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Of:
Building An Effective Marketing Communications Team
Michele Levy
May 16, 2012
Sponsored by:A Service
Of:
Advising nonprofits in:
• Strategy
• Planning
• Organizational Development
www.synthesispartnership.com
(617) 969-1881
INTEGRATED PLANNING
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Affordable collaborative data
management in the cloud.
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Today’s Speaker
Michele Levy Chief Marketing Officer,
Walnut Hill School for the Arts
Hosting:
Sam Frank, Synthesis PartnershipAssisting with chat questions: April Hunt, Nonprofit Webinars
Today’s discussion topics
• What’s the new context for marketing in a nonprofit
environment?
• What’s the difference between a traditional
communications function and an integrated marketing
communications function?
• How do I evaluate the skill set I need to meet my
marketing communications goals?
• How can I build a culture of marketing across my entire
organization?
Multichannel engagement:
A blessing and a curse
The marketer’s dilemma
How can I build a team
that will help achieve
my organization’s goals,
while working within
my organization’s
resource realities?*
*without making myself insane?
• Know your goals
• Know your audience
• Know your most effective channels
Start (and stay) grounded
Let’s face it…
• You can’t do everything
• You can’t reach everyone
• You can’t possibly make effective
use of every single channel available
So first…
Quick question
• How many people in your organization are full time
dedicated to marketing communications?
• A second take…how many people have a marketing
role in addition to their “regular” jobs
An evolving role
Communications
Department
An evolving role
Integrated
Marketing
Communications
Team
What does that mean???
It’s not just about
PR and publications
any more…
Historic properties
Traveling
exhibitions
Library &
archives
Publications
Speaking
engagements
HistoricNewEngland.org
BRAND PROMISE
Bringing to life the heritage and
stories of New England through
the homes and possessions of
those who lived here.
Public education
programs
Outbound
marketing
Development
communications
Requires a broader skill set
• Great writer (still), but across a broader range of media
(writing for an annual report ≠ writing for the web ≠
writing for online newsletters ≠ writing for social media)
• But perhaps more broadly, a prolific content generator
and repurposer (written, video, photo, audio)
• Marketing generalist (traditional + new channels)
• Proactive communicator and connector
• Strategic counsel, broad perspective
• Rockstar project manager
• Stickler for quality and brand consistency
• Metrics driven
• Up to date on best practices and emerging
tools/channels
Ideally…
A combination of
“big picture thinking” and
“roll up your sleeves doing”
The special sauce
“Sprinkled among every walk of life…
are a handful of people with a
truly extraordinary knack of
making friends and acquaintances.
They are Connectors.”
- Malcolm Gladwell, The Tipping Point
Finally…
Don’t just sit there.
Marketing…it’s everyone’s job
Educate
Equip
Reward
Communicate
Repeat
Integrate across the entire organization
Develo
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Be present, be helpful,
but don’t take orders.
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