Communications Strategy

Wikimedia Australia (WMAU) exists to support, advocate and promote the activities and needs of the diverse community engaged in Wikimedia platforms in Australia and the Asia Pacific region.

Formed in 2007, WMAU is an independent, not-for-profit organisation, whose primary aim is to promote equality of opportunity to access and participate in the collaborative creation of free and open content in Australia, with a focus on its history, culture, languages, environment and regional context. Increasingly, this work prioritises support for marginalised and regionally disadvantaged communities to remove barriers that prevent people and organisations from accessing and contributing to free knowledge, and supporting the development of solutions to help eradicate inequality and bias on Wikimedia projects.

As an official chapter of the international Wikimedia Foundation, WMAU supports the mission to empower and engage people around the world to collect, develop and share content under a free license or in the public domain, and to disseminate it effectively and globally. Therefore, this communications strategy is informed by and contributes to the strategic direction of the global Wikimedia movement.

The purpose of this policy is to outline the appropriate and strategic use of communications tools (verbal, printed, and digital) by WMAU and its community while conducting WMAU business and activities. This will help to protect the organisation’s reputation by ensuring reliability, consistency and trust, and support membership growth, engagement and advocacy for the importance of Wikimedia platforms and missions.

Objectives

This Communications Strategy supports the delivery of the WMAU Strategic Plan 2022-2025, to meet the following five objectives:

1. Attract new editors, contributors, members and content to Wikimedia platforms and activities
2. Maintain existing editors, contributors, members by inspiring them, supporting their efforts and engaging them in our work
3. Expand WMAU’s profile, reputation and influence in Australia and the region
4. Increase public awareness, understanding of Wikimedia platforms in Australia and the region
5. Contribute to the ongoing development of inclusive, safe, trustworthy and equitable Wikimedia communities

The Wikimedia Australia Brand

Wikimedia Australia’s brand character can be described as:

• inclusive, generous and respectful
• open, approachable and accessible
• knowledgeable
• honest (acknowledge emerging issues and challenges)

Emerging Issues

Editor renewal

Retaining existing contributors and inspiring new participants across Wikimedia platforms in Australia is a significant challenge. Creating new opportunities, training, pathways and partnerships while addressing any barriers to ongoing engagement is at the centre of WMAU’s overall strategic goals (see Strategic Plan and Objectives above). Ensuring that our communications strategies (outlined in this document) are actually reaching new audiences and converting to WMAU’s broader strategic goals in revitalising a new and diverse editing base should inform evaluation of this strategy.

Diversity

There is broad recognition of the need for greater diversity among the editing community of Wikimedia platforms, in order to reduce bias, be more inclusive of the world’s cultures and languages, and to decolonise platforms. The experience of editing Wikimedia platforms is not necessarily safe for everyone so Wikimedia Australia is committed to growing safe, supportive and inclusive spaces (offline and online) and through its communications and other policies.

Relevance and accuracy of content

The size of the editing community has plateaued, so maintaining over 20 years of Wikimedia content creates significant challenges for current editors to ensure that content is accurate, up-to-date and therefore trustworthy and relevant to current and future audiences. WMAU’s communications should also represent core values, contributing to building trust by offering audiences reliable, consistent, and accurate information (as outlined in Key Messages and content).

Channels

New opportunities for engagement online are constantly emerging. WMAU is committed to evaluation, adaptation and experimentation with social platforms to grow its audience, improve brand awareness and energise activity. WMAU is prioritising use of the follow channels for 2023-25:

• Wikimedia platforms:
  • Wikipedia
  • Wikimedia Commons
  • Wikidata
• Wikimedia Australia website]
  • Event listings
  • WMAU Stories/News/Features
• Wikimedia Australia mailing lists
  • Members list
  • Announce list
• Social media
  • Twitter
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • LinkedIn
  • YouTube
• Virtual Events and Meetings (via Zoom)
• WMF channels:
  • This Month in GLAM newsletter
  • Diff blog
  • WMF Mailing lists

Emerging Channels

WMAU will utilise new channels and platforms to engage with and share the work of our community. WMAU will explore use of the following in 2023-25:

