Background: From February 2019 to April 2019, I trained Republican members of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives on branding and digital media best practices in Harrisburg, PA. This spanned three trainings across three months. The Pennsylvania House of Representatives makes up the Pennsylvania General Assembly and is the largest full-time legislature in the country. (The second largest after New Hampshire.) Republicans hold 110 of 203 seats. Members serve two-year terms.
The Strategy: A friend who previously worked for the chamber connected me with the communications manager and other staff members to plan, organize, and deliver a series of trainings and lectures for House members and their staff. They were in need of outside training to improve their online brand and digital strategy.
Here’s a brief overview of the trainings:
#1— Branding 101 for Republican State Lawmakers
A. Risks for Not Having an Up-to-Date brand
- Seats become vulnerable to flipping (used example of Flippable having flipped 16 of 31 targeted seats in 2018)
- Democrat colleagues/opponents can define you before you define yourself
- Hard for constituents to identify and support policies
B. Topics Discussed
- How to maximize online brand
- How to employ effective digital/social media strategies
- How to couple traditional and new media strategies
- How PA GOP House brand compares to PA Dem House brand
See the full presentation here.
#2—Branding 101 for Republican State Lawmakers: Social Media Platforms
A. Topics Discussed:
- Discussion of the Big Three – Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter
- Explanation of features and best practices
- Tips for successful use of individual platforms
See the full presentation here.
#3—Branding 101 for Republican State Lawmakers: How to Tell Your Story
A. Topics Discussed:
- The importance of storytelling on social
- How to generate good, earned media via social media
- Tips and examples of effective social media posts
See the full presentation here.
Notable benchmarks
As a result of the three trainings, members of the PA House GOP:
- Improved their website(s) and applied consistent online branding to digital properties
- Got their social media accounts verified
- Began posting more engaging, positive posts
- Started to engage with constituents more
Follow PA House GOP on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter. Learn more about the chamber on their website.
*If you’re a company or organization wanting to request information on similar services, please contact me at Gabriella@GabriellaHoffman.com*