2014 COMMUNICATIONS SUCCESSPRESENTED BY KAREN FERNANDEZ &

Program OutcomesSETTING OUTCOMES IS KEY TO COMMUNICATIONSTHIS OCCURS IN OUR PROGRAM MEETINGS

BFC Program Outcomes for FY14

Transform Brown-headed Nuthatches, a species of high concern, into a success story like Eastern Bluebirds by working with partners to install 10,000 nest boxes by 2015.

Advocate for revisions to city & county plant lists - removing invasive and adding natives

Develop an effective communications platform for sharing bird friendly information with our target audiences

Develop and launch a continuing education course for landscape architects focused on bird-friendly landscaping

Educate 100 architects on bird-friendly buildings design (LEED Pilot Credit 55)

Achieve Lights Out during spring and fall migration seasons in four major NC cities.

FY14 Communications Goals

SUCCESS!

Continue to Improve

Quality of Communica

tions

Raise ANC & Staff Profile

Increase Number of Donors &

Amounts of Donations

Increase Cultivation

Increase Acquisition

Increase Engagemen

t

Special Focus Strategy Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4

Primary Communications FocusProgram Program Program Program

Secondary Messages Across All Channels

NAS MessagesPutting Working Lands to Work for Birds and People

Sharing Our Seas & ShoresBird-Friendly Communities

Saving Important Bird Areas

FY15 + Pine Island + Climate Change

Keys to Successful RolloutWHAT WORKED THAT WE WILL CONTINUE

We Have a Formula!

Engaged + Available Content Partners• ANC Staff• Chapters• NAS• Government partners &

NGOs/NPOs

Clear & Accessible Call to Action• Make taking action easy for

audiences• Actions are something that

an average ANC member would want to do

• Create opportunities for people to share their successes

Phased Content Distribution• Creating themes throughout

the 90-day period to highlight different content

• Keep content fresh and engaging all while communicating the overarching theme

Organized Plan• ApproveCommunications

Plan at the beginning of the process

• Project management to get it all done

BFC Example: Elements of Success

Engaged + Available Content Partners• ANC Staff

• Kim Brand• Curtis Smalling

• Chapters• BFC Committee

Clear & Accessible Call to Action• 10K Nest Boxes by

2015• Plant more native

plants• Learn more about

Lights Out

Phased Content Distribution• January – Nest Boxes• February – Nest Boxes• March – Bird-Friendly

Plants + Newsletter

Organized Plan• Plan signed off in

January• BC/DC Ideas + Kim

Brand getting it DONE, Karen managing strategy and prioritization, problem solving

Content Flowed Into 3 Main Themes

Bird-Friendly Plants

Native Plants

Landscape Architects

Bird-Friendly BuildingsLights Out Program

Architects

Bird-Friendly FamiliesNuthatch

Nest Boxes

Bird-Friendly Plants overlap

All Program Bird Friendly Plants Bird-Friendly Buildings Bird-Friendly FamiliesChapters Kits to promote programs Promote brochures to the

ChaptersHave chapters send a thank you gift to architects who are already doing bird-friendly architecture

Create a page on the website with all the chapters selling BHNU boxes

Special Tactics

Package for Bird Stores to promote programs - Plants & Families Map blog post of

participating stores Profile on FB See if they will do

coupons for members?

Do something big around Earth Day to plant natives. Partner with another NC

Conservation org Pitch local media on lists Support on FB

Have Chapel Hill/chapters send a thank you letter/crafty gift to architects who are already doing bird-friendly architecture

Nuthatch Week/Month

Create online kit of “Make Your Bird-Friendly Backyard” - handouts, reuse from other sources

eNews At least 1 article per month about BFC program

Promote family friendly content on the website

Blog 2 posts per month about BFC program

• Posts about the brochures• Profile good gardeners• Profile of landscape

architects who “get it”

• Lights Out profiles• Profiles of architects• Map of Bird Friendly

Buildings across NC

• Profiles of families who do cool birding stuff

• Map of family-friendly birding areas across the state

Social Media FB Change cover photo and

profile pic 2-3 updates per week

about a BFC program Pinterest

• Promote brochures and blog posts

• Utilize Pinterest

• Promote blog posts• Big push around Lights Out

in the spring

• Promote BHNU email list and box sales page

• Utilize Pinterest• Collect photos of BHNU

boxes in action

Media Relations

ANC Program Putting Bird Conservation in our Backyards Our State -

http://www.ourstate.com/

Regional magazineso Walter -

http://www.waltermagazine.com/

o Charlotte - http://www.charlottemagazine.com/

o OBX Edge - http://www.outerbankspress.com/edge/

Create a Bird-Friendly Garden with Native Plants Carolina Gardener -

http://www.statebystategardening.com/carolinas/

Garden & Gun - http://gardenandgun.com/

Southern Living - http://thedailysouth.southernliving.com/category/the-grumpy-gardener/

