Guidelines

There are multiple channels that the Marketing & Communications team uses to promote news items: the Penn Nursing website, social media platforms, print publications (e.g. Penn Nursing magazine), the school email newsletter, and media outlets. We also share information with University Communications for their consideration across their communications channels. 

News releases

News releases are distributed with the goal of garnering the best possible media coverage for our research, policy, and clinical expertise, as well as major appointments, awards, and gifts. Examples include:

• Study findings in leading journals
• National appointments (e.g. National Academy of Medicine)
• Major awards (e.g. Nurse Researcher Hall of Fame, Lois Capps Award)

For maximum media value, items should be submitted as soon as you are notified (e.g. study has been accepted for publication, email about an award or appointment). Many times this means the item in question will be under an embargo (either online or in print). Our office is accustomed to working with embargo guidelines. Embargoed news increases the news value of a press release as this gives communications professionals an opportunity to develop and prepare stories in advance of the journal’s or awarding organization’s public release or announcement. This helps to increase the potential news reach by timing the release to occur from multiple sources simultaneously (e.g. the journal/organization, Penn Nursing, other participating schools/faculty), thus creating a market saturation and providing Penn Nursing with maximum coverage.

While we make every effort to get coverage across media outlets for news releases, we cannot guarantee coverage.

Submissions requesting a news release that are received after publication or a public announcement has been made, whether online or in print, generally do not yield as much news coverage. As a result, we may not develop a news release and may consider alternative methods to promote your submission, including, but not limited to, developing a brief for the website, or a social media post. This can apply to studies, appointments, and award information submitted to our office.

Social media 

While traditional media relations, print, email, and our website remain cornerstones of our external communications strategy, our social media channels represent some of the largest points of engagement for our brand. 

Penn Nursing’s primary social media channels managed by the MarComm team are Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, and Instagram. We use social media as a marketing and communications tool to engage audiences, including but not limited to, prospective students, current students, donors, alumni, parents, faculty and staff, and the broader community, with a number of objectives in mind:

• To support Penn Nursing’s mission, goals, and programs through the distribution and sharing of the school’s news, information, and content
• To leverage excitement around and build participation in fundraising campaigns
• To enable and support student recruitment and retention
• To engage alumni and strengthen alumni relations
• To build pride and encourage dialogue among all community members

While social media can appear to be instant and immediate in nature, from an institutional perspective it requires strategy and preparation to ensure proper representation of the brand. As such, we may elect to schedule a post rather than post immediately, as this provides us more time to put content into context to better illustrate Penn Nursing’s priorities.

The MarComm team welcomes suggestions for social media content, and will review all suggestions to determine what, how, and when to post to our various social media channels. While we will make every effort to accommodate requests, we may not always be able to post suggested content for a variety of reasons. To help ensure that your suggested content has the best chance of being posted to one of Penn Nursing’s official channels, here are a few tips:

• Requests should include the context as it relates to Penn Nursing, and why it is relevant to a lay-audience
• When including photos, please make sure they are clear and that subjects are in focus
• Include any links that may be relevant
• Include professional credentials
• If possible, consider including a quote