Outreach and marketing strategy

[daguar]

Ideally, would like to get good metrics for this by A/Bing the telephone number, but will have to consider long-term the issue if phone #s being $1/month (and how we retire A/B phone numbers gracefully).

Some ideas:

• Go out to church/NPO food lines
• Farmers market EBT booth so people can easily check their balance before choosing an amount of chips to purchase
• Signs
• Give CBOs an easy way to order business cards or stickers or something...
• FeedingAmerica and SF/Marin Food Bank existing outreach channels
• AdWords (multiple languages!)
• Give to HSA staff who's printing EBT cards
• Outreach at grocery stores for when people overdraw EBT
• Reach out to low income phone vendors (Assurance, the other lifeline program brands, and CTA Group) to include Balance in their phones + training programs
• Allow non-profits to generate their own phone numbers for tracking and outreach purposes. Once nonprofits can quantify their own impact, then they can get credit (and potentially raise $) for spreading the word.

[daguar]

From @lippytak:

• Go out to church/NPO food lines

[lippytak]

Adding a few more ideas:

• Farmers market EBT booth so people can easily check their balance before choosing an amount of chips to purchase
• Signs
• Give CBOs an easy way to order business cards or stickers or something...
• FeedingAmerica
• AdWords
• Give to HSA staff who's printing EBT cards

[lippytak]

@mollymcleod make some cool things?!

[lippytak]

Adding: Outreach at grocery stores for when people overdraw EBT

[lippytak]

• Reach out to low income phone vendors (Assurance, the other lifeline program brands, and CTA Group) to include Balance in their phones + training programs
• Allow non-profits to generate their own phone numbers for tracking and outreach purposes. Once nonprofits can quantify their own impact, then they can get credit (and potentially raise $) for spreading the word.

[lippytak]

Outreach channel

• Guerrilla SF by giving out stacks of biz cards to:
  • Pantries (http://www.freeprintshop.org/download/eats_english.pdf)
  • Corner stores
  • Grocery stores
  • Farmers markets (info booths)
  • Library
  • Family resource centers
  • Shelters
  • Flyer a couple low income neighborhoods
  • @RebeccaCoelius can lead some guerrilla tacts at SF gen hallway, primary care clinic, and other FQHCs and Tenderloin Health Clinic
  • Billboards! Or any excuse to get @mollymcleod to do a giant print design thing (see below)
  • Bus ads - we may be able to get this for free/discounted through HSA
  • @RebeccaCoelius will "Convince the tech buses to donate their ad space on the sides for social good"
• Adwords
  • Improve conversion from landing page with simple signup/welcome form (https://github.com/daguar/balance/issues/30)
  • Improve conversion from incoming calls with auto SMS response (https://github.com/daguar/balance/issues/34)
  • Add Spanish (includes ongoing feature/translation work)
  • Add/improve keywords and targeting (research out of state issue)
• Nonprofits
  • Circulate media (flyers, business cards, stickers) so nonprofits can print/make their own
  • Give nonprofits a way to get their own phone # and check their own stats so they can take credit for spreading Balance
  • Old school viral email campaign: 'Forward this email to 3 nonprofit friends and CC me for your own personal Balance phone number' (or 100 biz cards, etc.)
  • Reach out to:
  • FeedingAmerica - Could include in existing advertising efforts
  • SF/Marin Food Bank (Molly and Liliana) - Could include Balance in their nutrition education program, existing outreach efforst, and Outreach Coalition training program
  • Food Security Task Force (and all members)
  • GAAP
  • BALA
  • Tiana - Include Banner on EatFresh?
  • Bevan Dufty
  • Other media channels (CfA blog, CfA twitter, GreatNonProfits twitter) could help us connect with other nonprofits in CA
• HSAs are probably the slowest path so I'll just aim to start the convos right now with Leo of SF and Angela Shing of Solano. Possible action steps for HSAs include:
  • Put banner on website
  • Handout biz cards when they issue EBT cards
  • Include biz card in outbound marketing materials
  • Signs in lobby areas (bleh...)
  • Educate EWs as available service to provide to clients who call about their Balance/other EBT related issues
• Subsidized phone providers could include Balance in their phones/training programs
  • Assurance
  • Telscape
  • CTA Group
• Go global by researching what other States are Balance-able

Materials

• Flyers (v1 done)
• Biz cards (v1 done)
• Landing page for clients (v1 up)
• Stickers
• Landing page for nonprofits (a template email may suffice)
• Blog post for general audience

We should A/B test with different phone numbers while balancing the cost/complexity with meaningful info. To start I would suggest unique phone numbers for:

• AdWord ad
• Adword landing page
• Any neighborhood flyering
• Guerilla business cards in SF
• One per large nonprofit
• One per HSA

@daguar let's chat.

