Master Class term 1, 2014 comms strategy

School Newsletter Research June 2013: Denis Masseni1

Master Class term 1, 2014

Communications Strategy: featuring newsletter research


Master Class: Getting the communications balance right without driving yourself mad


Communications for the time poor and low tech


I’m only here because I needed to get some shopping done in the city


The Punch line


Communications; it’s that simple

You manage 2 content categories

Your website does 3 things

Engagement happens in 2 ways


The Background


The School Newsletter Research


What prompted the newsletter research?

“I don’t know why we bother. You get tired of saying to parents - it

was in the newsletter”


Research Methodology


Content Mix

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Content Mix: By type

School Newsletter Research June 2013: Denis Masseni

COMMUNITY10%: Extra curricular activities10%: Community news10%: Advertising

INTERNAL15%: Principals message3%: Compliance2%: Admin impacts

STUDENTS25%: Student activities/showcasing5%: Student acknowledgements7%: Dates affecting students

PARENTS2%: Parents supporting learning2%: Parent education3%: P&F/C4%: Dates affecting parents


Today’s newsletter

COMMUNITY 30%

INTERNAL 20%

STUDENTS 37%

PARENTS 11%


The Statistics

Average number of articles 23Average number of pages 5Average number of hours to publish 5Average hourly rate $40PA cost weekly cycle $8,000Fortnightly cycle $4,000


Observations


The format of the school newsletter hasn’t changed since photocopiers were introduced to schools.

The Newsletter


The newsletter format pre-dates the internet, smart phones and 2 working parents. It also pre-dates a time when

information was scarce.


What schools told us

• No school said its newsletter readership was high

• Schools that moved from weekly to fortnightly publishing heard crickets

• No school could articulate its communication strategy


The newsletter culture is so strong that ‘it’ drives the school instead of the school

driving ‘it’.


The school newsletter is driven by

space and time, not by a communications

strategy


More observations

• Almost no reference in the school newsletter to the school’s website– Calendar synch very low– Missing opportunities to build resource culture


Managing 2 independent publishing mediums

• Word/Publisher & Website – Print vs Digital• Resource strapped environment• Merge and manage one

http://www.google.com.au/url?sa=i&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&frm=1&source=images&cd=&cad=rja&docid=GNhHf5pmK-LvIM&tbnid=_EiyX8icEtCVWM:&ved=0CAUQjRw&url=http://www.news.com.au/national-news/queensland/new-driving-tests-designed-to-stop-carnage/story-fndo4ckr-1226536433239&ei=EdGiUee4I4WjkgWn-IDgCg&bvm=bv.47008514,d.dGI&psig=AFQjCNE0WeiF9lUoCSSHGa6lh26LrvEuUQ&ust=1369710882265244


Most of a school newsletter is a PR exercise

A definitionPublic relations is the deliberate, planned and sustained effort to establish and maintain mutual understanding between an organisation (or individual) and its (or their) publics.

Public Relations Institute of Australia

http://www.google.com.au/url?sa=i&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&frm=1&source=images&cd=&cad=rja&docid=Lidz0uOtO5KEyM&tbnid=yMwD8n-gHh2rgM:&ved=0CAUQjRw&url=http://www.thepressreleasesite.com/why-you-must-take-your-public-relations-campaign-online-in-2009.html&ei=hdOiUcWgF4LmkAXIgIHQBw&bvm=bv.47008514,d.aGc&psig=AFQjCNFSj7oEn_Tq1y3sbMDOPP27DYBLGA&ust=1369711840958752


Big assumption was audience is ‘like-minded’

“Our parents like ………….”

‘Squeaky wheel’ formed the research base


Conclusion


You manage 2 content categories

LogisticsPR


Newsletter content

LogisticsPR

What do you want people to do?

What do you want people to feel?

20%

80%

Must know

Optional


Culture is to publish articles rather than content outcomes

What business is Shell in?

EnergyWe’re seeking the article outcome. What do you want

people to ‘feel’ about the school?

A Communication Outcome

1: Building community confidence in our teaching staff’s capabilities.

Even our teachers never stop learningCongratulations to Margaret Masseni on completing her Masters of Education – Student Wellbeing. It was 2 years of study giving up many nights and weekends following her passion. “It’s been a life long ambition of mine to study at Melbourne Uni. I’m very fortunate to have married such a wonderful husband as Denis who’s intellect has been a beacon of inspiration to me. I aspire to his greatness.” Said Margaret choking back the tears.

Communication Outcome

Content

1: Building community confidence in our teaching staff’s capabilities.

Even our teachers never stop learningCongratulations to Margaret Masseni on recently completing her Masters of Education – Student Wellbeing. It was 2 years of study giving up many nights and weekends following her passion. “It’s been a life long ambition of mine to study at Melbourne Uni. I’m very fortunate to have married such a wonderful husband as Denis who’s intellect has been a beacon of inspiration to me. I aspire to his greatness.” Said Margaret choking back the tears.

