Queensland Leaders Earn Praise For Flood Communications

This past week has been a torrid time for Australians particularly Queenslanders.  

While Queenslanders lived through devastating floods that covered an area the size of several European nations, the rest of the country sat transfixed by the unfolding tragedy. The floods completely stopped and then dominated the national conversation. And they are likely to be the key topic of conversation into the coming months.

Last week's events were both tragic and historic.  One aspect worth noting has been the quality of local leadership. Here in Canberra I could only witness the unfolding events, but it seemed that local Queensland leaders  did what their communities expected of them - they led.  They were supported by all the communications technology of the modern era, 24 hours news rooms, people reporting through Facebook, Twitter and other digital channels and extensive radio and newspaper coverage.  But we should not forget that their own personal communications in this crisis were good. 

Top marks must go to Queensland Premier Anna Bligh. For  weeks she and her team have had to face the flood crisis first in regional Queensland and then as it affected Brisbane.  She communicated with a mix of authority, technical detail and compassion. In numerous media appearances she impressed as knowing what she was talking about while being warm and down to earth. Her communications ranged from essential information about surviving the floods to the inspirational calls on future rebuilding.  Her tearful line about don't forget we are Queenslanders is likely to merge into State if not national folklore. 

Local mayors in affected towns and cities also communicated effectively.  They spoke with authority, genuine concern for the communities they lead and and every so often with a dash of that Aussie humour that can lift spirits in tough times. 

And really how refreshing all this was.   In  an age of public cynicism about politics, there were local politicians talking plain, in sync with their communities and obviously trying their very best in calamitous circumstances. 

Recent history such as the aftermath of the Victorian and Canberra bushfires shows that today's heroes can easily become tomorrow's villains.  In the coming months critics will pour over every shortcoming and failing before and during the flood crisis and in the reconstruction phase.  Of course there will be many things that could have been done better and indeed should have been done better.  

But let's remember when the pressure was intense and lives were in the balance, many of the people who will be criticised in the future, stood up, communicated well and provided leadership.

Connect With People Who Connect With Others

Key influencers are one audience with the power to help or hinder your communications efforts particularly if you work in a not for profit organisation.   

They are the individuals others turn to for advice, information or help when it comes to making important decisions. They can boost your communications efforts by helping you to reach individuals or groups of interest and by swaying opinion and encouraging action. In previous times key influencers relied mainly on personal contacts to pass along information. However with today’s explosion in social media and on-line platforms the key influencer is often an e-influencer.

Key influencers draw their authority from their organizational status, personal qualities or any combination of both. They might be experts in their chosen field or enjoy professional respect such as doctors, teachers etc. They could lead professional associations, government agencies, businesses or community groups. Or they might get pleasure from  sharing their specialist knowledge or experience through networking. Sometimes celebrities, movie stars or sportspeople are recruited to support causes. While they might create publicity, the community can smell out paid endorsements and their value can be dubious unless they have a genuine commitment to the cause.   

Common types of key influencers for local not for profits are: 

• Members of Parliament, funding staff in government agencies, civic or city government leaders.
• Business leaders.
• People the media routinely quote as authority figures.
• Leaders of patient groups, school committees, service clubs, sporting bodies and other community groups.
• State and national advocacy organisations.
• Academics with expertise in an issue.
• People recognised through national honours and awards.

 A key influencer can help a not for profit in three ways. If they believe in your cause they can give it credibility by championing it within their networks. They can “translate” information into language others can understand and are well placed to pass on information through their own organization’s online and other communications channels.   

Key influencers can also help by:

• Referring potential clients to your services or information.
• Encouraging people to support your cause and to attend your events.
• Inviting you to speak at their gatherings or by appearing at your events.
• Backing your issue in the media, on-line and in daily conversations.

 Key influencers vary from environment to environment.  For example you may be influential when it comes to advising on not for profit services.  However others would probably not seek out your advice on buying a car – unless they felt you had proven expertise in automobiles.

Marketing Is Like Climbing Hills

This past few days I have walking in the Snowy Mountains, Australia's alpine region.  The area around Thredbo has plenty of challenging hills.

My wife and I decided to climb a particularly large hill which took several hours and considerable effort to conquer. Which got me to thinking that marketing is similar to climbing hills in many ways.

• Firstly you need the right gear for both. Ramblers need appropriate boots, wet weather gear, packs etc. Likewise as they start out marketers need the right equipment - a plan, resources plus ample energy.

• Both demand certainty in direction. You can burn a lot of energy on a climb if you amble aimlessly and even then still not reach the peak. A marketer needs to travel in the same consistent direction throughout a campaign otherwise worthwhile results will remain elusive.

