Welcome to The Loop! July 2021
In each issue, you’ll learn how to take advantage of the resources that are included with your organization’s Council membership. So, take a few minutes to stay in The Loop and learn about all the ways Council services can help you do your job better.
DMAS Takeaways: “A Phone Call is Worth A Thousand Emails”
In the age of the Zoom room, we’ve reimagined how we connect. But as we transition back to in-person, there’s a lot we can take away about how we communicate digitally. At the recent virtual Digital Media & Advocacy Summit, collaboration expert Erica Dhawan led a conversation on improving virtual body language and becoming a more effective digital communicator. Check out a few of her tips to save you time and bring clarity to your emails, Slack messages and more.
“Communicate Your Mind” Mindset. Signals of empathy and respect, like eye contact or a head nod in in-person communication, need to be more explicit in digital communication. Always keep in mind the ask and the priority level in your response, and don’t assume others will understand what you mean.
Hold Your Horses. We know that speed matters, but don’t just reward the fastest person. Consider thoughtfulness as well. To create an environment that values thoughtfulness, you can send questions in advance of a meeting, ask participants to share in the chat box and call on people with different perspectives.
Assume the Best Intent. Give others the benefit of the doubt and check if your interpretations were correct. A phone call is worth a thousand emails!
Find Your Voice. Thanks to our digital world, more people are finding their voice. We can engage our communities in more powerful ways and use virtual platforms to reach more people. Consider the ways in which digital communication can allow for stronger connections.
Keep these tips in mind as you Zoom, chat and email today. And remember that the digital space is a chance to create more inclusive and efficient ways of connecting.[/vc_toggle]
Like, Comment, Engage: Launch Your Company Instagram
By: Alaina Monismith, Senior Manager of Communications and Media Relations
If you’re like me, the lock screen of your phone is full of notifications: Twitter, Instagram, Clubhouse, group chats … and the list goes on. Turns phone over.
But one notification may rise above the rest. According to Instagram, of the platform’s 1 billion-plus users worldwide, 90% follow a business account. And 84% of people say they want to use the platform to find new products. When it comes to building your audience, creating a presence on Instagram for your company or association may be worth the investment.
Here at the Council, we were looking for a new way to reach our audience, engage younger members and showcase some of our favorite community building moments at events. That’s what led us to launch our Instagram account in 2019.
If this also sounds like your goal, here are some reminders and tips as you build and grow a new place for your community.
It all starts with your audience. Who are you speaking to, and what do you want them to know? Think about your typical customer or member, the purpose of your product or service and what your organization’s broader audience values. Consider the demographics of the platform as well. Many of the users fall into the 18-34 age demographic and live in urban areas.
You’ll also want to set a posting scheduling. Creating consistency with your content will let your followers know what to expect and help boost engagement. Start with industry research on best posting times and then continue to hone as you go. You’ll quickly learn by tracking key insights, like audience location and most active times for best results.
And remember – It’s not enough to just push content out. Take time to plan your strategy for engaging with your audience and fostering conversation.
Know your purpose
Define why you’re creating the account and how it will differ from your other social feeds. Goals to consider could be boosting brand awareness, connecting with younger professionals, engaging with customers and more. Refer to your goals often as you produce content. If it doesn’t further a goal, it doesn’t go on your feed.
Next it’s time to create content, and content themes can be a great guide. Peppering in posts that fall into these categories will provide a variety of material while maintaining consistency for your followers. Here are a few themes to get you started:
- Behind the scenes – Who’s on staff? What office events help your team bond? Share an inside look at what makes your company tick.
- Education – What are the main points you want your audience to know? Package facts in a visual way.
- Promotion – From products to consulting services, this is where you sprinkle in what you’re selling.
- Community – My personal favorite. Share events (yes, virtual, too), testimonials and user-generated content to show how you’re bringing people together.
- Inspiration – We can all use a #MotivationMonday quote.
Know you’ve got this
It’s time. You’re ready for your first post. Consider launching in tandem with an event. At the Council, we kicked off our feed during The Advocacy Conference. Launching during one of our largest events allowed us to engage with a captive, digitally focused audience that was more likely to interact with our account. It also let us take advantage of conference branding for photo ops. (Shoutout to anyone who has taken a photo with our IG frame.)
Like with anything, consistency is key. Stick with your posting schedule and content themes, and continue to revisit your goals to stay on track. With time, creativity and consistency, you’ll see your new community flourish.