Communication Outcome

Content + Frequency + Medium

Communications Strategy


One reason why the newsletter is not being read; the ‘must know’ and ‘optional’ mix

not

timel

y

timel

y

not important important

How much of a newsletter effects me? Can be down to 4%

http://www.google.com.au/url?sa=i&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&frm=1&source=images&cd=&cad=rja&docid=KlDMJKYGRvsHiM&tbnid=WCq0dEjB_ddYSM:&ved=0CAUQjRw&url=http://www.mozambique-gas-summit.com/programme-2/interactive-seminars/big-tick-green/&ei=XdKiUYecH8nnkgXBqoGoDw&bvm=bv.47008514,d.dGI&psig=AFQjCNGWB07GSeI85_n-2uQkg2jRzhNDow&ust=1369711578503647

wiifm

Dates effecting meMy kids

Classroom

The rest

My InterestContent Mix


Communications Context: How platforms, devices and

publishing frequency matters.

34

Context Rule 1: Frequency is context

http://allfacebook.com/socialcode-best-practices-engagement_b107019

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Frequency is ‘context’

2 choices;

to deliver 1,000 words every 2 weeks or

deliver 100 words per day, which has the best engagement?

Imagine if Facebook was a fortnightly newsletter from your ‘friends’. Would you read it? Same

content, different context.

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Time of the day is ‘context’

Research: several thousand subscribersOpen rate 40%Highest open rates occurred on Sundays

emails sent from 6 a.m. to 7 a.m. are about three times more likely to be opened than emails sent at 4 p.m

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Time of the day is ‘context’

• Most brands post during the week• Best engagement is on weekends

http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-505125_162-57411092/the-best-time-to-send-email-so-it-will-get-read/

Why not experiment and become the only school that delivers content to parents when they’re most likely to absorb it

…..on weekends. In fact why not send your newsletter twice?


Often it’s not the content that’s missing the mark but the context

40

Context Rule 2: Devices and platforms are context

http://allfacebook.com/socialcode-best-practices-engagement_b107019

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http://www.google.com.au/url?sa=i&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&frm=1&source=images&cd=&cad=rja&docid=HOIzCBKowsn-iM&tbnid=zMhASjWnHRClNM:&ved=0CAUQjRw&url=http://www.bloggingpro.com/archives/2012/07/16/flickr-is-for-more-than-just-photos/&ei=YUJaUeTPN4qGlAX9jIHIAg&bvm=bv.44442042,d.dGI&psig=AFQjCNHbKrJK6_JR2F8Qc7azxm7GEYd-zA&ust=1364956123060307

http://www.google.com.au/url?sa=i&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&frm=1&source=images&cd=&cad=rja&docid=bK20-liB-DN55M&tbnid=kL7kaEunGwwlfM:&ved=0CAUQjRw&url=http://www.w3resource.com/API/google-plus/tutorial.php&ei=l0JaUafLG8KekQWQmIGwBQ&bvm=bv.44442042,d.dGI&psig=AFQjCNENPrVPTUE7buL1Ma5krP0mVYkk3Q&ust=1364956178944103

44

Receivers

Push out

Pull in

45

PR/LogisticsStumble upon

Bite sizeTone/vibe

PR/LogisticsEfficient

SkimmableMultiple stories

LogisticsAlerts

Ergonomic


Your website does 3 things

1: Community portal; latest news2: Allows community to self-serve 3: Your virtual front door


Engagement happens in 2 ways

Relevance: hitting the mark; my child’s involved (20%<)

Content Merchandising: making content accessible; you’ve made me want to read.

device – platform – frequency - content


Communications Eco System

Receiving

Push out

Pull in

Logistics

PR


An uncomfortable map for you to consider

You need a communications outcome plan

Public Relations• Write on your homepage as you go – about 1 article per day• Push out the 10 articles fortnightly; experiment with

time/day• Email with notifications also via facebook and app

Logistics• Write on the homepage and populate calendar as you go • Push out as early as possible • Scoop up in fortnightly summary• Email with notifications also via facebook and app


Future sponsor-ed upgrades

The app: we love push notificationsAllowing web content to be pushed out to a phone app

An articleA calendar event

A webpageAn email

&

Phone

Pushing out: web page

Pushing out: a calendar event

Hawthorn West Primary School EVENT: Boroondara Division Swimming Carnival, August 5, 9:30AM – 12:30PM read more

This the way every post appears; exactly the same for facebook, twitter, and phone. For email the school’s name and email from are already in the email. The subject line becomes ‘EVENT’

http://hawthornwestps.vic.edu.au/eventdetails/175/2014-02-27

Date is converted

What an email push looks like

• It’s the same whether it’s a push from an Article of Webpage

Article heading or Web page heading.In the case of an event, the subject line becomes EVENT.

What a phone push looks like

Tagged with the school’s name

Goes back to Article url or web page from where it was written

Hawthorn West Primary School: Principal’s Message, our school is a …….. read more

Article or page title

Alerts summary

The last 6 (?) items pushed-out to the phone are listed in an Alerts summary available in a section.

This is required because once a push-out has occurred there’s no way of checking what was pushed if you didn’t react to it on receipt.

New Article rule

If nothing is written in the second box, the second box is auto populated with the content from the first box

Pushing out in an email

In the email client, we need a facility to push out an alert that the newsletter’s now available. Notification to go to phone, facebook, twitter

I think if you add a second text box like in Article and allow the user to write what they want and have device tick boxes underneath to push to

Push-out text

Insert text here

Phone


Calendar Summary


Calendar Summary

14: Grade 5 Zoo16: Trivia night24: Parent teacher night28: 1 week to go to hols

Master Class term 1, 2014 comms strategy

Education

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