Campaigns
Member Guide: Your Guide to Local Communications
Reaching members across core communications platforms helps to create connections between members and our union and ensure they are informed.
Motivating members to act, such as by attending a Bargaining Unit meeting or becoming involved in a campaign, is an important reason to practice strong and clear Local communications.
This guide outlines the fundamentals of communicating to engage, inspire and inform.
Communications planning should not be intimidating. Proactively plan for success by considering the following:
ONA research confirms that emails are still members’ preferred way to receive information.
As Local leaders, you play a central role in sharing information about campaigns, events, services and issues that impact members as well as their patients, residents and clients.
At a time when we are all saddled with email information overload, how do you cut through the noise and catch people’s attention?
Here are some simple ways to strengthen your email communications:
These tools will help you:
Our eyes are drawn to pictures of people and clear graphics. Research shows that when you use pictures, people are more likely to engage with your content.
Whether you’re posting on social media, creating a flyer or ordering swag, eye- catching graphics and images help capture your audience’s attention.
Local leaders can make use of your brand toolkit. This is a dedicated SharePoint site called ONA Branding that all Local leaders have access to. It includes a suite of design elements like fonts, illustrations, patterns, Local logos, templates and more. There are also tips for applying the ONA brand.
Graphic design might not be your strong suit, and that’s okay. You still know what will appeal to coworkers, friends, family and community. Here are a few tools and recommendations for creating graphics and following our brand.
Local websites are an essential tool to keep members connected to your Local team and informed about events and news. They are a convenient way to provide easy access to information and resources.
While we aim for consistency, there is no one-size-fits-all for Local website content. Ensure you provide core information to your members, while also highlighting the things that make you unique and the great work you are doing for your members and in your communities.
Tip: You can use tools like Google Analytics to determine which pages are the most popular with visitors.
| Core | Additional |
|---|---|
| • Executive team contacts – names and ONA email addresses. • Links to provincial/Local collective agreements. • Local news, such as workplace updates and Local elections. • Local events, like rallies, celebrations and membership meetings. | • Photo galleries. • Local opportunities, such as discounts, bursaries and contests. • Workplace-specific resources, including Q&A documents, notices and guides. • Surveys and forms. |
If you want to start a Local website, your first step is to contact ONA communications staff at digital@ona.org. We will meet with you to discuss your needs. You can ask questions and see examples of other Local websites.
If you decide to proceed, we will build your website using our template, which ensures a consistent look and includes core information that is vital to members.
Once you approve your website, ONA will publish it, and you can share it with your members.
While communications staff provide ongoing website maintenance and support, we welcome any Local team members who want to learn to make their own updates. We provide one-on- one training and ongoing support to Local website administrators. No prior experience is necessary.
Remember that your Local website and most of your social media posts are public. While you should feel free to inform – and fight for – your members, you should always be mindful of your professional standards.
Many of the common-sense best practices include:
Social media channels like Facebook and Instagram make casual conversations easy. It’s a place your members can exchange ideas and information, find out late-breaking news, watch how-to videos and much more. It is important to be a aware of both the opportunities and potential pitfalls so you can plan Local content and support members using social media effectively.
The more you know about social media and how it works, the better off and more empowered you will be to effectively use it. Make sure you also know your employer’s rules about social media and follow them.
Health-care professionals are held to a higher standard for online interactions. Members should feel free to follow and participate in conversations on social media while meeting professional standard expectations. Here are a few ways to ensure you do so.
Many ONA Locals have created their own Facebook group pages to help communicate with their members and create space for members to engage.
There are three different types of groups on Facebook:
Once you’ve set up your ONA group, you can now build your follower base. You can use the blue “+ Invite” button to start adding members to the group from your friends list. You can also send invitations by email using this button.
Administering and moderating a Facebook group
There are two main roles in a Facebook group:
Moderator: A moderator can approve or deny membership requests, approve or delete posts and comments and remove or block people from the group.
With a Facebook group, it’s best to have at least two admins who have complete access to the page. Ideally, the Facebook group admins should be members of the Bargaining Unit and include the Local Coordinator.
ONA staff can help with the set up, but it is up to the Local Facebook group admins to determine page membership and content.
A burgeoning favourite among ONA Locals and Bargaining Units, Instagram is a visual platform where users share content through images, reels and text.
Similar to Facebook, Instagram is easy to use and can promote information to your target audiences in an engaging way. Instagram followers react to posts by liking, commenting, sharing, and saving; it generally attracts a younger audience than Facebook.
