2014 COMMUNICATIONS SUCCESS PRESENTED BY KAREN FERNANDEZ &
2014 COMMUNICATIONS SUCCESSPRESENTED BY KAREN FERNANDEZ &
Program OutcomesSETTING OUTCOMES IS KEY TO COMMUNICATIONSTHIS OCCURS IN OUR PROGRAM MEETINGS
BFC Program Outcomes for FY14
Transform Brown-headed Nuthatches, a species of high concern, into a success story like Eastern Bluebirds by working with partners to install 10,000 nest boxes by 2015.
Advocate for revisions to city & county plant lists - removing invasive and adding natives
Develop an effective communications platform for sharing bird friendly information with our target audiences
Develop and launch a continuing education course for landscape architects focused on bird-friendly landscaping
Educate 100 architects on bird-friendly buildings design (LEED Pilot Credit 55)
Achieve Lights Out during spring and fall migration seasons in four major NC cities.
FY14 Communications Goals
SUCCESS!
Continue to Improve
Quality of Communica
tions
Raise ANC & Staff Profile
Increase Number of Donors &
Amounts of Donations
Increase Cultivation
Increase Acquisition
Increase Engagemen
t
Special Focus Strategy Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4
Primary Communications FocusProgram Program Program Program
Secondary Messages Across All Channels
NAS MessagesPutting Working Lands to Work for Birds and People
Sharing Our Seas & ShoresBird-Friendly Communities
Saving Important Bird Areas
FY15 + Pine Island + Climate Change
Keys to Successful RolloutWHAT WORKED THAT WE WILL CONTINUE
We Have a Formula!
Engaged + Available Content Partners• ANC Staff• Chapters• NAS• Government partners &
NGOs/NPOs
Clear & Accessible Call to Action• Make taking action easy for
audiences• Actions are something that
an average ANC member would want to do
• Create opportunities for people to share their successes
Phased Content Distribution• Creating themes throughout
the 90-day period to highlight different content
• Keep content fresh and engaging all while communicating the overarching theme
Organized Plan• ApproveCommunications
Plan at the beginning of the process
• Project management to get it all done
BFC Example: Elements of Success
Engaged + Available Content Partners• ANC Staff
• Kim Brand• Curtis Smalling
• Chapters• BFC Committee
Clear & Accessible Call to Action• 10K Nest Boxes by
2015• Plant more native
plants• Learn more about
Lights Out
Phased Content Distribution• January – Nest Boxes• February – Nest Boxes• March – Bird-Friendly
Plants + Newsletter
Organized Plan• Plan signed off in
January• BC/DC Ideas + Kim
Brand getting it DONE, Karen managing strategy and prioritization, problem solving
Content Flowed Into 3 Main Themes
Bird-Friendly Plants
Native Plants
Landscape Architects
Bird-Friendly BuildingsLights Out Program
Architects
Bird-Friendly FamiliesNuthatch
Nest Boxes
Bird-Friendly Plants overlap
All Program Bird Friendly Plants Bird-Friendly Buildings Bird-Friendly FamiliesChapters Kits to promote programs Promote brochures to the
ChaptersHave chapters send a thank you gift to architects who are already doing bird-friendly architecture
Create a page on the website with all the chapters selling BHNU boxes
Special Tactics
Package for Bird Stores to promote programs - Plants & Families Map blog post of
participating stores Profile on FB See if they will do
coupons for members?
Do something big around Earth Day to plant natives. Partner with another NC
Conservation org Pitch local media on lists Support on FB
Have Chapel Hill/chapters send a thank you letter/crafty gift to architects who are already doing bird-friendly architecture
Nuthatch Week/Month
Create online kit of “Make Your Bird-Friendly Backyard” - handouts, reuse from other sources
eNews At least 1 article per month about BFC program
Promote family friendly content on the website
Blog 2 posts per month about BFC program
• Posts about the brochures• Profile good gardeners• Profile of landscape
architects who “get it”
• Lights Out profiles• Profiles of architects• Map of Bird Friendly
Buildings across NC
• Profiles of families who do cool birding stuff
• Map of family-friendly birding areas across the state
Social Media FB Change cover photo and
profile pic 2-3 updates per week
about a BFC program Pinterest
• Promote brochures and blog posts
• Utilize Pinterest
• Promote blog posts• Big push around Lights Out
in the spring
• Promote BHNU email list and box sales page
• Utilize Pinterest• Collect photos of BHNU
boxes in action
Media Relations
ANC Program Putting Bird Conservation in our Backyards Our State -
http://www.ourstate.com/
Regional magazineso Walter -
http://www.waltermagazine.com/
o Charlotte - http://www.charlottemagazine.com/
o OBX Edge - http://www.outerbankspress.com/edge/
Create a Bird-Friendly Garden with Native Plants Carolina Gardener -
http://www.statebystategardening.com/carolinas/
Garden & Gun - http://gardenandgun.com/
Southern Living - http://thedailysouth.southernliving.com/category/the-grumpy-gardener/
