Internet Strategic Communications
Increasing your impact!
Best practices and trends
AACN’s 2009 Nursing Advancement Professionals Conference
Chris Wolz
President/CEO
Forum One Communications

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Takeaways?
• Successful internet communications is
audience-centric
• Internet is a thriving ecosystem
• Internet is an increasingly social place
• People value their networks
• Internet has multiple channels; use them!
• Experiment, listen, learn, repeat.
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Audience-centric approach
to the internet
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Focusing on Your Key Audiences
If you don't know
whom you need to reach and engage online,
then you probably won’t.
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Audience Interests => Online Service?
Example:
• Potential Donors
– How will my money be spent?
• Online data presentation
• Pictures, video (from students)
• Validators: Charity Navigator, Guidestar
– Who else is contributing (whom I know?)
• Testimonials (pictures, video)
• Facebook Group or Cause
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Audience Interests => Online Service?
Example
• Alumni relations
– What’s new at the school?
• Blog – personal, conversational
• Social news sites (e.g. Digg.com)
– What are my classmates doing?
• .EDU social network, or…
• Facebook, Linked-in
– Professional development – news, events
• Peer-to-peer sharing - jobs, events
• Professional networking – online and offline
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Information Architecture
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Usability Testing
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Example: Population and Health InfoShare
• Audience need?
– Individuals?
• Valuable research and best practices in
reproductive and child health, HIV/AIDS, and
population
– Organizations?
• Visibility
• PRB Objective?
– Advance knowledge in the population and health field
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Example: Population and Health InfoShare
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Example: NASPAA
National Association of Schools of Public Affairs
and Policy
• Audience need?
– Learn about MPA/MPP
– Recognition, cash.
• NASPAA Objective?
– Visibility
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Example: CARMA.org
Carbon Monitoring for Action
• Audience need?
– Tools, data to do research
– Cool web tools
• CARMA Objective?
– Get more people working on climate
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Online Trends
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Web 2.0 Defined
• Extending the range of web content
• Integrating external services into web sites
• User-generated content and community on/off web sites
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Web 2.0 Defined
• Extending the range of web content
• Integrating external services into web sites
• User-generated content and community on/off web sites
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Case Study: Red Cross
Using social media to increase transparency,
to engage people and to increase donations.
Wendy Harman, Social Media Manager
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Listens using free tools for: blogs, Twitter
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Engages people, turns them into fans.
•
Identifies “influencers”
•
Relationships provide groundwork for campaigns
•
Listening now an important part of web strategy.
•
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Case Study: Red Cross
• Example
“I took an American Red Cross class I thought was
less than satisfactory. […] Someone found my blog
post and told the local chapter director. He called me
to talk about it honestly. […] They care about me and
they’re willing to go the extra mile. […] This gives the
American Red Cross HUGE points. I am now
significantly more likely to take another class than I
was before.”
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Case Study:
Humane Society’s “Wendy That's Not Right\" campaign.
• Humane Society multi-channel
campaign:
– email
– Facebook
– Flickr
• 3,000 submissions, 2,000 email
addresses
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Case Study:
University of Arkansas Alumni Association
• Alumni Relations = Social
Marketing
• Building on social sites
started by “friends”
• Growth in 5 months
– Facebook: 1200 > 1800
– LinkedIn: 800 > 2100
– Twitter: 25 > 195
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Case Study:
University of Arkansas Alumni Association
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GI Jill
Jill Stevens
•
6 years - Combat Medic in Utah National Guard
•
Earning degree – Nursing / S. Utah University.
•
Served in Afghanistan 2003 – 2005
•
5 medals for outstanding service
•
1st female finisher of 1st Afghanistan Marathon.
•
And… Miss Utah 2007!
•
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“We see these emerging web sites
and news venues as being important
because they dictate, for a growing
amount of people, how news and
information are now being discovered
online.”
Jonathan Colman
Manager, Digital Marketing
The Nature Conservancy
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& Friends
Jonathan Colman
Manager, Digital Marketing
The Nature Conservancy
205
721
170
140
106
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845 diggs
2,127 visitors to Nature.org in 1 hr
6,234 landing page views in 1 hr
2,238 actions taken (35% conv.)
Source: Building Buzz and Marketing by Mob with Digg.com, Jonathon Colman
http://www.slideshare.net/jcolman/building-buzz-and-marketing-by-mob-with-diggcom/
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Ecosystem Diagram Foundations
and NGOs
Independent
Communities
Mass Social
Media
Independent
Blogs
(Facebook,
Commercial
You Tube,
Sites
LinkedIn…)
Discussion
Groups
Alumni
network site
Meetups
Your main
web site Conferences
Partners /
Coalitions
Events
Your blogs
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Takeaways?
• Successful internet communications is
audience-centric
• Internet is a thriving ecosystem
• Internet is an increasingly social place
• People value their networks
• Internet has multiple channels; use them!
• Experiment, listen, learn, repeat.
• Thanks!
• Chris Wolz
– wolz@forumone.com
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