Public Relations
This is more of an update than a question..... One thing that surprises/disappoints me is the lack of OSM 'brand recognition' in the Press and by the public.
One way we think we can improve this is by communicating with local newspapers. To that end, @adamhoyle organised us a free 1-hour advice session with a contact who is a PR Consultant. We came out with a list of ideas, none of them too wacky, and will be putting some of them into action. We will start new threads to discuss them in detail.
Meanwhile, if anyone actually does PR for a living and would like to help, even if only to review a press release, then all assistance is welcome.
RobJN Sat 20 Oct 2018 1:50PM
We could certainly do with some volunteer help here. Social media and the like is a nice fun task but requires momentum. A team of volunteers could be good here to help spread the load.
Other areas that are less time intensive included using meetup.com but this involves a fee (10-15USD per month, Pro plan should be available as 15USD given that we are non-profit) and target facebook advertising (from GBP 5).
Jez Nicholson Mon 22 Oct 2018 2:07PM
My notes from the call:
- action plan for the rest of the year
- better name for mapping parties 'Map Attack'
- press releases should be timely
- how to get noticed???
- pitch email should introduce the PR
- Instagram 30 hashtags at least
- Show Instagram feed on the home page
- Facebook seems less useful...except for local events
- e-flyer with logos
- broadening the appeal
- email-only tech groups, eg STEMettes
- listicles (towns with the most Mews...)
- Buzzfeed Community listicles
- Medium.com
- put a human face to each story
- how do you find the media? search online or go an get physical editions from the newsstand.
- Christmas-related item
- Who to talk to on Twitter
- "Northampton University is now On The Map" !
- "All of the xyzs Mapped!" ...."You've been mapped!" some fun
- Accreditation with logo...e.g. University has been mapped
- infographics...data + headline details + guidance on how to layout + logos
Gregory Marler (former Director) Thu 1 Nov 2018 2:53PM
Facebook I think we under focus on. We could do a lot there without paying for ads/boosting (although that can be good). It really needs someone who enjoys/knows Facebook, and that's not me.
Instagram is like the new Twitter and seems to be edging to replace it (at least for promoting stuff and also the "this is happening now" feel). I could be up for setting up an account and doing some focus on that. Happy for people to join me if we can do teams on that.
Jez Nicholson Thu 1 Nov 2018 4:29PM
The steer from the PR Consultant, and my experience trying to promote Open Plaques is that it is hard to get traction on Facebook without spending lots of money on advertising. It could have a strong use in targeted advertising for an event.
Instagram is interesting. OSM is visual. Given that we'd need to post at least once-a-day if not 10s-of-times-a-day what exactly would you post? People like maps, as https://www.reddit.com/r/MapPorn/ shows, but those take individual crafting so you have to have many individuals involved. If it was me, I would autopost map renders with interesting features on...from a list of (for example) UK rude place names, wind farms, football stadiums, anything-else-interesting-that-we-could-make-a-list-of
lakedistrict Thu 1 Nov 2018 7:22PM
You can also have galleries on Instagram (more than 1 photo in a post) so a photo of a real life feature (like a new bridge) and then OSM rendering of it would work well - here's a new thing and we've already mapped it sort of thing. I'd probably unfollow if someone posted more than once a day. For an organisation like OSMUK a post every few days would be enough.
Twitter and Facebook work best with graphics and photos too. I'm happy to help look after any of the social media accounts if you'd like me too. :)
RobJN Sat 3 Nov 2018 12:33PM
@lakedistrict : Thanks for the offer. My concern, which applies whoever is running the social media, is the amount of energy to keep it active. You suggest a post every couple of days. Is this something you can manage on your own, or would you be looking for a group of people to help create content? Thanks.
P.S. Is there a group set-up for Instagram similar to twitter's tweetdeck?
P.P.S. We also can use Zapier to automate steps but from what I see this cannot post to Instagram.
lakedistrict Thu 8 Nov 2018 6:21PM
@robjn A small team of people would be better, since it would mean more regular content. I'd be happy to post something and respond to any comments etc every couple of days, but contributions from other people would be welcomed.
Poll Created Mon 12 Nov 2018 11:20AM
Start an Instagram account Closed Thu 15 Nov 2018 11:01AM
We will take tentative steps to posting on Instagram for promotion and wider awareness. Need to make the process sustainable and good quality.
OSM would work on Instagram as it is visual. We will find a way for a more than one person to contribute and in the process find out what works (types of images, frequency of posts). NB this is just one of the things that came from our PR advice.
Results
Results | Option | % of points | Voters | |
---|---|---|---|---|
|
Agree | 81.8% | 9 | |
Abstain | 0.0% | 0 | ||
Disagree | 18.2% | 2 | ||
Block | 0.0% | 0 | ||
Undecided | 0% | 51 |
11 of 62 people have participated (17%)
Jez Nicholson
Mon 12 Nov 2018 11:21AM
must find a way to keep momentum going (some automation?)
RobJN · Fri 19 Oct 2018 7:28AM
Thanks but it was Adam Hoyle who organised this! Was his contact.