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Marketing and communications strategies

Marketing and communications strategies. Catherine Gater EGI Deputy Director. Why communication?. Publicise project results through case studies Show funders that the work has an impact Inform new users of what is possible with the e-infrastructure Build a sense of community

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Marketing and communications strategies

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  1. Marketing and communications strategies Catherine Gater EGI Deputy Director

  2. Why communication? • Publicise project results through case studies • Show funders that the work has an impact • Inform new users of what is possible with the e-infrastructure • Build a sense of community • Publicise the outcome of events • Ask researchers to blog and share their work • Use social media to encourage networking • Sustainability of the e-infrastructure • Bringing new communities on board brings in new resources and funding for the future

  3. Lessons learnt • Communicate regularly with your colleagues eg newsletters, emails, updates, web news • Collaborate with other projects – spread the load and share communications channels • The press are interested in what e-infrastructures are for, not how they work • Build a story – publish a series of articles in one publication over time to engage an audience • Establish relationships with media partners egiSGTW, HPCwire • The LHC start up generated a lot of media interest, now we have the Higgs effect

  4. Lessons learnt • Make your materials visually appealing • One size does not fit all – channel content to the right readers eg general public, users, new users • Case studies, case studies and more case studies • Annual reports – give a professional impression • Goodies! T-shirts, pens, gadgets are always popular • Make events interactive – use hash tags, blogs, mobile phone apps • Leverage publicity around events

  5. Talking to different audiences

  6. The message box

  7. For all audiences… • Know your message or story • Identify the "so what" element for different groups • Eliminate jargon from your story • Find colour, anecdote, personalities • Look for novel, interesting, unexpected applications EGI Community Forum, March 2012

  8. What the EC would like to see EGI Community Forum, March 2012

  9. EC Advice • Why communicate? • Everyone is a stakeholder.We have to get into the debate – why continue this research?Give the EC the tools to justify the added value. • Success is not just measured by the quality of the research but ALSO by how much it has been noticed. • Demonstrated impact means that the EC can argue to invest in this work in the next Framework Programme. • Is the message that you are sending being received? Aim for communication (2 way) instead of dissemination (1 way). • How to communicate? • Put yourself in the audience’s shoes, adapt the message to match. • Remove jargon, explain simply, avoid overloading with the one way type of information. EGI Community Forum, March 2012

  10. EC Advice • Work with the EC • Let them know in advance of successes to allow joint PR activities • Social media channels available from the EC: • Digital Agenda Facebook http://www.facebook.com/DigitalAgenda • Twitter http://twitter.com/digitalagendaeu • Blog http://blogs.ec.europa.eu/digital-agenda • Technology Marketplace on Cordishttp://cordis.europa.eu/marketplace • Make the website part of the overall communications strategy and keep it up to date • Only issue press releases when they are newsworthy and timely, target local news, your MEPs, and social media. • Acknowledge support from the EU please! EGI Community Forum, March 2012

  11. What do we do? The EGI communications team provides two core functions: A first point of contact The communications team provides a presence for EGI at a wide range of events through presentations, materials, booths and social media to attract new users Creation of content/materials Leaflets, news stories, newsletters, articles all support the first contact but may also in some cases are the first encounter with the grid for potential users

  12. Central services • Consultancy – communications and media outreach general consultancy; copy proof reading; and impact assessment of communication tools such as websites. • Print design – high quality and innovative print design for posters, postcards, brochures, leaflets, exhibition booth materials, banners. (Examples of publications are available on the EGI website) • Web and graphic design – custom built web graphics and interactive web sites. (The team has produced the EGI flagship website and the EGI event websites for the User, Community and Technical Forums) • Video creation – onsite filming at events, editing, sound design and promotion of video content. (EGI videos are online on YouTube) • Social media – development of social media strategies, support in setting up and optimising social media feeds, management of the output through tools such as IFTTT (If This Then That) and measurement of impact using tools such as Klout.

  13. Central services • Blogging – consultancy on setting up blogs, managing blogging tools, expertise in organising volunteer contributions. (The EGI blog is online based on Pebble) • Science writing - professional journalistic writing services including features, news, policy briefings and content optimised for print, web, blogs and social media. • Newsletters – production of newsletter templates, consultancy on content writing. (The EGI Inspired newletter is issued quarterly by email and on the website) • Event logistics and promotion – experience of organising the EGI annual meetings, the Technical Forum and Community Forum, attended by 400-600 delegates. • Media outreach – contacts in trade publications such as International Science Grid This Week, HPCwire, HPCinthecloud and Datanami, outreach through the Alphagalileo press service, consultancy on press releases and news items. • Media training – one day courses for communications professionals in press release writing, news values, social media tools and developing messages. (Examples of training delivered and organised by the EGI team are included on the wiki)

  14. Useful links • Publications: http://www.egi.eu/news-and-media/publications/ • Website: http://www.egi.eu/ • User Forum website: http://uf2011.egi.eu/ • Community Forum website: http://cf2012.egi.eu/ • Technical Forum website: http://tf2012.egi.eu/ • Videos: http://www.egi.eu/news-and-media/videos/ • Social media: http://www.egi.eu/news-and-media/press/social_media.html • EGI blog: http://www.egi.eu/blog/ • Newsletters: http://www.egi.eu/news-and-media/newsletters/ • Press cuttings: http://www.egi.eu/news-and-media/press/ • Media training: https://wiki.egi.eu/wiki/TNA2.2_Dissemination

  15. What you can do… • Tell us about your events – we’ll add them to the calendar • Tell us about your case studies – we’ll publicise them • Send us your user leads – we can put them in touch with the right people • Send us your quarterly statistics – press cuttings, events organised and attended, publications, webstats etc • Link to the website • Show the videos • Re publish the case studies • Request materials for your events • Interact with us on social media

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