Goldstreet Designs was proud to celebrate a successful collaboration with the City of Pacifica on the launch of their Fats, Oils, and Grease outreach program. Designed to raise awareness and provide education to Pacifica, CA residents on the risks and dangers of the improper disposal of fat, oil, and grease (FOG) and their effects on sewer and local water systems, Goldstreet worked with Jon, with the City of Pacifica, on the creation of various outreach materials, including video, brochures, and mailers to be shared throughout the public with teachers and city works departments.

Jon explained the importance of changing existing marketing materials, updating their videos to focus on providing concise, relevant information that was easy for the public to understand, and matched with their fact sheets, as well as the city’s website.

Jon noted that residents have expressed interest in additional outreach presentations throughout local schools and city departments. On follow up, he declared the program a success, noting that recipients of the materials have stated they “painted a clear picture on what not to do and how to help prevent adding more problems to the sewers” and furthering “plumbing issues.”

“It has led to more creative ideas [on] how to encourage preventive measures to limit FOG and what not to flush,” Jon stated in a recent success survey. The Goldstreet team is thrilled with the successes of this important outreach program.

To say Central Lincoln was nervous about launching a new community solar program would be an understatement. Various other cities have similar programs that seem to be struggling to take off, leaving the lingering question: ‘how could they do it differently’ and get people excited to jump on board? Striving to ensure success, Central Lincoln decided on a “Go Big and get people signed up fast”, approach.

With the goal of selling the solar panels they built, they wanted an effective marketing plan and materials that drove customers to the project. After close collaboration with Goldstreet, Central Lincoln decided to roll out a full marketing campaign. The first step established a getting started strategy. During this stage, the team spent time determining the target market, and developed characters and materials to resonate with that group. It was essential to pinpoint barriers as well as benefits of community solar by creating a campaign that homed in on their target audience’s concerns. One of the leading public concerns: not having adequate and consistent sunlight on the Oregon Coast to power the panels, was seen by the PUD as groundless, but since it was so prevalent in the community, it was directly addressed by the materials. This made sure the notion wouldn’t affect interest in the program. Lastly, the plan included a direct mail post card, brochure and custom video. This multifaceted approach was designed to create buzz, awareness, and community investment in the program.

On a Monday Central Lincoln sent a direct mailer to the entire population of their community. Tuesday, they launched the video on their website and placed brochures at convenient places for people to pick up around the city. The mailer hit mailboxes on a Wednesday. Central Lincoln PUD was in for quite the surprise! It seems as quickly as people were learning about the Community Solar program, they were jumping on the PUD’s website to sign up. Energy Services Manager, Wade Carey said, “The orders were coming through so quickly that I couldn’t even keep up with processing them. Not only did we sell out, but we sold out 26 hours from the moment people received the flier in the mail and now I have a wait list longer than what we originally had available!”

The power of targeted messaging in reaching their community was decisive in bringing awareness to Central Lincoln’s Community Solar Program. In fact, the success of the program was so great their next plan is to incorporate this same approach across all departments by stepping up their communications and creating cohesive campaigns with similar targeted strategies.

 

Midstate knows that communicating and communicating frequently with their clients is the key to understanding. Each month they send out a newsletter and a Ruralite publication full of articles and information to the members in their community. Their goal is to work with a vendor that creates a professional-looking product that is completed in a timely manner.

Midstate indicated that being able to trust their project will be done with attention to detail is extremely helpful and takes the burden of getting an end product they are happy with out the door. Goldstreet helps achieve this goal for them by presenting a process that runs smoothly from start to finish. With a team dedicated to reading through the provided material and then selecting appropriate images that captures the essence of the articles, Midstate is allowed to have a virtually hands-off approach to their projects. Teresa the Marketing & Communications Manager said, “The entire process works well. I email the project; I am provided with a proof; if edits are needed, I am provided with another proof; and the final approval of the project is emailed to the printer.”

In collaboration with Goldstreet, Midstate sends out monthly newsletters and publications that not only clearly communicate the agency’s messaging to the community, but also achieves the professional quality they seek.

 

Video marketing is a critical component of every organization’s digital marketing strategy. According to eMarketer, 4x as many people would rather watch a video about a product or service than read about it. At Goldstreet Designs, we have the expertise to produce and distribute your video effectively, and in a way that aligns with and supports your organization’s goals.

Our video productions services include:

Whiteboard Animation

Whiteboard videos are one of the most commonly used form of explainer video. They portray a hand drawing images in black or colored marker on a white background and relay intricate ideas in an intuitive way.

Example:

2D and 3D Animation

2D animation is hand drawn animation that is engaging, straightforward and economical. 3D animation is higher quality and has that state of the art feel.

Example:

Live Action (Onsite Interviews)

Sometimes it’s best to pick up the camera and record the real world and real people. Live action video is a great way of bringing out the personality of an organization and connecting with an audience. It’s also a good choice for demonstrating a tangible service or action.

Example:

Video has quickly become the most effective form of content in the mobile device era. Our custom video production team can create a variety of video packages that deliver dynamic visual storytelling straight to your target audience.