If you’d like to talk through using Instagram for public affairs, please reach out to Alaina Monismith at [email protected].[/vc_toggle]
Get to Know the Council's Helen Taylor
Ever wonder about the evolution of the Council emails in your inbox? Digital Marketing Manager Helen Taylor is behind the operation! A Council veteran of six years, Helen brings her digital marketing and design chops to email and social media campaigns so you can stay in the know about our programs and offerings. Read the Q&A below and get to know Helen!
I am the digital marketing manager at the Council. That encompasses a broad spectrum of things: marketing emails, marketing planning and strategy, building calendars for our larger conferences, some website tinkering and a bit of graphic design work as well. I like to think of myself as a liaison between the marketing team and the program team.
What drew you to digital and design work?
This sounds a bit cliché – but it found me. I started at the Council doing marketing emails and recognized a missing link in our in-house capabilities — we were outsourcing a lot of digital strategy and design work and as a small organization that can add up. I took it upon myself to learn more about those two areas and started experimenting with digital advertising and Adobe Illustrator and found that I really loved it. The Council was the perfect place to grow those skills, they invested in me taking classes to learn more and as a result we’re able to do a lot more in-house today than we could six years ago!
We’ve all seen the awesome conference marketing. How do you decide on the logos and branding?
I can’t take all the credit. We also rely on our outside design firm for some of the logos and creative to set us in the right direction for our conferences. Once we have that down, it’s more of just recognizing the Council’s brand and tone and letting that drive the design. We have a pretty specific look that informs most of our collateral, and I try to stay true to that. In meetings we talk about our conference branding as close cousins – they aren’t exactly the same, but you can tell they are coming from the same family.
Tell us about one of your favorite Council moments.
Receiving my certificate in PAC and Grassroots Management in 2019 at The Advocacy Conference in Key West! I had been participating in the program for a while, and it was exciting to complete the program. Plus, Key West isn’t such a bad place to visit in January.
What are you most looking forward to with the Council this summer?
As we transition back to in-person events, I look forward to marketing those! I’m excited to apply some of the things we learned about marketing virtual events to our in-person events. We have some fun locations coming up in 2022, and we can have some fun with the designs as well![/vc_toggle]
Take the PAC Benchmarking Survey
Calling all political action committee professionals! We need your help to continue showing the value of corporate and association PACs.
By completing the 2021 PAC Benchmarking Survey, you’re fueling the profession’s largest and most comprehensive benchmarking reports. They provide insights on PAC participation, solicitation and disbursement methods, internal management and governance, leadership involvement, donor benefits, recognition techniques and candidate support strategies.
As a thank you, you’ll receive terrific benefits including a complimentary copy of the final PAC Benchmarking Report as well as exclusive access to a webinar to discuss the findings and their implications for the profession. Thanks for your participation!
The Latest Insights from Nathan Gonzales
Council members have exclusive access to new election insights from Nathan Gonzales! The latest slide deck walks you through the politics of the 117th Congress and looks ahead to what’s shaping up for the 2022 elections. As a Council member, you can incorporate these exclusive slides into your presentations and projects. As a senior political analyst for the Council, Nathan Gonzales also contributes a monthly column in Impact. Read Nathan’s latest column here.
Welcome New Members!
The Public Affairs Council is thrilled to welcome the following new members to our community of 11,000 public affairs practitioners! If you’d like to see a full list of member organizations, you can view them here.
American Optometric Association
American Seed Trade Association
American Soybean Association
Avery Dennison Corp.
Chiesi USA, Inc.
Clif Bar & Company
Core Strategic Group
Diageo North America
FedEx Corporation
i360
JReed Health Policy Strategies
Locust Street Group
Lykke Advice
March of Dimes Canada
Micron Technology, Inc.
Momentive Performance Materials
National Strategies
Northern Indiana Public Service Company
Novocure
Ontario Association of Social Workers
Owens & Minor Inc.
Pacific Biosciences
The Food Industry Association
Waterways Council, Inc
Well & Lighthouse LLC[/vc_toggle]
Photo Contest!
We want to see what you’ve been up to! Have you met up with a colleague for the first time in over a year? Are you as excited about getting back to in-person events as we are? While we’ve all stayed connected through Zoom, there is nothing quite like seeing your public affairs peers in person.
Submit your photo here of your in-person meetings, happy hours, or just out and about with your public affairs people, and you’ll have the chance to be featured in the next edition of The Loop! We’d love to see photos of you connecting with your peers or what public affairs looks like this summer. Snap away!
Additional Resources
- Start Your Path to a Certificate!
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