• Mastodon (account setup in May 2023. Twitter alternative)
• Threads (account setup in July 2023. Twitter alternative tied to Instagram)
• Podcasts
• TikTok (or other short form video platform)
• Meetup (for advertising WMAU meetups and events)

Audience

WMAU has identified the following priority audience segments:

Segment	Description/Importance	Strategy	Channels/streams	Contact Retention
Members (annually renewing)	WMAU’s core audience and justifies WMAU’s existence	Offer current information, updates & new initiatives, networking & training opportunities and build a sense of community to ensure a strong, engaged base for governance & leadership	Newsletter, mailing lists (email), community meetings and events, social media, website, collateral	Xero and members mailman list
Past	Possibility of reconverting to annually renewing members (ensures WMAU existence and growth)	Communicate with through a monthly mailing list to demonstrate value of membership	segmented mailing list, social media, website	Xero (past); Announce mailing list, Social media accounts)
Contributors	Current and editors	Increased opportunities, interest in their work, outreach, profiles and stories of current editors, increased awareness of organisational activities and support, conversion to encourage membership, create knowledge equity. Establish facilitator program to grow broader training opportunities	Geonotices/ banners, community meetings, events, social media, collateral, event follow up correspondence	Wikipedia (Usernames)
Australian Partners (individuals and organisations)	Brand recognition, help build their capacity and grow at scale, provide connection to community, amplify our work, increase impact, access to collections	Ongoing documentation of past and present partnership, offer of funding, more targeted approach; collaborative events and projects; promote to their members;	Website (case studies, blogs, guest blogs), conference support, events, tool development	Xero
General Public (Australia)	Grow awareness, advocacy for, donations, support of and understanding of Wikimedia platforms, grow trust, dispel myths, convert to editors	Pursue a wider range of media opportunities, improve website appearance, accessibility, SEO and ease of use to ensure they can find us.	Media, website (blog), social media	Xero
Asia Pacific Regional Community	Regional leadership, mutual knowledge exchange, possibility of regional partnerships, regional knowledge equity	Maintain active and sustained membership of ESEAP, regular intra-community reporting, shared access to regional events, regional campaigns	Meetings, events, conferences, social media	Xero
Global Community	Improve funding, currency of information for members, better connection to movement, influence outcomes and raise awareness.	Build capacity, develop relationships, create impact, improve our standing and awareness in the movement, contribute to the strategic direction of the movement	Conferences, social media, meetings, volunteering for global initiatives, Diff, WMF mailing list.	WMF mailing lists, diff blog
Funders / Donors	Tend to be Wikimedia platform users (not necessarily editors).	Ensuring our content remains accurate and relevant to them, that our chapter is represented as effective, responsible and responsive, responsible use of resources	Develop a donors ‘thank you’ card to send to donors over $50 with collateral, website, newsletter, social media. Diff blog posts, Reports on Meta.	Xero

Priorities

In order to achieve these, our communications priorities for 2023-25 are to:

Action	Description	Target Audience	Objective met
Develop basic collateral	Development of a limited suite of marketing materials: general contact card, laptop stickers, donor thank you card	Members, Past/Prospective editors and Contributors, funder/donors	2, 3, 4
Contributors survey	Undertake an annual survey to identify trends and emerging needs	Members, Contributors	2
Develop WMAU Facilitator program	Scope Wikimedia Australia facilitator program to grow member support and editing base	Members, Contributors, General Public	1, 2, 4
New members pack	Send a small merchandise pack to each new WMAU member (contact card and laptop sticker)	Members	2
Development of relevant training materials	Development of edit-a-thon training and resources kit	Contributors, Partners, General Public	1
Consolidation of contacts	Audit, update and segment contacts in Xero (including past members and Donors list)	All	2
Grow social media content/presence	Grow audiences across our social media channel in line with content strategy (rule of thirds) growing online editing support communities.	All	3
Restructure/re-design WMAU website	Continue to improve WMAU website to improve supporter and user experience and deliver impact information	Contributors, General Public, Partners	3, 4
Write key blog posts/stories	Invite guest writers to widen diversity of stories, perspectives and ownership about Wikimedia activities	Contributors, General public, Partners, Donors	3, 5
Publish monthly newsletter	Improve regularity and consistency of newsletter. Audit marketing systems to present a more attractive, readable, and accessible newsletter to increase readership. Create general newsletter segment including past members.	Members, Global community, Funders	2, 3, 4
Funding and microgrants	Reach new contributors in new ways, support innovation & experimentation and generate new media opportunities on newer Wikimedia platforms; update grant info and provide online form	Members, Contributors, General public	1, 2, 5
Pursue proactive media opportunities	Explore media opportunities for WMAU, partner and community activities.	General public, Global community	3, 4

