Promoting Age-Friendly - Marketing and Publicity
Promoting Age-Friendly - Marketing and Publicity
Introduction
Messaging is critical to the success of age-friendly communities—from personal invitations to working with the press to designing an engaging poster. Join us for examples from the field of developing an effective multi-pronged approach.
Strategic Communication, with special guest Shara Dee, Communication Officer, South Portland, who described the broad communication strategy she is implementing to increase awareness of Age-Friendly South Portland. One win she shared is that the publicity that used to promote the Snow Shoveling Program allowed them to triple the number of volunteers available this year! As part of her presentation, Shara shared a promo video about the program that they are looking forward to sharing on public access television when the 2024 shoveling season begins. Shara shared a few resources with us:
Canva. A few of you mentioned that you tried Canva but found it confusing. The online tutorials can be helpful but the best way to learn it is to explore and play with it. We also had this reminder from Judy Ashby. Canva Pro is free for non-profits!
There was a discussion of MailChimp and Constant Contact to distribute a newsletter. Mailchimp is free to use until your distribution list goes over 1000. Elizabeth Singer said she has a slight preference for Mailchimp because it is cheaper to use, even when you are no longer eligible for a free account.
Lisa Joyce, Volunteer Snow Shoveling Program
Community Panel
Elizabeth Singer - Community Relations Coordinator, Cary Medical Center & Chair, Age-Friendly Caribou, described the approach she uses to get word out about the many programs Age-Friendly Caribou is implementing (including the suggestion that she may try being a modern town-crier). These are a few resources she shared:
** Elizabeth Singer, On Social Media (the best tutorial we have ever seen on using social media)
Elizabeth Singer, Secret Santa Program
Every Door Direct for direct mailing at a reasonable price
Recommended all-in-one social media organizing tools
Donna Palmer - Editor-in-Chief, Lifelong Maine News
Click here to visit the Lifelong Maine Publicity Tool Box (samples of communication for you to copy and customize for your community)
And more! Master Class participants shared these hints, tips, and resources:
Marianne Pinkham (Lincoln County) shared this resource from the national Resource Council of state-wide newspapers with links to submit letters to the editor.
Chloe Gray (Age-Friendly Portland) mentioned that she has had great success with lawn signs and suggested that age-friendly groups reach out to ask the resident service coordinator of congregate housing units for older people if it is possible to make a presentation or share a flyer for an upcoming event.
Nancy Crowell (Age-Friendly South Portland) told us that Scarborough allows groups to have a table at the polling locations, which is a great way to share information about your work (or even to get survey responses!)
Sharon Kelly (Berwick for a Lifetime) wrote in the chat that, "Sandwich boards were the bane of my existence here at the library. You need people to keep track of them, create the message every week, pick up the sign boards when the weather is snowy (plows love to run them over), and then put them back out around town. Oh, and kids love to rearrange the letters to say naughty things. If you have the volunteers, you might be ok. They really were hard to manage here in Berwick!"
Elizabeth Singer chimed in to say that they ask the Caribou recreation department to put information on their electronic sign.
Duane Scott (Augusta Age-Friendly) and a few others told us that they have active Web pages. If you are interested in looking at other community web pages, they are listed in their Community Profile.
Linda Weare (Age-Friendly Portland) shared two things:
Multi-lingual resource guides so that people can access the guides in the language easiest for them
Video about Portland's Age-Friendly Business Program
Jane Margesson, AARP Maine
Intro To Media Panel
Developing a Relationship with Media
What Makes a Story Newsworthy?
Your Lifelong Community - Engaging State-Wide and Local Media
Developing a press strategy, including tricks and tips for writing a Letter to the Editor and successfully pitching an age-friendly story to print and broadcast media.
Jane Margesson, Communication Director, AARP Maine
Jane recommended tapping into resources offered by the National Digital Equity Center and Senior Planet for guidance on using social media comfortably. She will be sending some information for us on developing Letters to the Editor and sending a "pitch" for a story to print or broadcast media. Those materials will be added to our class site.
Jane was joined by a panel of reporters who share hints and tips for developing relationships with local media. These were our panelists:
Shawn Cunningham, morning anchor, WAGM
Click here to follow Shawn on her FB page
Watch the Shawn Cunningham Talk Show on the web
Zara Norman, Reporter, Bangor Daily News
Click here to read some of Zara's reporting for the BDN
Randy Seaver, Strategic Communication Consultant, Retired Editor, Mainely Newspapers/Biddeford-Saco-OOB Courier
Randy has developed a website/blog, Media Relations 101 | LESSONS IN MEDIOCRITY
Laurie Downey, Graphic Designer
David Fitzpatrick, Master of Printing
Graphic Design to Make Your Message Shine
Laurie Downey, Professional artist and retired instructor at Maine College of Art and Design, gave us a brief tutorial with tips and tricks to develop effective graphic designs with confidence. She also provided hints and tips to make sure that your print materials are accessible to people with different abilities.
Laurie's website - https://www.lauriedowney.net/
Resources for designing:
CANVA (www.canva.com) for designing layouts. Includes templates and tutorials
Wix (wix.com) for creating websites. Includes templates, hosting, including email
Coursera (coursera.org) for online classes. Includes classes on design, illustration, marketing. Many are free
Illustrators and designers in your community. You may have some in your group already!
David Fitzpatrick, Proofreader, UMaine Printing. Trying to take your printed materials to the next level? Look no further! David will bring hints and tips to help you prepare your materials for print.
Note: An alternative to publisher that will allow you to open publisher files and develop those wonderfully crisp and clear vector images David mentioned is: Scribus (https://sourceforge.net/projects/scribus/)
And more! Master Class participants shared these hints, tips, and resources:
One participant noted that she appreciates a lighter background because she often needs to print the information and heavy color prints poorly and wastes toner. Another stressed the importance of good color contrast and clear font especially if needed to be read by accessible devices or put online.
Wix.com article to make sure that our websites are accessible
Maine CITE - Information Technology is for Maine citizens to have accessible and universally designed hardware and software that enriches lives and expands job opportunities.
Tech Soup is a great resource for non-profits
Community Toolbox - Media and Advocacy
FRAME Photo Library - Free use photos of older Mainers
Lifelong Maine Publicity Toolbox - Examples from Maine's Lifelong Communities--from Letters to the Editor to refrigerator magnet designs
We are deeply grateful to AARP Maine for their thought leadership and for funding the Master Class.