[RebeccaCoelius]

Add SF gen hospital hallways for pretty things, handout cards in the primary care clinic there/maybe additional FQHCs and Tenderloin Health clinic. Happy to do this w/ my doctor hat on.

[mollymcleod]

@daguar here's the original poster. https://www.dropbox.com/s/updlk8ra0yzzinr/Balance-poster.pdf

[lippytak]

Billboards!!

Looks nice, huh?

[RebeccaCoelius]

Convince the tech buses to donate their ad space on the sides for social good

Rebecca Coelius

On Aug 14, 2014, at 8:19 PM, Jake Solomon notifications@github.com wrote:

Billboards!!

Looks nice, huh?

— Reply to this email directly or view it on GitHub.

[alanjosephwilliams]

Did you do that billboard in the browser, or is it a screenshot and done with photoshop?

On Thu, Aug 14, 2014 at 8:21 PM, RebeccaCoelius notifications@github.com wrote:

Convince the tech buses to donate their ad space on the sides for social good

Rebecca Coelius

On Aug 14, 2014, at 8:19 PM, Jake Solomon notifications@github.com wrote:

Billboards!!

Looks nice, huh?

— Reply to this email directly or view it on GitHub.

— Reply to this email directly or view it on GitHub https://github.com/codeforamerica/balance/issues/19#issuecomment-52270844 .

t: @alanjosephwilli p: 817 713 6264

[lippytak]

Pixelmator + 10 minutes of embarrassing effort

On Fri, Aug 15, 2014 at 9:25 AM, alanjosephwilliams < notifications@github.com> wrote:

Did you do that billboard in the browser, or is it a screenshot and done with photoshop?

On Thu, Aug 14, 2014 at 8:21 PM, RebeccaCoelius notifications@github.com

wrote:

Convince the tech buses to donate their ad space on the sides for social good

Rebecca Coelius

On Aug 14, 2014, at 8:19 PM, Jake Solomon notifications@github.com wrote:

Billboards!!

Looks nice, huh?

— Reply to this email directly or view it on GitHub.

— Reply to this email directly or view it on GitHub < https://github.com/codeforamerica/balance/issues/19#issuecomment-52270844>

.

t: @alanjosephwilli p: 817 713 6264

— Reply to this email directly or view it on GitHub https://github.com/codeforamerica/balance/issues/19#issuecomment-52327236 .

[daguar]

What's the cost-basis on a billboard?

On Fri, Aug 15, 2014 at 10:46 AM, Jake Solomon notifications@github.com wrote:

Pixelmator + 10 minutes of embarrassing effort

On Fri, Aug 15, 2014 at 9:25 AM, alanjosephwilliams < notifications@github.com> wrote:

Did you do that billboard in the browser, or is it a screenshot and done with photoshop?

On Thu, Aug 14, 2014 at 8:21 PM, RebeccaCoelius < notifications@github.com>

wrote:

Convince the tech buses to donate their ad space on the sides for social good

Rebecca Coelius

On Aug 14, 2014, at 8:19 PM, Jake Solomon notifications@github.com

wrote:

Billboards!!

Looks nice, huh?

— Reply to this email directly or view it on GitHub.

— Reply to this email directly or view it on GitHub <

https://github.com/codeforamerica/balance/issues/19#issuecomment-52270844>

.

t: @alanjosephwilli p: 817 713 6264

— Reply to this email directly or view it on GitHub < https://github.com/codeforamerica/balance/issues/19#issuecomment-52327236>

.

— Reply to this email directly or view it on GitHub https://github.com/codeforamerica/balance/issues/19#issuecomment-52336372 .

Dave Guarino Consultant, Health Vertical (2013 Fellowship alumnus) Code for America http://www.codeforamerica.org/ dave@codeforamerica.org LinkedIn http://www.linkedin.com/in/daveguarino/ | GitHub https://github.com/daguar/

[jmadans]

Try this on for size: The majority of the outreach strategies here reinforce the stand alone nature of Balance. I'd be really interested in exploring partnerships orgs or agencies that offer programs to improve the way individuals/households budget their SNAP benefits.

Currently sussing out the extent to which Food Banks run workshops or training regarding budgeting OR if more general anti-poverty financial literacy programs would be the right fit.

