Michi MacLennan, head of digital and innovation, The Air Ambulance Visit the CharityComms website to view slides from past events, see what events we have coming up and to check out what else we do: www.charitycomms.org.uk

1. DEVELOPING A MULTICHANNEL CONTENT
STRATEGY
LESSONS FROM BBC AND RED BULL
MICHI MACLENNAN

2. DEVELOPING A MULTICHANNEL CONTENT STRATEGY: LESSONS FROM BBC AND RED BULL
WHO I AM (WHO AM I?)
▸ Media/brand background and
responsible for innovations:
▸ The Herald: first podcast
▸ STV: first Facebook/Twitter
▸ BBC: first interactive guides
▸ Barclaycard: newsroom
structure
▸ Red Bull: redbull.com/VR
▸ The Air Ambulance Service: ?

3. GROWTH AND PRAGMATIC INNOVATION
Early adopter = learnings
5000 to 200k daily users
250k for 1 guide in 1 day
Enable shift to reactive social
Market leader of new format
Take to forefront
▸ Content marketing and
innovation not just for own sake:
▸ The Herald: first podcast
▸ STV: first Facebook/Twitter
▸ BBC: first interactive guides
▸ Barclaycard: newsroom
structure
▸ Red Bull: redbull.com/VR
▸ The Air Ambulance Service: ?
DEVELOPING A MULTICHANNEL CONTENT STRATEGY: LESSONS FROM BBC AND RED BULL

4. WHAT AM I WORKING WITH?
▸ The Air Ambulance Service: family of medical services:
▸ 15-year history
▸ Helicopter emergency
medical service for 5 regions
in England
▸ Two helicopters
▸ Strong local support and
steady income
▸ 5-year history
▸ National medical
transportation service for
babies/young kids
▸ Two new helicopters this year
▸ Challenge: Need to raise
extra £32m over 7 years
DEVELOPING A MULTICHANNEL CONTENT STRATEGY: LESSONS FROM BBC AND RED BULL

5. RESULTS WITHIN SIX MONTHS
DEVELOPING A MULTICHANNEL CONTENT STRATEGY: LESSONS FROM BBC AND RED BULL

6. RESULTS WITHIN SIX MONTHS
▸ Strategy built
▸ Small team set up
▸ Innovations: one of first UK charities with Facebook
Donate
▸ Double-digit website traffic increase
▸ Facebook reach and engagement quadrupled
▸ Digital donations more than doubled
DEVELOPING A MULTICHANNEL CONTENT STRATEGY: LESSONS FROM BBC AND RED BULL

7. CONTENT
MARKETING:
STEPS TO TAKE

8. IF YOU WORK AT A CHARITY, YOU’RE UNLUCKY
▸ Idea of getting regular givers then shutting up
decreasingly effective – value is expected for money
DEVELOPING A MULTICHANNEL CONTENT STRATEGY: LESSONS FROM BBC AND RED BULL
“I’ll give my money and permission to the charities
that make me the best offer.
“When I say offer, I don’t mean a discount or
giveaway, I mean the charities that promise to show
me what my money will do, that take the time
to really make me feel special for giving my time or
money. They’ll show me videos and tell stories that
properly entertain me – make me cry, laugh and want
to share.”
– Mark Foster, for Institute of Fundraising

9. IF YOU WORK AT A CHARITY, YOU’RE LUCKY
▸ Content marketing is about
storytelling
▸ Major brands (such as Red
Bull, Pepsi) trying to get
into space of social good
▸ Realisation audience
cares – so do staff
▸ At a charity you already
have amazing stories to
tell
DEVELOPING A MULTICHANNEL CONTENT STRATEGY: LESSONS FROM BBC AND RED BULL

10. CHARITY STORYTELLING AS DIGITAL STRATEGY
▸ You just have to ask some
fundamentals which can then start
forming strategy (the 5 Ws):
▸ Who (audience)
▸ What (subjects)
▸ When (calendar)
▸ Where (channels)
▸ Why (goals/KPIs)
▸ How (content type)
DEVELOPING A MULTICHANNEL CONTENT STRATEGY: LESSONS FROM BBC AND RED BULL

11. CONTENT STRATEGY: DON’T WAIT
What you don’t have (time and space for perfect strategy)
DEVELOPING A MULTICHANNEL CONTENT STRATEGY: LESSONS FROM BBC AND RED BULL

12. CONTENT STRATEGY: GET UP & RUNNING ASAP
▸ Don’t spend months on a content
strategy
▸ Digital moves so quickly it’ll be
out of date by the time you
finished
▸ Create a living document
▸ Jot down rough thoughts for
each subject area mentioned
here
▸ Then continue to sculpt
DEVELOPING A MULTICHANNEL CONTENT STRATEGY: LESSONS FROM BBC AND RED BULL

