Marketing

Why not introduce the young girls in your life to Ember and Molly this holiday season as a gift that shows them girls can grow up to be anything, especially a firefighter!

More importantly, isn’t it time that they truly know how important it is for them to practice fire safety behaviors in their homes and businesses? Maybe then they’d have a greater appreciation for having working smoke detectors, complying with building and fire codes, and supporting residential sprinkler systems for new residential construction.

The reality that's "hitting" home with many Fire & EMS organizations today, however, is that their citizens do have a choice.  In the current economic climate, where most local governments are having to make tough fiscal decisions, elected officials and their constituents are making "buy" or "no buy" decisions regarding the public safety services for their community. 

You want someone in that pre-contemplation stage to suddenly go out and purchase four smoke alarms? You’re going to have to find ways to proverbially rip their heart out... go for the gut... make ‘em cry... get them laughing... none of which is accomplished by “it’s the law” or “your fire department wants you to...”

The reality is, those aren’t really the people we’re after. We’re after those that don’t have any working smoke or CO alarms, have kids but no home escape plan, or just don’t care/lack the knowledge about fire safety. We’re after those people, because they present the greatest and most imminent risk.

Marketing your fire and EMS agency is not something you should be doing, it’s something you need to be doing. More so than ever, you need to be telling the public you serve the why, what, and how behind their fire and EMS department.

The reality that's "hitting" home with many Fire & EMS organizations today, however, is that their citizens do have a choice. In the current economic climate, where most local governments are having to make tough fiscal decisions, elected officials and their constituents are making "buy" or "no buy" decisions regarding the public safety services for their community. Don't believe it? Look at how many cities, towns, and counties are laying off personnel, closing fire stations, cutting back on non-emergency services, etc.

Social media professionals recommend that your organization spend at least 60 minutes each day working on mastering your Internet presence. Make a list of what is the most important for your agency and simply begin the process. It is more important for you to start than to worry about making everything perfect.

The fire service needs to market its service as an insurance company does. The fire service provides services to its community that one never wants to call on, like insurance, but can't afford to be without when needed, also like insurance. This is not marketed enough. How many of people live without several insurance policies, e.g., life, health, auto, etc.? None. Yet fire departments in communities across the country are facing dire straits because of lack of citizen support in the voting booth or at fundraising time.

As Dr. Phil says, “It’s time to get real!” Fire departments must stop trying to provide a model of fire protection—one that’s predicated on saving lives and property through the reactive deployment of firefighters who implement an interior fire attack the majority of time—when the department does not possess the resources to do so safely, effectively, and efficiently according to accepted standards and practices, e.g., NFPA 1710 or NFPA 17.