There are many other social media platforms available that organizations use to communicate, including X, Bluesky, YouTube and Tik Tok.
To choose the best social media platforms for your Local’s needs, evaluate a number of factors. Consider the time and effort needed to keep up the content; where your audience is already present in the greatest numbers; and figure out the type of content you’d like to create (for example, text-based, images, video reels, etc.)
When deciding what to post to social media, think about your audience. Your goal is to keep members informed about what’s happening at your Bargaining Unit, Local and ONA provincially and in the greater labour and health-care communities. On social media, brief is best. Post information that is direct and to the point.
In the era of misinformation and it is best to follow trusted sources that share information on issues that are relevant to ONA members. Here are some suggested sources:
Issues and controversies can arise from time to time that catch the eye of reporters. Sometimes, members want to bring attention to an issue by trying to generate media coverage.
The following tips are helpful when learning how and when to communicate with media. Remember that ONA communications staff provide support for all things related to news media. They should be your first point of contact.
While many aspects of Local communications can be done on your own, media relations is not one of them.
Should there be an incident, an issue, an event or a local development that impacts your Bargaining Unit and/or patients, residents or clients, that may receive media coverage, give ONA communications staff a heads up. They can advise you, take appropriate action, and work with you to achieve the best outcomes possible.
The Offices of the Provincial President and CEO will also need to be advised should there be provincial implications.
Email relevant information or requests to media@ona.org.
The most important element in communicating with media or others is to develop a clear set of accurate and concise key messages that will inform everything you say.
What are key messages? They are the top high-level messages you’d like to share with a public audience.
Tip: A good rule for key messages is the three-by-three framework: identify three main points with no more than three supporting points or facts for each. Anything more will be too much information.
For instance, with a government pursuing privatization, we want Ontarians to know that: for-profit private corporations cost us more and provide less; for-profit corporations are draining needed health- care funding out of the public health-care system; for-profit corporations’ priority is profit, not care.
Key messages are meant to be simple, easy-to-understand points that stick in peoples’ minds. It can be challenging in our very complex health-care sector to come up with high-level, simple key messages, but communications staff can help.
ONA’s Provincial President is the designated public spokesperson for ONA as defined by ONA’s Constitution. The President may delegate to, or authorize another spokesperson.
The President receives media training and is the spokesperson for a multitude of issues, including, frequently, on behalf of Bargaining Units. There are exceptions, and ONA media relations staff can guide you and provide one-on-one training when necessary.
When you think of media relations, most think of doing an interview with a reporter or a media release. But there are many tools and tactics that are just as effective to get a message out.
For instance, it is very effective to write and submit a letter to the editor for publication (online and in print).
In a letter to the editor, you have the opportunity to frame your issue and make your points in a succinct way. The letters section of newspapers remains one of the best-read and your points will be read widely.
ONA media relations staff can advise you of the options and most appropriate way to approach media for the issue you have, whether it be an opinion editorial, media release, F-Word story or getting out in the community to speak to a local group within your community.
ONA members frequently attend rallies, information pickets and other public events covered by the media. Generally, media interviews at such events are done by designated spokespersons, but if you find yourself doing an interview, or even fielding questions in a public forum, here are some tips to help.
Photography and videos are important visual tools used to capture moments and create visual narratives. We have powerful cellphone cameras in the palm of our hands, but how do we take memorable photos and videos?
As a Local leader, you might find yourself wanting to share pictures or videos from an event or insert them into a post on social media. Either way, these tips and tricks will help you make the most of each shot.
As nurses and health-care professionals, ONA members have important stories to tell about lived experiences – and you can play an important role in helping tell them.
Covering an array of topics under three main categories – Fuel (information on key issues affecting members’ workplaces and sectors), Fuse (ONA’s efforts on matters that impact members) and Fight (members’ push- backs and solidarity in action) – F-Word is designed to empower your members to tell the brutal truth, fight injustice, and take back our narrative and the power that comes with that.
Contribute to F-Word. It is an outlet for expression and connection by sharing stories members can’t tell anywhere else, without the sugar coating or word limits. Here’s how:
Storytelling turns lived experience into action. They fuel us, fuse us together, and get us ready for the fight. Encourage your members to make F-Word their own and get involved.
ONA’s Communications Team is here to support you. Whether you’re seeking assistance with a new communications channel or require help with your digital comms needs, we’re here to help. Drop us an email at commsintake@ona.org.
Other ways to contact us:
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