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Module 4 | Reach out to your audience

Session

2 hours

Theme

Using Ghost newsletters optimally to reach out to, and engage with audiences

Matherials needed

For the particpants: Chart paper (half size), sketch pens, title cards with Ghost formatting features listed like Title, Excerpt, Image gallery, etc (to be prepped beforehand).

For the facilitator: Laptop and a big screen to mirror the laptop screen

Methodology

Ground rules to set for all sessions:
- Bring only the devices you need to the session. Note to facilitator: Explain here what is needed for this particular session
- Mute mobile phones before you put them away
- Encourage the participants to take space and make space. To take up space is to speak up and participate actively in discussions and putting their ideas and perspectives across. It is equally important to make space for others to do the same. Note to facilitators: Ensure you check in about this throughout the sessions, especially by making space for those who are not used to taking up space or struggling to do so.
- This is a safe space, and we encourage everyone to check their privilege and ensure that we do not discriminate in speech or action.
- Do remember there are no right or wrong answers. Note to facilitator: Repeating this during the sessions and activities helps participants speak up more freely.

  • Do a quick question game for 20-30 minutes; note to facilitators: other facilitators can also join in, if needed to make up numbers. This game works well with 4-1o participants.
    - Kick off the game by asking a question related to Ghost.
    - People can raise their hands if they know the answer.
    - Pick a person to answer. 
    - Once they answer, you can check in with the group if the answer is correct. If people want to add to the answer or discuss it, allow a minute or so for this. You can also add extra points or info, if needed.
    - The person who gave the answer can now ask a question, and the process is repeated until all the participants are covered or the time is up.

  • Start off the day's session with an activity. Have the participants gather into their groups. 

    Note to facilitator: This is a good time to check in if people would like to look at a change in the groupings. Depending on feedback, groups can be changed.

  • Hand out a chart paper, and name cards that have the names of all formatting features in Ghost.

  • Give the teams a choice of problem statements to work with. They need to pick one, and think of a newspaper that will go out to the stakeholders. Each team has to map stakeholders and needs, and recreate the front page of this newspaper, using the Ghost formatting features.

  • The points to be noted here:
    - the teams have to work with the available space.
    - they have to figure out 4-6 best elements they will use to convey their stories.stories; show them why all 4-6 elements can be used by placing cards on the chart paper and showing how they take up space.
    - they have to write the actual content for each of the formats.

  • Problem statements can include any of the following, or a new one.
    - An NGO that works in the education sector wants to run a new program that focuses on getting more girls in rural areas to attend schools within a 10-km radius.
    - A college is introducing a new course, and is at the start stage of inviting students to apply. They are also in the process of setting up a new building to accommodate the needs of more students on campus.
    - A collective wants to reach out health care information and benefits to 400 families in a panchayat.

  • Each team gets 30 minutes to discuss and design the newspaper.

  • After this, each team presents the newspaper and explain why they chose to format the 'news' in a certain way.

  • You can choose to award the best newspaper.

  • Explain how a newspaper is very similar to a newsletter that is sent out to members who are subscribed to the website. While a newspaper may come home every day, a daily newsletter may not always be welcome. Unless the topic is of vital interest to the audience. Example of aikyam jobs website, and members who are job seekers. In most cases, an ideal newsletter frequency varies from weekly to monthly updates.

  • Share the screen to explain the basic settings of the Ghost newsletter:
    - Newsletter sending
    - Recipients
    - Newsletter design, branding and general settings
    - Member management
    - Mailgun intro (just a mention)
  • Demostrate, with the example of a few aikyam fellows and aikyam space newsletters how to think through ideas for sending newsletters.
    Examples to use:
    https://aikyamfellows.org/email/7c30f9a5-5a6f-48d1-84da-b99779c08832/
    Use this as an example of a themed newsletter that was all about discoverability. It starts with a story about the missing link in storytelling being fundraising, uses a quote from an NGO founder (relatable, impactful), and showcases case studies where aikyam fellows have worked with NGOs to create websites for discoverability. It then leads to the Tools for Storytelling residency, where interested applicants can apply (Use of the bookmark, button features). The newsletter ends with an impactful case study written by an NGO founder who attended one of our residencies and went on to create an impact storytelling subdomain on his website (points to be covered: migrating stories and members from Substack, regular blogging, tracking)

    https://aikyam.space/all-women-tech-residency/
    Example of a blog post that also went as an emailer, as it was a vital update for us.

  • Explain how the Analytics Dashboard can help them think through what is working, how they can write better newsletters for better engagement. 
    - Top sources
    - Engagement metrics
    - Individual email metrics: members who have received and opened the newsletter, links that were clicked within the newsletter
    - Mention how Plausible can be used to track analytics on the entire website, and on posts that are not emailers as well. Note to facilitator: Plausible will be taught separately in Module 6 

  • Work: Each participant to create a newsletter on Ghost introducing their project or website, to send out to 5 new members. Friends or colleagues can be added as members (with consent), and the newsletters can be sent out to them.
Learning Outcomes
  • An understanding of using Ghost to create and send newsletters
  • An understanding of how to think through strategy around email content, everything from frequency to topics.
  • An understanding of how to use content and various Ghost features to share information and create engagement.
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