Communications Committee
This page includes documentation for the Communications committee, which is responsible for distributing group communications through a monthly newsletter, including the monthly meeting announcement. Read on for more information on creating the monthly newsletter, using the Springfield Creatives mailchimp account.
Mailchimp Account, Credentials, and other Details
The monthly newsletter is built using the main Springfield Creatives account on Mailchimp. The monthly email can be quickly built using the monthly newsletter template to create content. Content may be managed using the Communications folder on Google Drive.
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- Credentials & Password: see group administrators for access
- Template to Use: 2019 Template (or replicate the most recent email)
- List/Audience Name: Stay Informed
- From Address: news@springfieldcreatives.com
- Editorial Calendar: Find it Here
- Meet-a-Member Profile Survey: Find it Here
- Communications Folder on Google Drive: Find it Here
Content Guidelines
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- The subject line should be engaging and provide information about what the reader will find in the email. Try to angle the subject to include the things that readers will be most interested in, which usually includes the meeting topic, names of meet-a-members, and job posting alerts. Subject can be formatted as a singular sentence or is often formatted in a “Top 3” style, separated by a pipe, or vertical bar. For example (“Letterpress Workshop | Meet-a-Member: John Smith | 4 New Jobs Posted!”)
- The content for monthly newsletters should be created in small sections or blurbs, one for each topic. This helps avoid a long wall of text, and can cover as many topics as are needed. Generally a blurb should include an image, headline, supporting copy, and link. The link should be formatted as a call to action and lead to the best destination to read or do more.
- The monthly meeting should alway be the first blurb, with a subheadline that includes the date, time, and location of the meeting. The last blurb should always be a jobs posting; many readers look just for that content, so requiring them to scroll to the end ensures they see other group updates as well.
- Call to action language used on buttons should be simple and action-oriented. Some personality is okay, but don’t veer too far from expected internet button language patterns like Learn More, Read More, Attend this Event, RSVP to this Meeting, Get Tickets, Join Now, View Current Job Postings, View More Like This.
- Make sure formatting of each blurb is consistent, using consistent image proportions, language choices, text alignment and formatting.
- Remember that the voice of the newsletter is Springfield Creatives as an organization, so use language like we, us, and you (the reader or member). Remember that readers include many potential, past, or non-members—along with current members. Some are employees, students, business owners, sponsoring business owners or employees.
Gathering Content
Set an editorial calendar for the year, including important topics to cover for certain months and the committee deadlines you’ll need to follow to ensure the newsletter gets out on time every month. It’s important for the newsletter to be sent as early as possible before the monthly meeting to ensure members know about organizational events in advance. Communications relies upon the Meetings & Events committee to relay details, so it’s important to be in touch early to gather information, knowing delays may occasionally happen.
It’s a good idea to reach out through other channels to leadership to see if there are any other topics that must be covered for the group’s needs, but it’s ultimately the responsibility of the board and other committees to relay content they need covered to the communications committee.
Aside from meeting announcement and jobs board blurbs, which are critical for the group, the committee may also decide to include other supporting content that will be interesting for the audience to read, such as Meet-a-Member profiles. Other creative events or initiatives, industry news or happenings, meeting recaps, or other content ideas you may have can also be included on the editorial calendar. For any additional content, the committee will need to create a destination page for that content to live on the Springfield Creatives website, utilizing the blog functionality. This allows for a short description or intro to be included in the newsletter blurb which can link using the blurb’s call to action to the destination page to read the full content.
Creating a New Email in Mailchimp
Log into the Springfield Creatives Mailchimp account. Create a new email from scratch, using the 2019 template, by clicking “Create”, then “Email”, then naming the campaign, then filling out the fields, and editing the design by assigning the 2019 Template as the base design.
Alternately, navigate to the Campaigns section of the dashboard and replicate the most recent email to edit content, renaming the title for the current need.
Formatting Your Email at-a-Glance
See the annotated screenshot below for more information on formatting your email.