13. CONTENT STRATEGY: OBJECTIVES
▸ Goals/KPIs for year ahead
▸ If a small team, limit these
▸ Nothing wrong with basics at
start (visits, donations, reach
and engagement)
▸ Brands using touch points and
micro moments
▸ But resource-heavy to
measure
▸ Have long-term vision – be
ambitious
DEVELOPING A MULTICHANNEL CONTENT STRATEGY: LESSONS FROM BBC AND RED BULL

14. CONTENT STRATEGY: WHO IS IT FOR?
▸ Who is your audience?
▸ Are they digital literate?
▸ Do they have time to fully
consider?
▸ Started with basic top-level
presentation
▸ Then document delving
deeper
▸ Presentation most-used
DEVELOPING A MULTICHANNEL CONTENT STRATEGY: LESSONS FROM BBC AND RED BULL

15. START WITH THE AUDIENCE
▸ Audience is the key factor in any content marketing strategy
▸ Alongside own goals – who is audience? Who do you want
them to be?
▸ From get-go you need a rough idea of who these people are
▸ Refine as you get greater learnings and can research more
▸ Talk to colleagues – remember online audience difference
▸ Vital for using targeting on social media
DEVELOPING A MULTICHANNEL CONTENT STRATEGY: LESSONS FROM BBC AND RED BULL

16. TONE OF VOICE – ENSURE CONSISTENCY
▸ As you get to know your
audience, figure out tone of
voice
▸ Expectation of consistency
across channels
▸ Messages will be shaped by
channels/formats you’re
using
▸ But maintain ToV so they’re
not confused
▸ Limit access to posting
DEVELOPING A MULTICHANNEL CONTENT STRATEGY: LESSONS FROM BBC AND RED BULL

17. RESISTANCE? SHOW THEM THE CONTENT
▸ Questions: ‘why are we spending on digital?’
▸ Point to value – it’s a necessity to show what we’re
doing, not a luxury
▸ But best response is to produce and publish content
which illustrates point
▸ Tells their story, reaches audience, increases
internal morale
▸ Make use of internal channels
DEVELOPING A MULTICHANNEL CONTENT STRATEGY: LESSONS FROM BBC AND RED BULL

18. IDENTIFY THE RIGHT CONTENT MIX
▸ What does a content mix look like? One example:
DEVELOPING A MULTICHANNEL CONTENT STRATEGY: LESSONS FROM BBC AND RED BULL
Apportion percentages to each main vertical – you don’t need to stay strictly to
this; it’s just good for guidance

19. DETERMINE CORRECT CONTENT TYPES
▸ As with most of these tips, mix differs for each charity
▸ Generally speaking about video, images and text
▸ Video: social loves it though eats up time/resources
▸ Audiences love strong images
▸ Do they already exist
▸ Are there sources (such as colleagues) who can
take images that are more authentic?
DEVELOPING A MULTICHANNEL CONTENT STRATEGY: LESSONS FROM BBC AND RED BULL

20. ESTABLISH AN OPTIMAL MULTICHANNEL APPROACH
▸ Example: at The Air Ambulance Service were no newsletters
▸ Not hard to know loyal audience would want regular source of
info
▸ For each channel create a one or two-page plan
▸ Start simply – if it works, build from there. Make a case for
existence – each will eat up resource
▸ For social determine which platform is best for you/the
audience – Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, YouTube, Snapchat,
Bebo, etc
▸ Be selective – hit platforms where audience lives. There’s no
shame in sticking to one or two
DEVELOPING A MULTICHANNEL CONTENT STRATEGY: LESSONS FROM BBC AND RED BULL

21. BUILD DIGITAL TEAM BASED ON NEED
▸ Started with 1, now 3 – example of how can be arranged:
DEVELOPING A MULTICHANNEL CONTENT STRATEGY: LESSONS FROM BBC AND RED BULL
Goal: Telling story to largest possible
audience
Tasks/responsibilities
● Video production
○ Pre-production
○ Shooting
○ Editing
○ Publishing
● Image production
○ Planning, Shooting,
Editing, Publishing
● Website articles
○ Working with different
depts inc Fundraising,
Retail, Supporter Services
● Content coverage: building
internal and external relationships
● Maintaining content calendar and
content mix
● Building Digital Asset
Management system
Goal: Creating nationwide visibility and
conversation to the largest possible
audience
Tasks/responsibilities
● Social media strategy
○ 3 FB, 2 Twitter, Instagram,
LinkedIn, YouTube
● Social media monitoring and
engagement
○ Responses to all accounts
○ Monitoring official
accounts and peer
accounts
● Working with any agencies to
post content
○ Maintain content calendar
○ Ensure content mix
● Writing social content
● Creating social images
● Reporting, monitoring trends
SOCIAL MEDIA
MANAGER
DIGITAL CONTENT
PRODUCER
Goal: Motivate online audience to act –
from awareness to action
Tasks/responsibilities
● Website management
○ Develop new areas
○ Updates – thank yous,
events, etc
○ Reporting
○ Testing & optimising
● Fundraising – close work with all
teams on digital projects
● Search Engine Marketing
○ eg SEO to stay top of Google
● Email marketing
○ Internal
○ External including
stewardship
● SMS – Grow audience and get
donations
● Other digital – Display ads, PPC
DIGITAL MARKETING &
FUNDRAISING MANAGER

