GREEN UP GUIDE TO PUBLICITY This guide will provide instructions on effective ways to inform the public about Green Up Day. Green Up Vermont is a 501(3)3 non-profit organization dedicated to cleaning up the state of Vermont. On the first Saturday in May annually, Green Up Vermont sponsors a state-wide Green Up Day and Town Coordinators organize volunteers to clean up roadside trash in their respective towns. Green Up Vermont provides the well-known bright green bags for collection of trash. Visit our website: www.greenupvermont.com Email: greenup@greenupvermont.com Call us: 1-800-974-3259, or 1-802-229-4586
Table of Contents Preface.....3 Traditional Publicity..4 Social Media Introduction....5 Front Porch Forum....7 Facebook.. 10 Twitter....13 Instagram....16 #GreenUpVermont 2
Preface It is important to remember that you know your community best. This Publicity Guide will provide some ideas and insights into popular methods of getting the public s attention, but this does not mean the methods within are necessarily right for you or your community. This guide will include the following: Get the word out! A small section detailing traditional publicity methods A detailed guide on using social media to get word out about Green Up Day In depth guides on Facebook, Front Porch Forum, Twitter, and Instagram use It s important to keep reminding people about Green Up Day! Updated Fall 2016 #GreenUpVermont 3
Traditional Publicity There are many methods to garnering interest in Green Up Day that do not use social media. Announcements at Town Meetings Bulletin Boards Selectmen s Meetings Local Radio Stations School Notes to Parents Town Gazette Mailing to Previous Volunteers Signs in Area Businesses Word of Mouth School Announcements Town Newsletter Be sure to include important information such as where people can pick up their bags, what time they should show up, how people can support Green Up Day by donating, and any other pertinent information. #GreenUpVermont 4
Social Media Introduction If you are experienced with using social media, it is important to make relevant information available such as: Where people can pick up bags What time they should show up Whether they should pack a lunch or not How to donate on their tax form Staying Connected Add tes Smart phones and social media expand our universe. We can connect with others or collect information easier and faster than ever. Daniel Goleman Please use our hashtags #GreenUpVermont #GreenUpDay Tip: Create an email roster of your volunteers Green Up s Facebook link is: https://www.facebook.com/greenupvermont #GreenUpVermont 5
Posting pictures of Green Up Day before, during, and after the event are great ways encourage others to take part. Pictures and other tangible records of the cleanup effort provide the younger participants with rewards for their work. Every single social media site discussed in this guide has the tools needed to Taking pictures is savoring life intensely, every hundredth of a second. Marc Riboud upload and share photos. The following sections will go into detail about using the specific social media sites listed below. These guides are intended to aide inexperienced users with signing up and basic use of these websites. If you read through these guides and find that you still cannot use your desired social media outlet, it is often best to ask the nearest adolescent with a smart phone for assistance. Front Porch Forum Facebook Twitter Instagram #GreenUpVermont 6
Front Porch Forum Front Porch Forum is a community-building service. The purpose of Front Porch Forum is to connect the neighborhood as a community. How to make an account: Go to http://frontporchforum.com. Once on the website, simply enter your town information (street number, street name, city, and state). Enter your name, email, and other contact info to create an account. Add Navigating Front Porch Forum: At the top of your screen, there will be a list of banners available to select. Selecting My Neighborhood Forum will allow you to view posts from your local area. FPF helps neighbors connect and build community by hosting regional networks of online neighborhood forums. #GreenUpVermont 7
Current Issues is a banner that posts about missing items, lost animals, or events. Search Archive allows the user to search dates when posts were posted. Calendar allows the user to see upcoming events for the local area. Compose Posting is the banner that allows the user to post to Front Porch Forum. #GreenUpVermont 8
Business Directory allows the user to search for useful services and other businesses. How to use Front Porch Forum to promote Green Up Day: Front Porch Forum allows local people to post to their community. The town representative would be able to notify and inform the community on upcoming meetings and the actual date of Green Up Day. Front Porch Forum would also allow the community to contact the town coordinator with any questions they may have. Here is a sample copy, paste, and personalize message that can be posted on Front Porch Forum. Hi Neighbors This is (insert name here), reaching out to you about Green Up Day. On May, we ll be meeting at (insert location) at (insert time). This is a wonderful family event that helps clean our town. Last year 21,000 people volunteered and over 50,000 green bags of trash were cleaned from the roadsides. Green Up Vermont is a non-profit and would love to see the people of Vermont donate their time to a good cause. We understand not everyone can donate their time that is why under the charitable section of the Vermont State income tax form IN-111 in section 6, there is still a place to donate. I ll be in touch soon with more information about this year s Green Up Day. To learn more, visit www.greenupvermont.org. #GreenUpVermont 9