• Persistence pays in both undertakings . They require a "one foot after the other" approach . Sure you can sprint up a hill or even through a marketing campaign but that type of effort is rarely sustainable in the long run. Particularly when another hill or challenge suddenly presents itself.

• And finally in hiking and marketing you need a reserve of energy and effort. Something in the tank so to speak. What a pity it would be to reach the top and not be able to follow through to grab the next opportunity.

So the next time I market I will be applying what I recently learned about climbing hills.

Are You An Audience Addict?

 Most organisations want to reach as many people with as much information as possible in the shortest possible time. 

This is a natural ambition because they think this will speed up their chances of success.  After all we humans are an impatient lot and demand instant results. 

The cold, hard truth however is most of us have limited budgets, time and energy levels so reaching everybody quickly becomes expensive and exhausting. We simply do not have the dollars or stamina for this so we need to rank or prioritise our audiences.

Start out by asking which individuals and groups matter most to your business?

The answer will lead you to identify your must reach audiences and help to put a laser-like focus to your marketing. The must reaches are people on whom you depend heavily, who are or will be personally affected by your work or who can markedly influence the success of your services. When it comes to giving attention they must be your number one priority.  Most often they are your staff, volunteers, current and potential clients or customers and of course people with the funding.

Another significant group is those who can help you at some point or might benefit from what you offer.  Their support is less critical so you do not need to spend as much time with them. They could be regulators, kindred organizations or even professionals that refer people to your services. Of course they still need to know about you but not as often as the must reach group. 

A lesser priority still are the people who need occasional information.  For example your local community becomes important at fundraising time but probably don't  need to hear from you continually throughout the year.  

It's wise to set achievable audience priorities  yet recognise they need to be regularly reviewed as your circumstances and operational environment change.

Communications Audit Tool for Not For Profits

Before beginning a new communication journey, it is worth reflecting on the current state of your organisation’s PR and marketing. A communications audit provides the opportunity to review your efforts and assess their effectiveness. 

A communications audit is a valuable exercise whether you are a large or small not for profit. It provides a handy reference point to assess what is working and what is not. Based on this you can then decide what to continue with and what to abandon.

In my workshops I ask groups to complete a simple audit template which takes around 20 minutes. An extract is below. 

Communication activity	Frequency	Budget	Very effective	Effective	Not Effective
For example Brochures

Gather those who are responsible for directing and those who are responsible for carrying out your PR and marketing to complete the audit. Often in small not for profits these are the same people. It is handy to have the CEO or Chairperson involved because they know what is coming up, set future priorities and importantly control the communications budget. 

 Limit the audit to what you have done in the past 12 months and begin filling in the template. 

 In the column labelled Communication activity individually list what you currently do. For example you might use: 

• Print collateral such as brochures, fliers, newsletters. Even list your annual report if this is how you make key people aware of what you do.
• Media relations such as media releases, interviews, media conferences, letters to the editor.
• Digital platforms such as your own or others’ websites, Facebook, Flickr, YouTube, Twitter, Foursquare.
• Events such as those you stage and those where you join with others.
• Word of mouth marketing such as liaising with influential people and asking clients for testimonials.
• Advertising such as radio, TV, newspapers or on-line advertising.
• Direct marketing such as direct mail, email campaigns, telesales
• Other activities.

 This list is not exhaustive but I hope you get the idea. 
 

 In the column labelled Frequency write down how often you do these tasks. For example it could be something you do regularly such as keeping in contact with funding agencies. Or it might be something that happens throughout the year such as approaching the media.  Or it might be something occurring once a year such as publishing the annual report.

 In the column labelled Budget you need to identify the dollar cost of each activity and the number of hours spent on it each month. Small organisations often have little to spend on marketing and PR, but compensate by devoting considerable time to communicating. It is important to identify both types of costs.

In the column labelled Very effective place a tick for a particular activity that you regard as successful and would want to repeat. Or you might rate an activity as effective (which is still a high score) so place a tick against that item in the column labelled Effective.  Or you might judge something as just not working, so tick the Not effective column.

Each communication task can only have one effectiveness rating and assigning a rating is based on either on evaluation data you have collected or an educated best guess of what works and what does not. (More on evaluation data in a later blog post .)

 A completed template shows at a glance the relative effectiveness of each item on your communications menu. You can now decide what to keep, improve or ditch.  Ideally you would want to continue an activity that was low cost in dollar terms and staff time but very effective.  Something that was effective but expensive might warrant more effort to make it work even harder.  Something graded not effective needs a massive overhaul or should be dropped.

You should conduct a simple communications audit least every 12 months and make sure you keep a record.  This then becomes an important document from which you can judge your progress.