Technology and change can be equally exciting and scary at the same time. When Lassen Municipal Utility District (LMUD) decided to convert their community to AMI (smart) meters they wanted to help their customers understand what the new meters were and weren’t capable of. Education is key in any situation like this, so they asked the team at Goldstreet for help with the intention of being transparent and open about the technology without overwhelming customers with “tech talk”.

In collaboration with Goldstreet, LMUD chose a multifaceted approach to informing their customers of the upcoming changes. Door hangers were used to let customers know that their meter had been exchanged or that access to their meter was not possible and they needed to contact the district to set-up a time. Information cards with the FAQs were placed in their lobby and given to the field personnel to have on hand in their vehicles when needed. If a customer came in with a question, a customer service representative had cards with answers they could provide.

Lassen thought that communication and reaching each customer was going to be crucial, regardless of their customers’ feelings toward the change – they were right. The positive response they received for keeping their customers in the loop, providing them an avenue to get their questions answered as well as their concerns addressed, proved to be the driving force in customer satisfaction. One customer said, “Thank you for leaving the door hanger about our meter and thank you for the dog treats too!”

The district’s, Theresa Phillips, said, “The materials we developed, with the help of Goldstreet, made it possible for us to reach every customer that was affected. We also did newspaper, radio, web site and social media outreach, but without a doubt, the printed materials that we were able to deliver to our customers were the most effective. The quality of the material, the information presented and the fact that customers had something they could refer to helped our utility achieve our communication goal.”

After the roll out of this program the only thing Lassen Municipal Utility District said they would have done differently was to have ordered more “sorry we missed you” door hangers as they were essential to rescheduling missed installs.

In partnership with Goldstreet, Lassen Municipal Utility District was able to educate their community of upcoming changes to the meter system they were used to and create trust with their customers while they adjusted to a needed upgrade in technology.

Recent studies have shown that people are choosing videos as the way they prefer to receive information. YouTube is the second largest search engine on the Web, with over one billion daily users. According to Hubspot research in 2017, video content was the most memorable media type, in comparison to text and images. Videos have also been proven to demand more consumer attention than any other media source. 54% of consumers say they want to see videos from the companies they engage with, making videos a powerful way to build trust with your community and humanize your company.

With video becoming more and more popular, you may have wondered about creating a video for your public education and outreach campaign. But what to do if you don’t have the budget to hire a full video production team? Don’t worry, consumers don’t expect a full Hollywood production every time. We’ve put together some easy-to-follow tips to help you create your own video.

1. Content is Key.

Viewers want to be educated. Video makes it easy to explain complex topics and share information widely via email, your website, and social networks, as well as through advertising outlets, like movie theater and TV commercials.

People are most likely to engage with and share videos that inspire action and emotion, so the quality of the content is crucial. It’s important to first define the message you want to convey, and then break down the information into bite-sized pieces that customers can relate to, avoiding jargon whenever possible.

Think of this process as simple storytelling. The more informative the content, the better. Write out all out your ideas and collaborate with your team. Remember to work out those jitters, and get your presenters comfortable with the content before the camera is rolling!

2. Don’t Worry About Expensive Equipment.

That handy little smartphone in your pocket can shoot high quality video. We recommend an iPhone 6 or newer a Go-Pro or Android for the best camera capabilities. Before you get started, turn off your notifications, make sure you have enough storage, and clean the lens. Shoot in landscape instead of portrait orientation.

Because the microphone will pick up the excess noise our ears tend to tune out, you’ll want to carefully choose an environment that is conducive to recording. Bad audio can ruin a video. Whether you’re indoors or outdoors, get close to your subjects or try using two phones – one acting solely as a microphone. If you’re inside, turn off any background noises, like air conditioners or refrigerators.

To get the very best video quality, you’ll want to mount your phone on a tripod to stabilize the camera. Think about how you want to frame your shot, and place the subject at a slight angle. Avoid using the zoom on your camera, as this can make the video blurry. Adjust your lighting in your phone settings, and don’t use your phone’s flashlight feature to brighten up the shot. Try to have only one main light source, so you don’t end up with shadows or halos around your subjects.

3. Put It All Together.

Once you have all your footage, it’s time to edit the video together. This is probably the hardest part of creating your video. There are several free editing apps you can use to pull everything together. Some apps work on your phone, but we recommend using a desktop version with more robust features. Our favorite free apps include Magisto and Adobe Premiere Clip for Android phones, and Apple iMovie and GoPro Splice, for Apple products.

Remember that you don’t have to do it all. You can bring in experts to help enhance the video and add a little extra flair. This doesn’t have to be expensive — you can often find editors for as little as $100. If you need help creating and simplifying your content or putting your raw footage together with graphics and voiceovers, there are plenty of professionals who can help.

We hope these tips have given you the confidence to take a leap and start creating videos for your education and outreach campaigns. If you want even more in-depth tips, feel free to watch the full presentation here: Making Videos on a Shoestring Budget.