Getting Your Marketing Message Right

ProEd 549

December 4, 2012

Sara Brueck Nichols

Introductions

• Who are you?

• Where are you from?

• What do you want out of class today?

Evaluation

• On a scale of 1 to 5, how satisfied are you with your organization’s messaging?

• What is the reasoning behind your score?

STATE OF THE INDUSTRY

Getting Attention Survey 2012

• Are your messages connecting with the people who need to hear them?

76% of Nonprofits say NO

Getting Attention Survey 2012

• Do your organization’s messages connect with your target audience?

Getting Attention Survey 2012

• Are your messages speaking to audience wants & needs?

70% of Nonprofits say theirmessage spur a “so what?”

instead of an “AHA”• Is your message sufficiently clear?

26% of Nonprofits describe their messages as confusing

Getting Attention Survey 2012

• Does your message inspire action?

Only 16% of Nonprofits describe their message as powerful

• What part of your message is least impactful?

71% of Marketers & Fundraisers say their tagline is the least impactful message

Getting Attention Survey 2012

• What is the single greatest barrier to developing more effective messages for your organization?

Getting Attention Survey 2012

• Are your messages used consistently across channels?

<Half of Nonprofits say yes• Are your messages developed cross-

organizationally?

Marketers, Fundraisers & Executive Directors all have message-driven

positions

Getting Attention Survey 2012

• Why do you feel your messages are irrelevant? 

• “Always about us, not about the people we’re communicating with.”         

• “Too long and filled with jargon.”• “Superficially inspiring. People respond strongly the first

time they hear them, but not over time.”• “Lack clarity, because we have too many cooks in the

message kitchen.”• “Good for each program but weak or nonexistent for the

org as a whole.”

WHAT GOES WRONG

What Goes Wrong

What Goes Wrong

What Goes Wrong

What Goes Wrong

What Goes Wrong

Inside-Out: Organization Centered

VS.

Outside-In: Target Centered

What Goes Wrong

• Clues you have an Inside-Out message:– You see your organization’s key messages as

inherently desirable– Lack of marketing success is blamed on

audience ignorance and/or lack of motivation– Little effort put into target audience research– Marketing is used only to promote

organization and its needs – one-way conversations

CONSIDERATIONS

Considerations• Some things to remember

– Have a strategic messaging team – representatives from across the organization

– Clearly articulated mission statement is a vital precursor to message development

– Determine if your desired actions align with your programs

– Discuss. Through the discussion your goal should be reach consensus on the desired action. Once you think you’ve obtained consensus, write it down.

Considerations

• Mission vs. Message– Mission

• Internally focused• Goals of organization• Only one mission

– Message• Externally focused• Based upon the mission, but tailored to the unique

goals and motivations of the audience• Persuade people to take action

ASSIGNMENT 1: AUDIENCE

What Goes Wrong

• Clues you have an Inside-Out message:– You have a “silver bullet” marketing strategy,

using the same tactic over and over.– Your message differs depending on who/what

delivers it– Competition is ignored. Every other message

competes with yours!

Audience

• No such thing as “general public”– Who will evangelize?– Who will be most receptive?– Who is most likely to take action?

Audience

• What kind of people tend to support your organization?

• What are their values?• How do they communicate?• How do they spend their time?• What appeals to them?• What do they dislike?• What motivates them to act?

Audience

• Who are your three most important audience groups?– Those who can do the most for your

organization– Those who are most likely to do so

• Write down everything you can about your three target audiences, so you can focus messages on the right sweet spot

Audience

• Profile: Male, Truck Driver• Action: Tossing beer cans out window• Persona Name: Bubba

Audience

• Profile: • Action:

ASSIGNMENT 2:GOALS & MOTIVATORS

Goals & Motivators

• What are your organization’s goals?

Goals

Goals & Motivators

• What are the goals of your 3 audience segments?

Goals2

Goals1

Goals3

Goals & Motivators

• Where is the overlap?

Organization

3

2

1

Goals & Motivators

Not what you want to say What your audience wants to hear

ASSIGNMENT 3:PERSONAS

Personas

• Multi-dimensional sketches that typify your audience segments

• Created using– Organizational goals– Donor/Volunteer/Client demographics– What others say about you

Personas

• Organization– Context– Challenge– Goal

• Persona– First & Last Name– Gender, Age, Face– Personal Information

Personas

• Context:– A nonprofit is launching a new community fitness program and needs to

promote it to community activists, politicians, and citizens, and to motivate their involvement. The staff needs to know what’s important to these audiences, so it can shape its messages, website and blog (a centerpiece of the campaign), brochures and events accordingly.

• Challenge:– This is the first time the organization is proactively communicating to

motivate the launch of fit community programs. The campaign will center on a new blog and Web site, but the nonprofit doesn’t know how to design message to most effectively educate its diverse audiences and motivate them to act. The communications team just doesn’t know where to start.

Personas

Frank Cummings, age 64, owns his own home in a moderately-priced area of an industrial-based community in Ohio. He is married, and has two children who now live in neighboring states.

Frank took an early-retirement option from the electrical contracting firm where he worked for 19 years. Now he spends a lot of his free time working on his home and yard, and walking in the neighborhood.

Personas

• How person spends His day? – Day at work/home– Habits– Likes/Dislikes– Environment at work/home

• Who does this person trust? • Personal and professional goals in relation

to your organization’s programs?

Personas

• Who else is encouraging them to “do the right thing” (follow through on your calls to action)?

• Where are they in the Stages of Change about doing the right thing?

• One persona per audience group

Personas

Annoyed By…One problem Frank has noticed as he walks is that the traffic speeds along his street (a connector between two arterial streets) are often well in excess of the 25MPH posted speed limit.

