SPREAD THE WORD

How to talk about Boat Live 365^®

Ignite change in your community with these free resources. Help your family, friends and fellow boaters become smarter and safer on the water.

• Boat Live 365 is bigger than a campaign. It is a movement that empowers recreational boating advocates to create a safe boating culture 365 days a year.
• Our goal is to provide resources and public outreach materials to help lower the rate of boating accidents, incidents, and fatalities nationwide.
• This is a collaboration between the U.S. Coast Guard and United States Power Squadrons.
• We are currently offering advocacy materials on the following key areas of interest:
  • Accident Reporting
  • Boat Operator Responsibility
  • Dangers of Cold Water
  • Life Jacket Safety
  • Navigation Rules
  • Dangers of Propeller Strikes
  • Safety Training
  • Boating Under the Influence
  • Carbon Monoxide (CO) Poisoning 

Preferred Language

When speaking about Boat Live 365, it’s important not to abbreviate the name. Always use the full term, Boat Live 365. Here’s why our words matter.

“Boat,” sets the stage for our conversation. “Live,” like alive, communicates our desire to help save lives. And “365” emphasizes the importance of having this conversation year-round. So say it all, and say it often – Boat Live 365, because boating is serious fun. 

Focus Lines

There are a couple of focus lines used throughout our materials.

• Boating is Serious Fun. This line can be used to spark conversation, as a heading to a promotional piece or as a closing line.
• Creating a Safe Boating Culture 365 Days a Year. This line can be used in conjunction with “Boating is Serious Fun” or on its own to describe our initiative.

Starter Tips to Ignite Change

Social Media, Meet the Real World

Social media is a great way to communicate your message, but it’s the message that matters most. Make sure you answer YES to these questions for every post, comment, or real-world conversation:

• Did I clearly communicate the issue?
• Have I conveyed where to find a solution?
• Did I offer Boat Live 365 or its partners as a resource?

Remember that consistency is key with any message in any channel.

Think Small and Go Big

Do you know someone who has been impacted by a boating safety incident? Who will this initiative matter to most? Remember that movements are started by a few and grown by many. Start connecting on a local level and build within your community. Simply gathering a few people and empowering them to head in the right direction can make a big impact.

Know Your Stuff from Bow to Stern

You can’t make a difference if you fake it. Nobody is suggesting you need to be an expert in all boating safety areas, but you should be able to provide knowledge on where to find Boat Live 365 resources, what the critical problems are for each boating safety issue, and what solutions we’ve provided to support change. We understand there will be safety topics that mean more to you than others, but please, don’t forget that learning about all safety topics is critical to our success. Together, let’s save lives 365 days a year.

Download this talking points card for a quick guide!

Talk About How to Ignite Change

With your neighbors, your colleagues, members of your congregation, your staff, or clients, start a regular conversation by asking a simple question …

Have you ever taken a boating safety course? And see where that takes you.

Dive Into the Conversation

When you see articles or blog posts on a particular boating safety topic that interests you, consider commenting. Here are some helpful tips:

• Share your personal experiences on the topic, use real-world examples
• Remember to speak to others with respect
• Provide facts and statistics from reliable sources, many of which you will find here on our site
• Make your point compelling enough to stimulate discussion, but succinct enough for readers to pay attention
• Stay composed. If you are pointing out a disagreement, do so professionally
• Don’t react to every comment. Ignore obvious attempts to stir up controversy or inject hostility; stay on message
• Remember, never include private information about yourself, other individuals, or a company. Be sure the information you are sharing is validated by sourced data.

Let’s Get Social

Boat Live 365 manages a website of safety resources, Facebook, and Pinterest accounts. As we continue to bring additional resources online, we will continue to expand our social media outreach.

Keep in mind, the idea is to share our message that “Boating is Serious Fun” and help make our waters safer for everyone. If you are a volunteer advocate, feel free to share our content on your social accounts like Twitter and Instagram.

Social Media Tips to Help Ignite Change

1. Connect to our Facebook page and actively participating in the Boat Live 365 conversation.
2. Like or comment on our posts and share them with your peers. The more active and connected we are, the further our message will reach.
3. Remember to “tag” relevant organizations and partners by using their designated handle. Ours is @boatlive365. Others you may want to include in your posting might be @USCGAux and @USPowerSquadrons.
4. If you want to connect with a specific audience based on a specific topic, it’s best to create your hashtag strategy before posting. A few hashtags we recommend adding if you are posting through Twitter: #safeboating, #boatingsafety, #boatlive365, and any hashtag that belongs to the safety topic you’re communicating (i.e., #wearit). If you are creating a custom hashtag for your event, try to keep it below 10 characters and make sure it’s not too generic or already used by another campaign. If you’re posting on Twitter, remember to keep your message under 280 characters.
5. Consider the timing and frequency of your posts, and make sure you’re posting relevant, quality content. This is not a numbers game. Think quality over quantity.

Here are Some Frequency and Post Guidelines

• Facebook, Twitter, Linkedin – 1x per day
• Instagram – 2-3x per week
• Pinterest – 1-2 pins per day
• Keep post content clear and simple, but make it interesting! Use photos or short videos as much as you can, keep it original.
• Always include a call to action. If you want it to be shared, ask for it. If you want a “like”, ask for it! If you want them to visit Boat Live 365 … www.boatlive365.com … you get the point.
• Download our social content bank for an easy starter list!

• Lastly, don’t forget to use auto schedulers to help keep posting current and active.