In the first of our three posts on the importance of communicating with donors, we distinguished between marketing, advertising, PR, and branding. In this second post, we turn our attention to the content of your message and the approach you can take to presenting it.
Where to begin?
Seth Godin is an insightful and gifted author and speaker on all things marketing-related; his blog is one of the most widely read on the subject. In a post entitled, "Where do we begin?", he acknowledges every marketer's initial dilemma: deciding who your audience is. Are you communicating to someone who already knows you? Or are you writing to someone who knows nothing about you? If they already know you or the subject matter, your tone can be different. If they don't know you, you probably need to include more background. It's an important distinction. Before you begin developing any marketing piece, know your audience.
Polarize Me
Fast Company magazine highlights the need for organizations to polarize people. The best way to make people like you is to "first decide who needs to hate you." Authors Dan and Chip Heath describe how many men and women on match.com blow their chance to make a great first impression by embracing mediocrity for fear of alienating anyone. Daters have a picture and a 20 word headline to capture the attention of their potential mate. Most of the time, daters fail to take advantage of the opportunity to set themselves apart from the rest of the universe.
The Heaths draw comparisons between daters on match.com and the average corporate branding message. Don't offend anyone, the stakes are too high: "most marketers feel that if they make a bold statement, they risk not just alienating customers--but also their boss, and their boss's boss." Messages are diluted to the point no one pays attention because the message doesn't seem to be speaking directly to them. Nonprofits are no better: how many direct mailers or web sites feature the same generic, stock photo of the elderly woman or the hungry child? So much for risk taking.
Fear, hope and love: the three marketing levers
In another post, Godin explains that, "people take action (mostly) based on one of three emotions: fear, hope and love."
He cites examples or individuals and organizations appealing to different emotions, like the TSA and Rudy Giuliani appealing to fear; Chanel and Forbes as appealing to hope; and Google and Apple inspiring love. The brands that engender love cause their customers and clients to identify with "something bigger than themselves, something bigger than hope." The key is to "deliver hope for a long time (and deliver on it sometimes) you can graduate to love." My ah-ha moment came when he says that, "Hillary may be respected, but Obama is loved." Couldn't have said it better myself.
Godin concludes, "I don't think love is often a one way street, either. Brands that are loved usually start the process by loving their customers in advance. The easiest way to build a brand is to sell fear. The best way, though may be to deliver on hope while aiming for love..." Brilliant.
Selling Your Ideas
By now you've figured out who your audience is, decided who you don't want to appeal to, and you've crafted a message that appeals to hope. Unfortunately, your work has just begun. Now you have to begin persuading people.
Knowledge@Wharton profiles G. Richard Shell's, 'The Art of Woo': Selling Your Ideas to the Entire Organization, One Person at a Time. The book gives a poignant example of effective persuasion - "the story of rock star Bono's visit to then-Senator Jessee Helms' Capitol Hill Office to enlist his help in the global war against AIDS":
"Bono had all the facts and figures at his fingertips, and launched into a detailed appeal based on this data. He was, in essence, speaking to Helms the same way he had recently spoken to executives and technical experts at the many foundations and corporations he had approached about this issue. But within a few minutes, Bono sensed that he was losing Helms' attention, and he instinctively changed his pitch. Knowing that Helms was a deeply religious man (and drawing on his own born-again Christian values), Bono began speaking of Jesus Christ's concern for the sick and poor. He argued that AIDS should be considered the 21st century equivalent of leprosy, an affliction cited in many Bible stories of the New Testament. Helms immediately sat up and began listening, and before the meeting was over had promised to be the Senate champion for Bono's cause."
Just like that: identify your audience, polarize them, appeal to hope, and persuade. Sounds easy, but it's not.
- Don Wong Jr
Photo courtesy of Lucas Jans
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