Facebook How to appropriately use Facebook? It is possible to like the page to receive updates about Green Up Vermont in your news feed. Add The Facebook Page is a crucial component of our strategy and has many benefits which are listed below: Discoverable: There are millions of Facebook users. People interested in us will search for us on Facebook and find our page. Over 6,000 people have liked the Green Up Vermont page on Facebook already! #GreenUpVermont 10
Connected: Users can like the page, read your posts and share them with friends. (power of word of mouth) Timely: The Page can help us reach large groups of people therefore spreading our network. When setting up the Page, the association chose this address: https://www.facebook.com/greenupvermont. It makes it easy to find. This address will be on our business card. According to studies, Facebook reaches more U.S. adults ages 18 34 than any other cable network. Taking these statistics into account, it is clear that our potential audience is on this platform. Facebook is also an amazing tool to make good connections. Nowadays, people can directly watch video on their smartphones. Since Green Up Vermont videos are sort of promotional including slides and brief speeches in them would make them more interactive. #GreenUpVermont 11
Twitter Twitter is a social media site where members can post and read short 140 character messages called Tweets. It has a massive user base, coming in at over 500 million members. Messages can be sent out quickly, easily, and to a large target audience. Add Some basic terms are outlined below: Following: Following channels or other Twitter users is something akin to subscribing to magazines. It means that if these channels or users create any Tweets, you will be able to see them on your Home page. Hashtags: Hashtags are groups of words or letters preceded by the pound sign. These groups of words are searchable and help organize tweets based upon their subjects. Did you know: In 2015 there were about 350,000 tweets created per minute! Use: #GreenUpVermont #GreenUpDay #GreenUpVermont 12
Making your account: The first step to making a Twitter account is to visit the website www.twitter.com. At the top of the page, in the right hand corner, there will be two buttons: Log In and Sign Up. You will want to click the Sign Up button if this is your first visit. If you already have a Twitter Account, you will click the Log In button and enter your credentials. Once you ve clicked the Sign Up button, you will be prompted to enter your name, email address, and a personalized password. Twitter does not require you to use your real name, but the email account you sign up with must exist for it to be used. Once you ve entered your information, Twitter will prompt you for your cellphone number. This is not mandatory. There is a very small Skip button underneath if you do not wish to enter your phone number or if you simply don t have a cellphone. Finally, you will be prompted to create a Username. This is your tag, the name other people will see and associate with you. Once you ve made your username, Twitter will immediately begin polling you on your interests and offering you channels to follow. #GreenUpVermont 13
Twitter will also give you a chance to upload a photo or picture to use as your avatar and it will give you the option to link your other social media accounts in order to help you find people you may know. A confirmation message will be sent to your email account after signing up. In order to access all of Twitter s features you must open the email and click the link provided inside. If you do not receive this email check your junk or spam folder as it is sometimes filed away automatically. Using your account: Remember to use our hashtag! #GreenUpVermont Once your Twitter account has been made, you should make relevant Tweets about Green Up Day. It is important to let people know where they can come to pick up bags, what time they should show up, and how they can donate to Green Up Day. An example Tweet is shown below: Hey everyone, be sure to pick up your Green Up bags at the Recreation Center tomorrow! #GreenUpVermont #GreenUpDay #GreenUpVermont 14
Instagram How to make an account: To use Instagram, you must possess a smartphone or tablet capable of using the Google Play store (Android), or the Apple store (ios). After downloading the application from its respective store, you must ensure that you have an active email account. If you do not have an email account, you may use a phone number, or connect through Facebook to sign up for Instagram. After connecting with email, phone, or Facebook the sign up process will start. Easy sign up: Add full name (optional) Username Password After you sign up completely, you will be notified through the medium you used to connect to Instagram with instructions on how to authenticate your account. Navigation Following Following an account means that you are subscribed to a person s account, and can see their posts in real time. Did you know: 70% of Instagram users check it at least once a day! #GreenUpVermont 15
Home Button The home button allows you to automatically connect to friends through your contacts and Facebook. When you connect through these means, you can see your newfound friend s updates! Search Button The search button allows you to search for anybody who has an Instagram account. It also allows you to see trending posts and random posts. Photos/Videos The photos/videos button allows you to access your photo album, or take photos/videos. Activity Following This page is used to view your friend s posts in real time. The most recent posts are at the top, while the less recent posts cast down the page. Your Posts This page is used to view your posts from most recent to oldest. Profile The profile button allows you to view and edit your profile. How to use Instagram to support Green Up Instagram can be used to support Green Up by posting pictures and videos relating to Green Up activities. You can connect your Instagram account to other mediums such as Facebook or Twitter. When you post Instagram pictures and videos, they can be automatically uploaded to the other mediums. #GreenUpVermont 16