.

Frank has made comments about the high speeds to his city council representative, who is, with Frank, a member of the local Lions Club. But the council-person, while sympathetic, hasn’t done anything other than to suggest that Frank should lodge a complaint with someone at the city, or the police. Meanwhile, the speeding cars continue, and Frank feels unsafe as he walks.

Personas

Online HabitsLike some in his age group, Frank is a late-comer to computers and the Internet. He needed to learn to use a computer-based service mounted in his truck the last few years he was working, and struggled to keep up with the technology that seemed to come much easier to younger people in the firm..

Frank purchased a computer primarily to use e-mail with his children, but he also has used several programs such as QuickBooks and tax-prep software. His connection to the Internet is still through DSL so it’s not the fastest and Frank doesn’t like to wait around to see family videos on You Tube or other Web content.

Personas

• Wants• Slowed-down traffic outside his

house to increase walker and biker safety.

• His neighborhood to be a safer and more enjoyable place to live.

Personas

Successful community

fitness program

Slower traffic; neighborhood

safety

Messaging focused on safe biking and walking, rather than the need to follow traffic safety rules. Citizen campaign recruitment efforts focused on neighbor-to-neighbor messengers, postering and door-to-door flyers. The response was strong.

Safety

ASSIGNMENT 4: TAGLINES

Taglines

What is your tagline?

Taglines

• Most important message – 8 words or less– Essence of your message– Foundation for “elevator pitch”

• Presented from viewpoint of audience• “Sweet spot” – overlap of your wants, your

audience’s wants and what makes you different

Taglines

What makes people listen & care?

Taglines

37 Grams of Saturated Fat

VS.

+ +

Taglines

“Theater Popcornis a Double Feature

of Fat”

“Lights, Camera, Cholesterol!”

Taglines

• Consistency– “You’re not in business to entertain yourself;

you’re in business to change the world. To change the world, your message has to stick. For your message to stick, it must remain consistent.”

• Organizational & programmatic taglines must relate

Taglines

• Is your tagline solid, reliable, well-recognized & concise?– How do you convey it to your personas?

• Is your tagline week, not well-known, inconsistent?– How do you improve impact?

• Do you have a tagline?

ASSIGNMENT 4: MESSAGES

Messages

"Comprehensive community building naturally lends itself to a return-on-investment rationale that can be modeled, drawing on existing practice," it begins, going on to argue that "[a] factor constraining the flow of resources to CCIs is that funders must often resort to targeting or categorical requirements in grant making to ensure accountability."

Messages

Which one do you remember?Which one is more compelling?Which one is most likely to drive action or awareness?

Messages

Messages

• How many organizations does AJWS fund worldwide to alleviate hunger?

• How many grants did AJWS give away last year? In how many different countries?

• After which natural disaster did AJWS commit $11 million?

• According to Helen Hunt, what values does AJWS foster?

• Is Tracy Morgan Jewish?

Messages

• How do you design a message that is sticky and drives action, awareness or change?

• Made to Stick – 6 rules of message development

Messages

Messages

Messages

Messages

Credibile

Messages

Messages

Messages

• Tell us why we should care, and how we can address the problem

• Relevant – always write from the audience view point, not the organization’s perspective

• Avoid jargon• Keep it short• Be consistent

Messages

• Evaluate effectiveness – sometimes audiences change, along with messaging

• Give everyone in organization simple, compelling and memorable words they can use to connect with a variety of audiences – get them excited about the organization is doing

Messages

• Do not just make lists• Do not overwhelm with information• Bad communication talks about HOW an

organization does the work. Good communication shows WHY an organization is needed and WHAT happens in the world as a result of its work.

Messages

• Using your mission, audience groups, goals & motivators, personas & tagline construct an audience-focused message framework for a program

ASSIGNMENT 5: DELIVERY

Delivery & Tools

Tappers vs. Listeners

Delivery & Tools

• Tappers hear the song in their head• Listeners hear only a disconnected series

of taps• Curse of Knowledge.

– Once we know something, we find it hard to imagine what it was like not to know it. It becomes difficult for us to share our knowledge with others, because we can't readily re-create our listeners' state of mind.

Delivery & Tools

• “Maximize Shareholder Value”– Simple?– Unexpected?– Concrete?– Credible?– Emotional?– Story?

Delivery & Tools• “Our mission is to become the international

leader in the space industry through maximum team-centered innovation and strategically targeted aerospace initiatives.”– Simple?– Unexpected?– Concrete? – Credible?– Emotional?– Story?

Delivery & Tools

• “The challenge for companies (of any size) is to find a way to build sustainable, relationship-minded business processes that account for the new buying methods of an educated, mobile, personalization-minded buying market. Some of what online tools do well is address all of this. But that’s like saying a great pen will help you write better. It’s not about the tools. It’s about a choice to understand how to stand out as a provider of value above-and-beyond-the-sale to one’s customer base...The fact that technology makes our voice easier to hear, does not mean people will listen.” –Chris Brogan

Delivery & Tools

• Lead with what you do, and the benefits this offers, not who you are.

• Listen to what you’re hearing online.• Focus on improving credibility• Evolve your voice to one who is warmer &

more conversational

Delivery & Tools

• Where are your personas online?

Delivery & Tools

• Message type– Informal

• Twitter• Blog• Tumblr• Cocktail/Elevator Pitch

– Medium• Facebook• Direct Mail• Website• Blog

Delivery & Tools

• Message type– Formal

• News release• Board communication• Website• Direct mail

Delivery & Tools

• Look at your personas– Select potential tools/technologies

• Modify your message for– Informal platform– Medium platform– Formal platform

REVIEW

Review

• Next steps?• Roadblocks?• Concerns?• Questions?