Infographics to Strengthen Wildfire Communication: Free Download

This year was a rough winter across the Intermountain West. With snowpack at record lows and temperatures at record highs, wildfire risk is heightened. We know that electric utilities work year-round to mitigate wildfire risk through vegetation management and grid hardening initiatives, but do your members know that? Do they feel informed and prepared for wildfire season? This year, more than ever, co-op communicators need a communications strategy to educate members and ease their panic about wildfire risk. Infographics are a useful tool for communicating technical wildfire information in a way that is easy to understand and actionable.

One of the most important jobs of a co-op communicator is to convey complex information or reduce member anxiety in a way that’s easy to understand and actionable. This season, wildfire mitigation is one of the most important messages you’re distributing. With infographics, you can make this communication easy and visually appealing, helping your members build trust and take actionable steps to help prevent wildfires during a particularly tough season.

How Infographics Can Enhance Your Wildfire Mitigation Comms

Infographics are ideal tools for communicating complex topics. Why? Because they distill difficult concepts into images that are easier for the brain to process and understand. These visual tools support quick comprehension and message retention and add value to longer, more in-depth campaigns and content pieces. Providing resources that offer helpful, expert information nurtures trust among members.

Infographics are eye-catching and can raise awareness for and drive traffic to key preparedness content, such as websites, apps, and programs. Infographics can be used across all your platforms to reinforce your messaging.

How to Use Your Wildfire Infographic: How Your Co-op is Preventing Wildfires

Why is this infographic useful?

Sharing an infographic about what your co-op is doing to mitigate wildfire risk can help build trust among your members. Vegetation management is often a misunderstood activity that can annoy members. Grid hardening can be complex and hard to pinpoint tangible immediate benefits. Members are often confused about bill riders that are meant to support these systems. These complex topics become more palatable when distilled into easy-to-comprehend illustrations. Transparency about co-op programs goes a long way in terms of building member trust. When you talk about what you’re doing to protect your community from wildfire, it can ease member worries and remind them that you do more than just power their homes. 

How to use the “How Your Co-op is Preventing Wildfires” infographic

• Lead your wildfire communications with this graphic.
• In your messaging, make sure to reinforce how these initiatives also bolster grid reliability and safety.
• Let the infographic do the heavy lifting in terms of communications, pairing it with brief messaging.

Learn more about how infographics can elevate your co-op’s communication.

How to Use Your Wildfire Infographic: Wildfire Season: How to Prepare and Prevent

Why is this infographic useful?

Sharing an infographic about what members can do to help protect their homes from wildfire helps them feel supported and gives them a greater sense of control. ‘Sharing an infographic about what members can do to protect their homes from wildfire helps them feel supported and gives them a greater sense of control. Providing simple, actionable steps empowers members to take action, even small ones, and reinforces that their co-op is in their corner. When your co-op is the one handing them the tools to stay safe, it positions you as the trusted authority on the matter and deepens member respect for the hard work happening behind the scenes to keep them safe year-round.

How to use the “Wildfire Season: How to Prepare and Prevent” infographic

Wildfire preparation messaging is best following communication about the cooperative’s responsibilities. Make it clear that the cooperative is doing its part throughout the year to protect members from wildfire risk and that member actions are just the icing on the cake. 

• Distribute this infographic after the “How Your Co-op is Preventing Wildfires” infographic.
• Frame the messaging so it’s clear you take your responsibility to protect members seriously. 
• Present the information as: Here’s what we’re doing, and here’s how you can help.
• Easy-to-understand, empowering messaging to support the infographic will be most effective. 

How to Use Your Wildfire Infographic: What to Pack in Your Wildfire Readiness Kit

Why share this infographic? 

The “What to Pack in Your Wildfire Readiness Kit” infographic helps members feel prepared and reduces any panic they may feel. Presenting the information in a checklist makes preparedness less overwhelming and actionable. Simple, visual messaging helps ensure members are truly prepared should they be forced to leave their homes in the event of a wildfire. 

How to use the “What to Pack in Your Wildfire Readiness Kit” infographic

• Share during peak wildfire season. 
• Assure your members that it is rare to need an emergency bag, but you will be thankful you have one in the case of a real emergency.
• This infographic is particularly effective to share with members in print or downloadable format, so they can keep it at home and use it as a resource to keep their families safe and prepared.

Building a Cohesive Campaign

You are welcome to use these infographics however you want, but we suggest using them to build a cohesive campaign around wildfire preparedness for maximum effectiveness. This campaign could extend over 3-6 weeks and include message distribution across all your channels.

Here’s what your wildfire preparedness campaign could look like:

• Pre-campaign: Build a wildfire preparedness webpage that members can reference anytime.
• Week 1-2 : Share “How Your Co-op is Preventing Wildfires” to build trust and awareness.
  • 1 email
  • 1-2 social media posts 
  • Bill insert
  • Inclusion in member newsletter
• Week 2-3: Follow with “Wildfire Season: How to Prepare and Prevent” to encourage action.
  • 1 email
  • 1-2 social media posts
  • Inclusion in member newsletter
• Week 3-4: Reinforce preparedness with the “What to Pack in Your Wildfire Readiness Kit” infographic
  • 1 email
  • 1-2 social media posts
  • Provide print and downloadable versions for members to post at home.
• Campaign Wrap-up: Reinforce the usefulness of the online Wildfire Preparedness webpage.

Creating a strategic campaign to distribute these infographics helps reinforce key messages and reminds members that their co-op is always working behind the scenes to keep them safe. and keeps wildfire safety top of mind throughout the season.

Where to Post Your Co-op’s Wildfire Mitigation Infographics

Here are the top platforms co-ops are using their infographics on. We’re offering free downloads of three different wildfire mitigation infographics in multiple sizes for you to use across all your platforms. Each of the three wildfire infographics comes in the following sizes. 

• Social sizes for Facebook and Instagram
• Half page, full page, and quarter page for inclusion in your member newsletter
• Webpage
• Email
• SmartHub 

Here is how to use these infographics across platforms. Remember that people often need to see a message several times before retaining the information.

• Email: Use infographics as the primary visual anchor for your member email communication.
• Social media: We recommend using each infographic as an individual post to provide informational, actionable information to your members in an easy-to-understand format, without overwhelming them with too much information.
• Website: Infographics can provide attention-grabbing graphics for a hero image that pulls members into the wildfire safety resource page.
• Print: Add infographics to print materials like member newsletters, bill inserts, and signs.  
• SmartHub: Use infographics sized for SmartHub to catch members while they’re paying their bill. 

Pro-tip: As you’re distributing your infographics across your communications channels, remember to:

• Keep messaging concise and action-oriented.
• Avoid duplicating content in the text; let the infographic do the work.
• Maintain consistent branding and tone.

How to Measure the Success of Your Wildfire Mitigation Infographics

Communication strategies are only as good as their results. What is your goal for communicating wildfire preparedness to your members? This campaign won’t be about likes and open rates, but about how effective your message prepares members for wildfire season. How can you quantify that to report in your next board meeting? Your KPIs for a campaign communicating critical information could include:

• Website traffic to wildfire safety pages
• Member feedback 
• Reduction in call center calls about wildfire prep and mitigation
• Email click-through rates to wildfire education pages 
• Social engagement and shares

One of the most important jobs of a co-op communicator is to convey complex information or reduce member anxiety in a way that’s easy to understand and actionable. This season, wildfire mitigation is one of the most important messages you’re distributing. With infographics, you can make this communication easy and visually appealing, helping your members build trust and take actionable steps to help prevent wildfires during a particularly tough season.