Spokespeople and Processes

Any member of the Board may speak on behalf of WMAU to the media but should provide notice to the WMAU Board as soon as practicable.

Staff of WMAU are delegated to speak on behalf of WMAU to the media. Notice of major media opportunities should be given to the WMAU Board. Where appropriate, media requests should be forwarded to the Board for comment or response.

It is the responsibility of the Communications and Project Coordinator to ensure media requests are responded to in a timely manner and suitable talent is offered that best represents WMAU aims and principles.

Key Messages and Content

We will use the rule of thirds when planning and structuring content for our channels:

Content that is CREATED: what are we doing that our audience will be interested in?	Content that is CURATED: what are our partners / community / wider environment doing, working on or saying that our audience will be interested in?	CONVERSATIONS: engaging with our audience across the channels
Examples: WMAU events, activities and milestones Campaigns, competitions, opportunities to contribute How-to: tips about core functionality for searching, reading & editing, & how to get help Community content: our people, celebrations, milestones	Examples: Australian Wikimedia content: On this day, new articles, photo of the week, current events Sharing communications of partner organisations Regional and global Wikimedia and open knowledge community communications	Examples: Gaps in Australian Wikimedia content: controversies, mysteries Engaging potential new partners, donors, advocates organisations with similar goals/remit Community support: answering questions, editing assistance Representing the Australian/regional community global Wikimedia and open knowledge community conversations

There are a set of key messages that WMAU should draw on when talking about ourselves and our relationship to the global Wikimedia movement:

• Wikipedia is a not-for-profit website built on the contributions of volunteer editors around the world - anyone can edit Wikipedia and contribute. We need you!
• Wikimedia exists to make knowledge open and freely available. It’s ideal is to contribute to a world in which every single human being can freely share in the sum of all knowledge. We support knowledge equity!
• There are many ways to get involved - from writing content, taking photos and working with data to being a member, organising or participating in events, etc.
• Wikimedia Australia is the Australian chapter of the international Wikimedia Foundation that supports, advocates and promotes the activities and needs of the diverse editing community in Australia. We’re here to help!
• Wikimedia Australia is helping to build an inclusive online community and ensure that Wikimedia projects are free from bias, reflect our diverse society - with a growing focus on underrepresented subjects, languages and content.
• Wikimedia Australia works with a wide range of partners to make knowledge freely accessible online and fill in the gaps. Work with us!

Engagement Principles

Trust in an organisation is a large factor in why supporters join a cause, donate or lend their support to a cause. Identified activities we can deliver through our communications which drives increased trust are:

• Offering regular performance data - use of metrics to show programme delivery/ engagement with a particular group
• Demonstrate role competence - blogs from partner organisations or lead volunteers
• Demonstrate good judgement and honestly, acknowledging emerging issues

Connect

• WMAU believes in being a proactive community member contributing to a broader conversation by engaging with a wide range of local community groups and people
• WMAU is committed to participating beyond its own domains, monitoring and participating in community discussions where appropriate
• Consistency is key: WMAU is a sensible, steady and reliable voice
• Talk like a human being: ensure WMAU communication is accessible through use of simple, short, jargon-free and conversational language, while retaining a commitment to professionalism

Inspire

• Quality content: Be a resource not a marketer.
• Social media is a sandbox – experimentation is encouraged. Be playful and humorous.
• Be bold – social media is driven by brilliant, vivid content and imagery. WMAU believes that the quality of all communication matters.

