An influence campaign during an election is only as strong as its messaging. In other words, content is king.
Too often, organizations rush to share content without considering their objectives and audience, therefore sending out a diluted message.
Before launching any sort of communications plan (be that one tweet or a full orchestrated campaign), an organization must establish three things: objectives of the campaign, target audiences and key messaging.
Last month, we talked about the best way to respond to negative criticism online. However, that post was all about the reactive – about turning around negative publicity and knowing how to respond.
This week we’ll talk about the importance of preparing ahead of time so your responses are ready to go.
Audit your organization
It might be uncomfortable, but the first thing you want to do is conduct an audit of what issues your organization may be criticised on. This can be done internally, but having an outside agency do it can help round it out and ensure it is more complete (and that you don’t cross anything off the list that you don’t deem “important” enough).
Once you have identified the topics that leave you more vulnerable for online backlash, develop a “Dirty 30.” Simply put, this document should list the 30 negative questions you would most likely be asked to comment on or criticized for.
Even though you don’t have to pay a toll to get onto social media, trolls still abound.
They sit on Twitter and Facebook waiting to pounce on unsuspecting brands, organizations and individuals. In truth, they can be scary. Their methods range from posting negative comments about your group to flooding your Facebook wall with graphic, inappropriate content in an attempt to get you to take it down.
It can seem overwhelming, but there are ways to navigate the – at times – rough terrain that trolls thrive in.
For detailed steps to take when responding to negative criticism, read on!
As the federal election draws closer, political candidates across the country are busy developing detailed strategies for communications and media outreach. Increasingly, politicians are turning to reddit and participating in Ask Me Anythings, better known as AMAs.
The platform makes sense. Last year alone, reddit had:
Each week, Social Circles brings you the biggest news from behind the social networks. Keep up to date with the latest trends, breaking news, and expert analysis from across the web.
This week’s wrap-up includes the web’s newest platform which promises to pay users, updated privacy measures for Canadian military personnel, and Facebook’s new app which takes mobile users back to the days of chat rooms.
Launching a hashtag to promote your brand often provides great potential to expand your reach, connect with fans, and use the power of the masses to help build up reputation. But as Ottawa’s Carleton University found out today, it also provides rife opportunity for subversion.
The school launched a new public awareness campaign this morning to celebrate its 75th anniversary, that follows the theme “Distinctly Carleton.”
As part of the launch, Carleton revealed a new website (as well as a special campaign page) and unveiled massive portraits of famous alumni like former Prime Minister Lester B. Pearson, writer Lynn Coady, journalist Nahlah Ayed, and Ravens basketball star Philip Scrubb, among others.
Part of the launch also included a hashtag campaign.
Save the Date for #DistinctlyCarleton! Oct. 15 at 10 a.m. River Building Atrium #ottnews pic.twitter.com/PLDMz5NwuJ
— Carleton U News (@CUnewsroom) October 8, 2014
It didn’t take long for students and faculty to give the hashtag an entirely different meaning.
Bullying students #DistinctlyCarleton
— Lauren Montgomery (@LO_montgomery) October 15, 2014
Destroying a community garden? That’s #DistinctlyCarleton
— Kelly B (@K_elly_B) October 15, 2014
Spending a gazillion dollars to restart a football team while cutting departmental budgets (not Sprott of course) #DistinctlyCarleton
— Christian Belisle (@Crizco91) October 15, 2014
With a fresh school year kicking off across the country this week for close to 2 million students in Canada, the promise of Frosh Week lingers in the air.
The annual tradition that celebrates the first week of university life for freshmen, and the return to school for older students, is often one of the best parties of the year at campuses from coast to coast.
Contentious and controversial, Frosh never fails to garner significant media coverage. Despite recent calls for Frosh Week traditions to “grow up” or for schools to crack down, the tradition will surely live on in dorm rooms, student houses, pubs, and clubs.
With that in mind, York Regional Police have come up with a brilliant and creative campaign to warn students about the potential costs they could face if they party too hard.
Courtesy of @YRP here is your complimentary frosh week expense list. #makewisedecisions and #partywithcaution pic.twitter.com/vPbfATOPtK
— York Regional Police (@YRP) September 3, 2014
The police force tweeted out the expense list earlier today, which covers the obvious like streaking, under-age drinking, and open container violations (cleverly referred to as “Popping bottles in the back of your friend’s Corolla), to the not so obvious, like putting cement mix in the laundry machine, illegal gambling, and, I quote, “forcing a pet to smoke marijuana.”
Educating students on the potential repercussions from not “Partying With Caution”, as the release says, is important. But too often it gets bogged down in an authoritative tone that’s easily glossed over.
Instead, the YRP have done an incredible job delivering this message to students in a more accessible voice. They’ve managed to introduce some humour to the situation (“Dropping excessive bass at 4 a.m.” and “Downing Jager-bombs in public”) while still reminding students to remain safe and responsible.
Kyle Brown 