Wednesday, September 22, 2010

3 tips from New Media Bootcamp - week one



Thank you very much to Pacific Islanders in Communications who sponsored me to attend the two week New Media bootcamp being put together by Los Angeles non-profit LAANE and the Liberty Hill Foundation.

There was a whole host of incredible speakers including Philip Holmes, L.A. Director, Blue State Digital (the group that ran the new media for Barack Obama's presidential election campaign) and Rob Kramer of Campaign Live which is an easy to use low cost tool for fundraising and awareness widgets. It was a packed day but there were some useful concepts that I came away with. Here are the top five.

"A/B Testing"

How will you know if your messaging is maximized for your audience? You should use A/B testing. For example when you send out your email blast to your mailing list split it in half. It is a great way to find out what your audience responds to. For example on your donate button does "join the movement" or "support the cause" work better. If you send both of the phrases out you will have a better idea of what works for you.

Be Consistent

I have to admit that this is a big problem for me with my work. I am so busy running around shooting, writing grants, or just general hustling that I have a hard time getting things like blog posts together. But really posting at least two to three times a week is a requirement. I know this is hard to hear and even harder to follow through with.

Listen

Communication online is not a one way street. The beauty of social media is being about to talk directly to your audience and ask for their ideas and opinions. What better way to be able to cater directly to your audience than to find out straight from them the kind of content they most want to see?

No comments:

Post a Comment