Communicating Community

June 29, 2010 by · 3 Comments
Filed under: Public Relations 

By Susan Long-Molnar, President

Why is the content from so many web sites canned from some industry source? Back in a day, we advised clients not to use canned newsletters, as the material sounded so impersonal and gave little credibility to building a brand. So why should people ignore this advice when it comes to web sites? This is just another distribution channel (although very influential today). Regardless of the media, the message is like perception…all there is.

Are businesses and their employees really not doing anything in the community because of the slow economy? Although they may be doing less, it is highly unlikely that all efforts to give back to the communities they serve have been squelched. No, more often, we find that there just isn’t enough imitative, time, or know how within companies to communicate what they are doing.

Whether you use a newsroom, press release or community page, your company should be sharing your events, pro bono activity, speaking engagements, sponsorships and fundraising activities, regularly. Don’t be afraid to start it because you don’t have something new to say all the time. We encourage, identify topics and prepare content for our clients. Create an internal survey monthly to gather your potential community news.

Do you have an employee with a particular interest, hobby, sport, or charity which could be a highlight on the web site?

Are you sponsoring a professional organization’s outing? Promote the event, share why you are sponsoring, and anything unique in your participation.

Is someone speaking at a community event soon? What is the topic? Share a description of the organization.

Conduct a survey of your employees on how they feel about the company’s contributions in the community? Share the results you feel are appropriate.

Who is on a community board or committee? Interview and share why this group is important and what are the individual’s goals.

Interview the leader of a charitable organization, share the article, and provide a link to the organization.

And the list goes on…There are more reasons to share than to not do so. Make sure you have a good mix of news and that most of what you are doing is truly helpful to the community. Go for it…as you will not only be helping communicate what is important to your company, but you just never know where you will influence others to support a charity or initiative.

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