[daguar]

To pile on with @jmadans, we could potentially do some "in-reach" with existing funnels — so, A/B test adding an EBTnearme link (uniquely identifiable URL) back with some balance responses.

On Sun, Aug 31, 2014 at 3:41 PM, Jack Madans notifications@github.com wrote:

Try this on for size: The majority of the outreach strategies here reinforce the stand alone nature of Balance. I'd be really interested in exploring partnerships orgs or agencies that offer programs to improve the way individuals/households budget their SNAP benefits.

Currently sussing out the extent to which Food Banks run workshops or training regarding budgeting OR if more general anti-poverty financial literacy programs would be the right fit.

— Reply to this email directly or view it on GitHub https://github.com/codeforamerica/balance/issues/19#issuecomment-54003713 .

Dave Guarino Consultant, Health Vertical (2013 Fellowship alumnus) Code for America http://www.codeforamerica.org/ dave@codeforamerica.org LinkedIn http://www.linkedin.com/in/daveguarino/ | GitHub https://github.com/daguar/

[gabbyjones]

I think it'd be a good idea to focus outreach efforts on case workers and enrollment staff as well. Since these folks reach 80-100 people each, they could be an efficient way to disseminate information about the tool. Some examples: -Human Service Agency enrollment staff -Children & Family Services case workers -Community Center staff (i.e. in San Mateo county, there are 7 "Core Service" centers: https://www.redwoodcity.org/parks/cc/fairoaks_coreservices.html) -School social workers

Also, in Florida there's the ACCESS program through the Department of Children & Families for all public assistance benefits (http://www.myflorida.com/accessflorida/) There are hundreds of ACCESS sites across Florida where folks are provided a computer and internet access to apply for benefits. There will often also be trained staff available to assist with the application. I have contacts at DCF and could look into connecting us with the ACCESS sites, if you guys think its a good idea.

[gabbyjones]

One more suggestion - connecting with the Public Housing Authorities. Each city has a PHA and most residents use EBT benefits. There are case workers at these sites who could be trained/educated as well. I have contacts at the Seattle Public Housing Authority and could connect us if interested.

[lippytak]

Great ideas, @gabbyjones (and WELCOME!!). I really like the housing authority angle. We haven't done this at all and it seems like their staff/case workers would have frequent interactions with clients and in a context that isn't information overloaded. I'm actually getting coffee with someone from the tenderloin housing clinic next week and maybe we could use this as an entry point into the other housing groups. Will keep ya posted!

[daguar]

The housing authority also overlaps with the Richmond VA community health worker approach, if I recall correctly? @rebeccacoelius maybe we could get someone from there commenting here as well?

On Fri, Nov 7, 2014 at 10:25 AM, Jake Solomon notifications@github.com wrote:

Great ideas, @gabbyjones https://github.com/gabbyjones (and WELCOME!!). I really like the housing authority angle. We haven't done this at all and it seems like their staff/case workers would have frequent interactions with clients and in a context that isn't information overloaded. I'm actually getting coffee with someone from the tenderloin housing clinic http://www.thclinic.org/ next week and maybe we could use this as an entry point into the other housing groups. Will keep ya posted!

— Reply to this email directly or view it on GitHub https://github.com/codeforamerica/balance/issues/19#issuecomment-62189473 .

Dave Guarino Engineer, Health (2013 Fellowship alumnus) Code for America http://www.codeforamerica.org/ dave@codeforamerica.org LinkedIn http://www.linkedin.com/in/daveguarino/ | GitHub https://github.com/daguar/

[RebeccaCoelius]

Lets hold off on asking Richmond for anything for a little while- we are having some contracting complications.

These are all great ideas - its time to actually MVP one of them! Gabby and I are speaking about this today.

Rebecca Coelius, MD Code for America 415 298 2872 LinkedIn http://www.linkedin.com/in/rebeccacoelius Twitter http://twitter.com/#!/RebeccaCoelius

On Tue, Nov 11, 2014 at 11:27 AM, Dave Guarino notifications@github.com wrote:

The housing authority also overlaps with the Richmond VA community health worker approach, if I recall correctly? @rebeccacoelius maybe we could get someone from there commenting here as well?

On Fri, Nov 7, 2014 at 10:25 AM, Jake Solomon notifications@github.com wrote:

Great ideas, @gabbyjones https://github.com/gabbyjones (and WELCOME!!). I really like the housing authority angle. We haven't done this at all and it seems like their staff/case workers would have frequent interactions with clients and in a context that isn't information overloaded. I'm actually getting coffee with someone from the tenderloin housing clinic http://www.thclinic.org/ next week and maybe we could use this as an entry point into the other housing groups. Will keep ya posted!

