Figuring out where your audience is and what messages resonate the most with them is a key component of our training. Determining the platforms that your audiences use the most can be as simple as looking at analytics and feedback on your current platforms and communication tools.
How many people clicked that link in your email newsletter? Did that interesting Facebook photo get shared by anyone outside of your organization? How many retweets did your last informational tweet get? There is no catch all social media platform for all audiences and the platforms you use may be based on your organization goal.
• Closed information loops specifically to disseminate information = newsletter
• Interactive posts to speak to current audience and gain new audience members = social media platforms
• Story telling = blogs
• Feedback and questions = closed groups
Take a moment to answer the following questions to determine which communication pathway your organization should use, build your organization voice, and create guiding interaction checkpoints.
- What is your organizational goal or mission statement?
- What themes will be represented in your communication efforts? (e.g. agriculture policy, current events, outreach opportunities)
- What is your organizational voice? (informative, educational, active or passive, informal)
- What is the purpose of your communication? What are your desired outcomes?
- What key performance indicators will your organization use to measure success? (retweets, followers, responses, content sharing, link engagement)
- Are there comparable organizations to your own? What communication methods do they use?
Download: Communication pathways