Share

• Sharing is caring! WMAU believes in participating by encouraging people to share stories, content and activities and sharing theirs in return
• Social media is a gateway to Wikimedia content
• The WMAU brand is all of ours! Board members, members and staff are encouraged to contribute to social content as an extension of their work – diversity is a strength.

WMAU makes optimum use of Wikimedia’s own platforms and resources, and preferences open alternatives. WMAU does not pay for boosted content or other advertising on commercial platforms.

Goals and Evaluation

As defined above, social media and media appearances are tools that can be used to meet WMAU’s broader objectives, in particular, to increase the overall number of active engaged editors of Wikimedia platforms across Australia. Therefore, evaluating these overall objectives is more important than driving quantitative growth on social media (the number of likes and follows). WMAU aims to sustain modest growth across its pages by meeting the targets outlined in Appendix 1.

The Communications and Project Coordinator is required to provide a brief communications report as part of their monthly report to the WMAU Board meetings. This should include:

• Key communications
• Last month of Twitter data - No. of tweets, profile visits, tweet impressions, mentions, new followers, top tweets (autogenerated on Analytics tab in Twitter)
• Facebook monthly summary - No. of posts, new page likes/followers, page views, post engagement top Facebook post (based on insights tab)
• Monthly Instagram, Linkedin, and YouTube summary - No. of posts, no. of likes/views
• Link to any blog posts
• Any media generated
• No. of member/donor packages sent (provided by Executive Officer)

This data can be used to assess:

• Link the impact of communications efforts to overall WMAU objectives.
• Measure growth and performance on specific social networks over time.
• Guide the evolution of the WMAU content strategy over time, by understanding what types of content or posts gain traction and what types do not.
• Demographics – to understand gender, age or location of the people engaged.
• Measure the success of specific programs, campaigns, or other new initiatives and capture feedback to inform future projects.
• Identify influencers or brand advocates and collaborate with them to help gain more exposure for future initiatives.

Personal Communications

WMAU supports and encourages the use of social media by its Board members and as part of a broader commitment to their skills development and networking.

Personal use of social media by WMAU staff, Board and contractors must not bring WMAU into disrepute, compromise effectiveness at work, imply WMAU endorsement of personal views or disclose confidential information.

Wikimedia Board members should use the email signature outlined in Appendix 2 or similar. Former Board members and non-Board members that have WMAU email addresses are also recommended to use the email signatures outlined in Appendix 2.

Code of Conduct

WMAU is dedicated to providing a welcoming experience for everyone, regardless of gender, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, disability, appearance, race, religion, or preferred free licence (and not limited to those aspects) as outlined in its Safe Spaces Policy. WMAU adheres to the overall Wikimedia Foundation’s Universal Code of Conduct. This extends to the channels through which it communicates to its audiences.

WMAU reserves the right to ignore, delete, hide comments, mark comments as spam or block individuals for use of vulgar or abusive language, personal or obscene attacks, links to any sites deemed inappropriate, suggestions or encouragement of illegal activity, multiple successive off-topic posts by a single user or repetitive posts copied and pasted by multiple users, or spam, unsolicited proposals or business ideas or inquiries, promotion or endorsement of commercial services, products or entities.

Crisis Management

If WMAU receives negative feedback or makes a mistake in its communications, WMAU will acknowledge the issue and offer an apology by a relevant spokesperson as deemed appropriate. For more details see the Crisis Communication Plan.

The WMAU Board and EO must be notified by WMAU Staff, community or members, of any emerging issue on any of its communications channels. If required the Crisis Communications Strategy should be implemented.

Preparing for a Crisis

• Board to decide on Crisis Communications Committee members in January each year.
• All Board members and staff to read and review crisis communications strategy in January each year.
• Ensure staff and board have access to emergency contact list with phone numbers and e-mail addresses
• Consider media training for CCC members and other staff or Board members as appropriate.  

Strategy Review Schedule

This strategy is to be reviewed annually. A new strategy is scheduled for update and review in January 2025.

Adopted as policy 11 January 2023
Please raise suggestions on the talk page or via email.