— Reply to this email directly or view it on GitHub < https://github.com/codeforamerica/balance/issues/19#issuecomment-62189473>

.

Dave Guarino Engineer, Health (2013 Fellowship alumnus) Code for America http://www.codeforamerica.org/ dave@codeforamerica.org LinkedIn http://www.linkedin.com/in/daveguarino/ | GitHub https://github.com/daguar/

— Reply to this email directly or view it on GitHub https://github.com/codeforamerica/balance/issues/19#issuecomment-62603733 .

[RebeccaCoelius]

Notes from conversation w/ Gabby today:

MVP Outreach Goal:

• Grok what agencies, what roles, what methods (in person conversations, training, events, etc), and what collateral required to use community partners for growth
• Start with driving growth for Balance in CA
• Build trusted relationships/CfA awareness w/in community partners
• Create replicable approach for other states, support others (like Brendan) in their self driven work

Per Gabby: School Social workers and Public Housing Authorities are best place to first focus because:

1. Population likely eligible for or already using SNAP
2. Longitudinal trusted relationship

Start with SF and San Mateo due to existing connections and the right population. Has worked more with schools than Public Housing.

Next Steps:

1. Gabby to update list in RelateIQ of initial trusted contacts in schools and public housing, keep to around ~10 people. by 11/28
2. Rebecca to see if we have Public Housing contacts in SF or SM due to past. by 11/28
3. Intro Gabby to Elsa, Brendan, other outreach contacts esp in SF and Marin. by 11/28
4. Team will share existing collateral with Gabby. 11/28
5. Reach out to first 10 contacts: Gabby's goal is to get buy-in from initial contacts to do a webinar or other training thing about Balance and deliver collateral for them to share further with clients.
6. Team to discuss metrics for outreach at next meeting.
7. Conduct first training/presentation by end of year. (underpromise, overdeliver!)

[alanjosephwilliams]

:thumbsup: this is awesome.

On Tue, Nov 11, 2014 at 3:16 PM, RebeccaCoelius notifications@github.com wrote:

Notes from conversation w/ Gabby today:

MVP Outreach Goal:

• Grok what agencies, what roles, what methods (in person conversations, training, events, etc), and what collateral required to use community partners for growth
• Start with driving growth for Balance in CA
• Build trusted relationships/CfA awareness w/in community partners
• Create replicable approach for other states, support others (like Brendan) in their self driven work

Per Gabby: School Social workers and Public Housing Authorities are best place to first focus because:

1. Population likely eligible for or already using SNAP
2. Longitudinal trusted relationship

Start with SF and San Mateo due to existing connections and the right population. Has worked more with schools than Public Housing.

Next Steps:

1. Gabby to update list in RelateIQ of initial trusted contacts in schools and public housing, keep to around ~10 people. by 11/28
2. Rebecca to see if we have Public Housing contacts in SF or SM due to past. by 11/28
3. Intro Gabby to Elsa, Brendan, other outreach contacts esp in SF and Marin. by 11/28
4. Team will share existing collateral with Gabby. 11/28
5. Reach out to first 10 contacts: Gabby's goal is to get buy-in from initial contacts to do a webinar or other training thing about Balance and deliver collateral for them to share further with clients.
6. Team to discuss metrics for outreach at next meeting.
7. Conduct first training/presentation by end of year. (underpromise, overdeliver!)

— Reply to this email directly or view it on GitHub https://github.com/codeforamerica/balance/issues/19#issuecomment-62639926 .

t: @alanjosephwilli p: 817 713 6264

[brendanbabb]

WOW! I never saw this thread and it is amazing. And also has the bus ad idea I thought I had today, which was here about 3 months ago, sorry about that. I need to read through all the balance issues not just the last 50 or so. So cool!

[lippytak]

Let's send beautiful nice packages of Balance cards to a few CalFresh program directors (with unique #s of course) and see if it works ;). I'll bet they never get nice things in the mail...

[lippytak]

11/21 - Just gave HSA 1000 balance/ebtnearme business cards to put in distribution and possibly hand out at the end of interviews. I'll monitor sf-hsa usage stats going forward so we can assess conversion here. Someday soon I'll turn this issue into one big table where we can track approximate cost per acquisition for these different channels.

[lippytak]

11/24 - Gave THC 500 balance/ebtnearme wallet cards.