Implementing Greenpeace International’s Web Strategy
In late 2020, WAO ran a project designed to help Greenpeace International (GPI) establish a thoughtful and targeted communication strategy for its website. We worked directly with the GPI Comms Department and recommended things to help accomplish GPIs website communication goals. We wrote an extensive report and now is the time to begin implementation of our own recommendations. We’ve prioritised them, sorted them into “jobs to be done”, and we’re ready to kick off off the project. Our plans for the next few months are in this post!
Phase 0: Openness
Essential for the success of this project is the open and collaborative approach We Are Open is known for. We are setting up and running this project in public, and we intend to use open methodologies to help our colleagues in the communication department stay up-to-date on what the project discovers and decides. Of course we are also using open methods to make sure we can listen to the folks who are ultimately responsible for GPI’s communication. We will also hook into the community initiative of the Planet 4 team as well to ensure we take NRO perspectives into account when necessary.
Phase 1: Groundwork
The first thing we need to do is establish some baselines, research some context, and make some decisions that will scaffold the rest of the project. During the first phase we will focus on three “Jobs”: Data, Research and Engagement.
Data
One of the first priorities is a small project for a Data Analyst. Some of the recommendations from the Strategy document make the need for a data analyst clear.
“Website content should take into account that many are coming to Greenpeace for the first time, while others know us well.”
“Increase data-informed evergreen content as part of a SEO strategy for increasing visits to Greenpeace International.”
We need to be able to measure our communicative approaches so we can see what’s working and what’s not. In order to do that, we need to set some baselines, find out where we are and create or update existing data dashboards that will help us make data informed decisions in the future.
We’re lucky to be collaborating with Michael Wignall from Orange Tree Digital. Michael will working with some of the data collection processes and outputs set up by some incredible, data savvy GPI folks to tailor data outputs for the Communication Department’s needs. He will create a robust system that pulls together data from multiple sources and displays it in a way that helps the Comms team make data-inspired decisions.
Research
“The tone of the site needs to resonate with women, in a way that is inclusive and inspires engagement.”
“Update and consolidate pre-existing content guidelines.”
To implement recommendations around audience, we need to gather best practices and pre-existing work and package it into an easy to use set of guides for the Communications Department. We know GPI has a variety of resources to pull from, so this part of the groundwork is just about streamlining the knowledge base and contextualizing it specifically for people who work on the website as well as doing some trend research.
Engagement
“Create a fully fledged supporter journey for the GPI audience.”
“Run journey mapping initiatives within the comms department to inform communication strategy more broadly.”
Finally in the Groundwork Phase, we need to tie into research around GPI audience and their journey through the Greenpeace global network. We will work with others in the Global Engagement department to create a supporter journey for the website audience.
Phase 2: Production
Once we have looked into the data and researched and processed pre-existing materials, we should have enough context to fill in the gaps. Phase 2 will create new resources and processes that help Greenpeace staff work within the boundaries of the channel strategies.
Documentation
“Create a format for campaigns that allows communications to gather input and produce suitable materials.”
“Develop collaborative guidelines to help NROs submit translated content.”
On the back of the various bits of research, the documentation recommendations involve more creation and cataloging of resources for the Comms Department. This work will also help establish processes to help streamline collaboration between Comms staff and Greenpeacers on campaign teams and in NROs.
Marketing
“Make clear to staff that the strategic direction for the GPI website is to both Educate and Engage. Clearly define what “educate” and “engage” mean in the context of Greenpeace International.”
“Conduct awareness raising / education amongst staff to ensure a shared understanding of the Hard and Fast Rules and how they could be applied (and where they can be ignored).”
This project will be run openly and collaboratively, but a degree of specific marketing will be required to help colleagues understand the ins and outs of the project. We will use a variety of tactics to socialize the project and it’s outputs.
Facilitation
We will be able to communicate with intention once we’ve used data and journey mapping to clarify what our intentions actually are. The final piece of this bit of work is to help guide stakeholders in developing a project plan for content development. We also want to empower Greenpeace Communication staff to be creative!
As with any iterative project, this piece of the puzzle will become more clear once the earlier phases are complete.