve the results that I wanted. As with many things, success lies in the follow-up and persistence. I knew I couldn’t rely on myself alone to make the calls on a regular basis (which is where I think a lot of designers have trouble), and so I planned persistence into the process by hiring someone to make the follow-up calls. After a lot of planning and work, we now have a regular outreach campaign that is running largely without me.

This laudable goal was supported by a coalition of community organizers and $25,000 in funding to pay for professional organizers, printing, and other support. While a decent amount of planning had gone into the project, as a marketing expert, I thought that they faced some huge challenges and a solid marketing plan was needed. As the nonprofit acknowledged, they needed strategic help in planning the campaign and in developing creative materials that could captivate potential participants. And yet, they allocated money for printing, but not the strategic thinking or creative design portion of this project.

With funds allocated toward certain aspects of the initiative, this organization’s lack of priorities was not unique, and I suspect fueled by the following factors:

1. A culture that values doing rather than thinking. Given limited budgets, the cultures of many nonprofits are organized around delivering services, not addressing core problems.

2. Not understanding the value that specialized consultants can bring to help achieve their mission (in this case, not seeing how the message and design of the marketing materials would be essential to the success of the initiative).

3. A lack of understanding about what goes into the creative process and a perception that certain things (such as printing) are a cost since they yield a tangible deliverable, but that consulting services, being someone’s time, can be donated for free.

4. Being accustomed to expecting certain services for free due to their nonprofit status.

WAKE UP CALL: What can you do to ensure that your organization values and funds high-value ideas that can make a difference to its mission? Here are some considerations for addressing these issues:

1. Planning for the long-term: Given constrained budgets and a natural penchant for serving, it is not surprising that nonprofit organizations face pressure to act and get things done expediently. Funding directives or organizational structures may not be conducive to allowing time to think through the challenges inherent in dealing with a specific issue. Knowing this, nonprofits would be wise to create the space to address the logistical and political issues they are likely to face in executing their plan.

2. Investing in intellectual capital: Successful companies know that they need to invest in marketing and promotion to break through the clutter, demonstrate their value, and engage their customers. Business are not afraid to invest in the tools and intelligence that allow them to achieve these objectives. Nonprofits can learn from this model. Granted, they face inherent inertia against such investments, but viewing the results of the forward-thinking nonprofits that leverage external intellectual capital to their cause can help demonstrate the efficacy of that strategy.

3. Learning about the benefits of intellectual capital: Small and mid-sized nonprofit agencies are not accustomed to working with consultants and may not understand the differences in quality brought by various experts. For example, in this case, the difference between a freelance designer who will create a poster that looks good and a marketing expert who will uncover the motivations of potential participants to drive those people to action. The latter draws upon years of experience, as well as the knowledge about how to conduct research, develop a message, and craft appropriate materials. This takes time, and a consultant’s time and expertise is the basis for their income. So when a consultant is asked to donate their services, they are not only donating that time, but they are also missing out on income they needed to make up that billable time (referred to as opportunity cost), which puts them in a worse situation to help the next worthy group. Additionally, whereas printing results in a deliverable product, it can be donated and declared as a tax deduction; services are not tax deductible.

4. Valuing intellectual capital: The mindset of getting something for nothing must change. As nonprofits handle more of the services that were once provided by government, it is not in anyone’s best interest to leave the nonprofit sector to the whims of market giving. To be around for the long-term, nonprofits must attract funding for  sustainable, capacity-building activities that will allow for proper planning and implementation of their services for years to come. Relying on donated services perpetuates the concept that nonprofits should pay for services essential to their mission. This applies to in-house expertise as well – nonprofits need to start treating their employees as their most valuable asset.

Conclusion

Nonprofits, like the one in this case, would be better served by using their scarce resources to purchase the high-value services that will make a critical difference in their work, rather than in the lowest-value, commodity-oriented services that can usually be donated. In the long-term, nonprofits need to demonstrate to funders that they require funds for operating their organizations with a long-term mentality so that they can continue to provide needed services for years to come.