22. BE MINDFUL OF BUDGET
▸ You don’t have money for sheeny video content?
▸ Who cares?
▸ If you’re a smaller charity your audience is already
aware of that and won’t mind a rough-and-ready
approach
▸ Paid social media is key for reaching audiences
▸ Ensure this is weighed up against overall budget and
utilised effectively
DEVELOPING A MULTICHANNEL CONTENT STRATEGY: LESSONS FROM BBC AND RED BULL

23. MAINTAIN AN UP-TO-DATE CONTENT CALENDAR
▸ Vital so you can see what you’re publishing, when, and
where
▸ Clear and shareable overview of your activities
▸ Helps prove value internally
▸ There are some great cheapish options
▸ Schedule content types for regular publishing intervals and
ensure content mix is applied across channels to avoid
gaps
▸ Won’t be perfect at first, but again it’s a start to build from
DEVELOPING A MULTICHANNEL CONTENT STRATEGY: LESSONS FROM BBC AND RED BULL

24. MAINTAIN AN UP-TO-DATE CONTENT CALENDAR
DEVELOPING A MULTICHANNEL CONTENT STRATEGY: LESSONS FROM BBC AND RED BULL

25. DEVELOPING A MULTICHANNEL CONTENT STRATEGY: LESSONS FROM BBC AND RED BULL
ANALYTICS: BUILD UP REPORTING
▸ Analytics vital – hard evidence
of what’s performing/not
performing
▸ Use growth from the year before
to track how you’re doing, and
to establish KPIs
▸ Do peer analysis where
possible
▸ Don’t rely on numbers: also look
at the wider landscape, listen to
gut feeling

26. TALK TO YOUR AUDIENCE – AND YOUR COLLEAGUES
▸ Community engagement on social channels helps you
determine what’s working with your audience
▸ Your colleagues will know those little nuggets of gold –
in terms of news and unique details – that will provide a
richer content-publishing calendar and avoid things
feeling too broad
▸ Make them your experts – it also means they feel
valued and aids internal buy-in
DEVELOPING A MULTICHANNEL CONTENT STRATEGY: LESSONS FROM BBC AND RED BULL

27. ALWAYS HAVE AN ONWARD JOURNEY
▸ Look at it from audience perspective: if
they really like a piece of content, they
want the logical next step
▸ Should think where your piece of
content is on the donation funnel
and offer an onward journey that
logically leads them down it
▸ Whether that is towards liking page,
subscribing to newsletter, exploring
volunteering, making a single
donation or becoming a regular
giver, etc
DEVELOPING A MULTICHANNEL CONTENT STRATEGY: LESSONS FROM BBC AND RED BULL

28. ALWAYS HAVE AN ONWARD JOURNEY
DEVELOPING A MULTICHANNEL CONTENT STRATEGY: LESSONS FROM BBC AND RED BULL
Actions
SEE SOCIAL
CHANNELS
SOCIAL
LIKE/ FOLLOW
VISIT WEBSITE
SOCIAL
SHARE
1-OFF
DONATION
REGULAR
GIVER
READ SMS
ONLINE SEARCH
Awareness Familiarity Consideration Purchase Loyalty
User journey using digital donation funnel (used for TAAS)
DATA COLLECTION
READ EMAIL/ NEWSLETTER
WATCH
DRTV AD
ENGAGE WITH SOCIAL

29. PENULTIMATE SLIDE: OTHER POINTS TO CRAM IN
▸ Impress on colleagues – digital moves
fast
▸ Can’t wait to timescale of other depts
▸ Stay glued to what peers are doing
▸ Be risk-positive
▸ But ensure the rewards can be high,
take precautions, ensure risk costs
little
▸ Launched number of innovations:
upfront spend minimal so little to lose
▸ Being innovative helps you within sector
– +ve publicity, gets you speaking at
events…
DEVELOPING A MULTICHANNEL CONTENT STRATEGY: LESSONS FROM BBC AND RED BULL

30. QUESTIONS
EMAIL: MICHIMACLENNAN@GMAIL.COM
LINKEDIN: MICHIMACLENNAN
TWITTER: MICHIMACLENNAN
WEB: MICHI.ORG.UK
DEVELOPING A MULTICHANNEL CONTENT STRATEGY: LESSONS FROM BBC AND RED BULL

31. The future of
engagement:
developing audience-centred strategies
Sponsored by
25 April 2018
London
#CCaudience

32. Visit the CharityComms
website to view slides from
past events, see what events
we have coming up and to
check out what else we do:
www.charitycomms.org.uk