Garden Clubs - for newsletters or social media The NC Garden Club

http://www.gardenclubofnc.org/ - lots of subdivisions here

Regional magazines - if whole program isn’t a fit Pitch story to associations for their newsletter or social media Architects -

http://www.aianc.org/displaycommon.cfm?an=1&subarticlenbr=9

Get on TV shows http://www.unctv.org/co

ntent/almanac-gardener http://www.unctv.org/co

ntent/inthegarden http://www.unctv.org/co

ntent/ourstate

Pitch story to associations for their newsletter or social media - http://www.aianc.org/displaycommon.cfm?an=1&subarticlenbr=9

Parent magazines/bloggers Carolina parent -

http://www.carolinaparent.com/

Charlotte Parent - http://www.charlotteparent.com/

FY14 Communications GoalsContinue to

Improve Quality of

Communications

• New Tactics• Establishing

Best Practices

Raise ANC & Staff Profile

• Media Relations

• Speaking Engagements

Increase Number & Amount of Donations

• Dollars Raised

Increase Cultivation

• Social Media• Collateral

Increase Acquisition

• Growth of eNews List

• Growth of eBulletins

• Growth of SM Fans

Increase Engagement

• Nest Box Placements

• Native Plants Planted

• Website Traffic• Blog Views

Implementation

Establishing Simple Messages•Put Up 10,000 Nest Boxes for Nuthatches to stop the decline of this native bird•Choose Native Plants detailed in region-specific brochures•Bird-Friendly Families can be engaged through fun activities for all ages•Lights Out North Carolina- how to support migrating birds in your community

Communications Tools that Made a BIG Difference

Reporters love engagement of

people

People Understood and Took Action

Positive Frame on Serious Issues

Public Awareness

Amplified on Facebook

Developed “Chapter Kits” to

share information state-wide

Communications Tools

Clear Calls to Action

GREAT Blog Posts

Media Opportunities

Good Content

Key Tactics: Facebook• Changed the Facebook Cover Image

and Profile Picture for the duration of the communications focus

• Added 3-5 posts a week focused on BFC messages

• Asked community for Brown-headed Nuthatch photos and sighting• Started cultivating interest in BHNU

in October 2013 to “prime the pump” for interest

• Created a series of images with plant facts to promote planting native

• Promoted blog posts to drive traffic to deeper content

Key Tactics:Blog•Worked with Kim Brand to create comprehensive Editorial Calendar of blog topics

•Kim worked with BFC Committee to write posts

•Great variety of voices and topics were covered all while managing staff and consultant's time

Key Tactics:eNews•Changed the header to reflect Communications focus•Included at least 1 BFC story •Drove traffic back to blog posts

Key Tactics:Brown-headed Nuthatch eBulletin•Distributed 2 eBulletins in the focus time period•Specialized, segmented list•Chalk full of timely advice for bird nerds•AMAZING open rate – 60%!

Key Tactics:Media Relations•Developed a program fact sheet and pitched to local media outlets, trade publications and bloggers

•Pitched list stories ideas at once, but focused on the story we thought would be most interesting to the outlet

•Fantastic geographic and story spread. From Piedmont to mountains, golf magazines to daytime TV shows reaching moms.

Key Tactics:Media Event•Held a Media Event in Winston-Salem to celebrate Earth Day and promote special partnership with Habitat for Humanity

•Invited media – press release, fact sheets, pitching + follow-up

•Extended impact with ANC blogging and Chapter Kits

Key Tactics:Video•Created a video with the explicit Call to Action to add a Brown-headed Nuthatch nest box to your backyard

•Interviewed Curtis Smalling + community members

•Staged a nest box build to capture cute b-roll of kids and visited the nest box factory to get b-roll of building the boxes themselves

Key Tactics:Chapter Kits•Created communications packages for Chapter leaders around several strategies. These helped leaders write articles for their newsletters or post to social media

•Included:• Background on why it’s important to

their members• Links to blog posts or web content• Pre-written Facebook and Twitter

posts

•Leaders ASKED for them by the end of our process

Accomplishments

Improve Quality

• Chapter Kits Distributed

• Pinterest Launched

• Cultivated content from BFC Committee members

Raise ANC & Staff Profile

• 11 Media Stories• Media Event in

Winston-Salem

Increase Cultivation

• 50,500 Facebook users reached from 50 BFC Related Posts

• Distributed 3 eNews & 2 BFC eBulletins

• 14 blog posts created

Increase Acquisition

• 500 new e-News sign-ups

• 250% growth of BHNU eBulletin list – 445 total

• Contributed to 828 Facebook Likes

Increase Engagement

• 2,312 Nest Boxes Distributed

• 93% Increase in Web Page Views – 23,460 Views

• 26% Increase in Blog Page Views – 5,006 Views

• 1,298 Video Views

• 15% Avg Open Rate on eNews

Communications Goals ACHIEVED

*Growth compared to previous quarter

Questions?