Garden Clubs - for newsletters or social media The NC Garden Club
http://www.gardenclubofnc.org/ - lots of subdivisions here
Regional magazines - if whole program isn’t a fit Pitch story to associations for their newsletter or social media Architects -
http://www.aianc.org/displaycommon.cfm?an=1&subarticlenbr=9
Get on TV shows http://www.unctv.org/co
ntent/almanac-gardener http://www.unctv.org/co
ntent/inthegarden http://www.unctv.org/co
ntent/ourstate
Pitch story to associations for their newsletter or social media - http://www.aianc.org/displaycommon.cfm?an=1&subarticlenbr=9
Parent magazines/bloggers Carolina parent -
http://www.carolinaparent.com/
Charlotte Parent - http://www.charlotteparent.com/
FY14 Communications GoalsContinue to
Improve Quality of
Communications
• New Tactics• Establishing
Best Practices
Raise ANC & Staff Profile
• Media Relations
• Speaking Engagements
Increase Number & Amount of Donations
• Dollars Raised
Increase Cultivation
• Social Media• Collateral
Increase Acquisition
• Growth of eNews List
• Growth of eBulletins
• Growth of SM Fans
Increase Engagement
• Nest Box Placements
• Native Plants Planted
• Website Traffic• Blog Views
Implementation
Establishing Simple Messages•Put Up 10,000 Nest Boxes for Nuthatches to stop the decline of this native bird•Choose Native Plants detailed in region-specific brochures•Bird-Friendly Families can be engaged through fun activities for all ages•Lights Out North Carolina- how to support migrating birds in your community
Communications Tools that Made a BIG Difference
Reporters love engagement of
people
People Understood and Took Action
Positive Frame on Serious Issues
Public Awareness
Amplified on Facebook
Developed “Chapter Kits” to
share information state-wide
Communications Tools
Clear Calls to Action
GREAT Blog Posts
Media Opportunities
Good Content
Key Tactics: Facebook• Changed the Facebook Cover Image
and Profile Picture for the duration of the communications focus
• Added 3-5 posts a week focused on BFC messages
• Asked community for Brown-headed Nuthatch photos and sighting• Started cultivating interest in BHNU
in October 2013 to “prime the pump” for interest
• Created a series of images with plant facts to promote planting native
• Promoted blog posts to drive traffic to deeper content
Key Tactics:Blog•Worked with Kim Brand to create comprehensive Editorial Calendar of blog topics
•Kim worked with BFC Committee to write posts
•Great variety of voices and topics were covered all while managing staff and consultant's time
Key Tactics:eNews•Changed the header to reflect Communications focus•Included at least 1 BFC story •Drove traffic back to blog posts
Key Tactics:Brown-headed Nuthatch eBulletin•Distributed 2 eBulletins in the focus time period•Specialized, segmented list•Chalk full of timely advice for bird nerds•AMAZING open rate – 60%!
Key Tactics:Media Relations•Developed a program fact sheet and pitched to local media outlets, trade publications and bloggers
•Pitched list stories ideas at once, but focused on the story we thought would be most interesting to the outlet
•Fantastic geographic and story spread. From Piedmont to mountains, golf magazines to daytime TV shows reaching moms.
Key Tactics:Media Event•Held a Media Event in Winston-Salem to celebrate Earth Day and promote special partnership with Habitat for Humanity
•Invited media – press release, fact sheets, pitching + follow-up
•Extended impact with ANC blogging and Chapter Kits
Key Tactics:Video•Created a video with the explicit Call to Action to add a Brown-headed Nuthatch nest box to your backyard
•Interviewed Curtis Smalling + community members
•Staged a nest box build to capture cute b-roll of kids and visited the nest box factory to get b-roll of building the boxes themselves
Key Tactics:Chapter Kits•Created communications packages for Chapter leaders around several strategies. These helped leaders write articles for their newsletters or post to social media
•Included:• Background on why it’s important to
their members• Links to blog posts or web content• Pre-written Facebook and Twitter
posts
•Leaders ASKED for them by the end of our process
Accomplishments
Improve Quality
• Chapter Kits Distributed
• Pinterest Launched
• Cultivated content from BFC Committee members
Raise ANC & Staff Profile
• 11 Media Stories• Media Event in
Winston-Salem
Increase Cultivation
• 50,500 Facebook users reached from 50 BFC Related Posts
• Distributed 3 eNews & 2 BFC eBulletins
• 14 blog posts created
Increase Acquisition
• 500 new e-News sign-ups
• 250% growth of BHNU eBulletin list – 445 total
• Contributed to 828 Facebook Likes
Increase Engagement
• 2,312 Nest Boxes Distributed
• 93% Increase in Web Page Views – 23,460 Views
• 26% Increase in Blog Page Views – 5,006 Views
• 1,298 Video Views
• 15% Avg Open Rate on eNews
Communications Goals ACHIEVED
*Growth compared to previous quarter
Questions?