Marketing? Yes, Marketing!

 Publicity is the familiar term. Yes, we want publicity for DKG--that is, we want to give out information that lets others know who we are and what we do. But beyond garnering publicity, we must also market our organization,  promoting its products or services. Actually, marketing comes in two flavors, internal and external. Internal marketing is directed to current members, while external marketing is directed to the key women educators who are not yet members and to the educational community as a whole.

Internal marketing helps members understand and realize the benefits of membership. It is not just updating a website, writing a blog post, and sending newsletters. It isn’t just communicating, either. It’s also about listening to what members want and need and delivering that to them. We must never forget current members. They sustain the Society and are the public face of our organization.

Most members are proud of what they do and love DKG--which creates an opportunity for great external marketing--letting others know about our organization and its remarkable role in impacting education worldwide.  Some, however, get anxious when they think they must have an “official” explanation or memorize something, such as a mission statement. Instead, encourage members to focus on and share why they love our organization -- they already know that by heart!

Every member should be able to answer these questions:

• What does Delta Kappa Gamma do?
• What makes DKG special?
• Who does DKG help? (key women educators and education worldwide.)
• How does DKG do that? (promotes professional and personal growth of women educators and excellence in education. Millions of dollars in scholarships and grants are invested in study and projects proposed by members.)

Ask members to tell stories about how our organization has changed their lives or the wonderful projects that have helped teachers and the community. Create videos of their stories. With every electronic correspondence, include website and Facebook addresses. Create engaging presentations and post them on Slideshare. Create visuals for chapter or state organization websites, newsletters, social media posts and more. Leverage Canva to help create those visuals. (See our blog on Visuals). Make sure members know about these resources and can share with potential members and with others who would be interested in what our Society accomplishes.

With the help of all these tools, you can create a myriad of content, showcasing member knowledge and expertise, doing event recaps, highlighting donations to education, and sharing members’ impact.

You are doing a lot of this now. Why not capitalize on it?

Graphic is from Pixabay and rated CC0

Plan, Plan, Promote

Getting someone else to tell your story is what publicity is all about. It is usually at no cost and effective. The media are willing to promote a non-profit.

General Tips

• Recognize that your group must constantly work to communicate with the outside world.
• Ask what can you do without much (or any) cost.
• Set short-term goals to become more visible to community groups.
• Set more general, long-term goals that will reach beyond your immediate group.
• Collaborate as a team, make a master list of the best ideas and work these into your goals.
• List ways to bolster your PR, i.e. press releases, promotional events, Internet marketing ideas, etc.
• Designate who is responsible for what, including a time frame for each campaign.

Basic Publicity Tools

• The News Release: This should present your story/event after it occurs and include the 5 W’s. There should be a “hook” at the very beginning, much like the lead paragraph in a news story. Including quotes from an expert, board member or keynote speaker lends credibility and puts a human face on the subject.

• Backgrounder: This is an overview of your group (mission, etc.) and would be included with press releases to provide additional information.

• Media Advisory/Media Alert: An advisory is like an invitation to the media to attend your event. The alert is used to promote an event and is sent out a week or so before the event. In both instances, the 5 W’s are always included.
  
  Clip Art is CC0 at this address: https://pixabay.com/en/newspaper-article-journal-headlines-154444/