List of things you can do to communicate for online engagement
Hi all,
After our latest calls and talking about how to onboard people from the local workshops, which OpenCare landing/ non-landing pages to point them to, I’d like to share some of the things we usually do in Edgeryders, maybe some will fit partners comms strategy and can be adopted/ adapted. It doesnt mean that these all work or that I know which works best, but altogether they make for consistent communication for engagement. Even if you are doing physical events, there needs to be interesting OpenCare content to come in handy once people at events look you up. Even if they are not digitally savvy, they might still be willing to interact with a good story if that’s one click away.
Let me know if this helps, and if we should have a call just to dig deeper. @Moushira are you still into this? Want to do some work together, and turn this into a plan that we can all use?
NB 1. It involves picking the most interesting things in the project for them. Don’t assume the project per se being interesting is enough for people to find their way in.
- It involves writing.
1. Personally invite and welcome new people in the online community. This can be a way to follow up online events and email people who were in the room and showed interest.
Example: "I thought a good way for you to get a sense of what people are talking about lately is to point you to some interesting threads. Go ahead and leave a comment with your experience or a piece of advice. This way you’ll dive right into the community and be notified when opportunities come up. Here they are, take your pick
a) When it comes to accepting newcomers in society, how do we transform fear into trust? “I once helped supplying refugees with clothes. Our group of volunteers carried box after box and it would happen that some of the refugees ask to help us. We would refuse their offers and told them that it’s okay to go rest and let us do the work. I didn’t realise at that time that we treated them like children, belittling them, taking their integrity and giving them the feeling of uselessness. Out of arrogant goodwill." Dennis: https://edgeryders.eu/en/a-new-chapter-in-other-peoples-story-books
b) When life is not about ticking off to-do lists and becoming “successful”, how do we cope? “I think sharing our vulnerabilities and insecurities around failing, missing out and not wanting anymore is crucial at this point. Although there are already some great projects bringing these issues into awareness it seems that for a majority of people the stigma around for example mental illness, burnout etc. is still too big to cope with on their own.” Offer Nele a piece of advice? https://edgeryders.eu/en/on-being-a-self-entrepreneur
2. Share on social media consistently. We all have communities following our organisations/ individual accounts.
An easy way is to share the CountOnMe headlines and ping people on social media who could be interested in one of the pieces. A story is always more engaging than linking to an organisation page, an event page, or broadcasting news.
3. Blog about OpenCare or related topics. NB Especially in your own languages!
Over time we keep finding new angles to OpenCare, or new ways of framing the project, without sticking to the jargon in the initial proposal. This is about experimenting with new language, package it with existing project materials or work in our own organisation, and about trying new channels. An example is posts on LinkedIn, but there is also Medium, there are personal websites some of us have, even Facebook notes and so on.
4. Publish calls for participation with immediate, concrete rewards for contributors
These are the meaty opportunities and it’s also why OpenCare Fellowships were designed. People are more likely to engage if there is something that answers these questions: What makes it so special? Why should I get involved NOW not later? What are key ways for me to get involved? An example of call for participation: Submit a story of care to become one of the first OpenCare Research Fellows
Ideally all posts should answer all questions, but we’re learning…