What is a campaign? And how do you get people to join you?

May 30, 2009 at 9:18 pm | In Communications tools and tips, Email Campaigns, Marketing Campaigns, Not-for-profit Campaigns, Political Campaigns, building brands | Leave a Comment

What do you think of when you hear the word campaign?

Political? Social justice? Fund raising? Military? Marketing? Save the whales? Sales?
All of the above?

campaign |kam’pān|
noun

a series of operations intended to achieve a particular objective, confined to a particular area, for a specified amount of time and involving a specified form of engagement.

campaign |kam’pān|
verb

to work in an organized and active way toward a goal

Campaigns are dance between people, stories, desires, deeds and time.

When I got my first job in fund raising, I was pretty uncomfortable with the idea of soliciting donations because, gulp someone might say “no”.

Luckily I had a great mentor who put me at ease with this simple statement, “If you are afraid someone will say ‘no’ don’t ask. When you know they are going to say ‘yes’ – ask!”

So how do you know if someone is ready to say yes?

  • You know them (their story, desires, abilities & deeds)
  • they know you (your story, desires, abilities & deeds)
  • you can match their needs with your deeds
  • the timing is right (no rushing)
  • they are empowered and enabled to act

Moving people to action in any kind of campaign (well OK, maybe not military) requires moving them through: The 5 I’s

1. Identify Find people you know (because you know their their story, desires, abilities and deeds) will take an interest. These are your potential donors, target market, likely voters, etc. Finding them takes time, research and relationship building, but your campaign is no where without these people. (Hint: start with the people who know and love you – lowest hanging fruit.)

    For the rest of the 5 I’s, tune in next month – I know I’m terrible. Email me if you (or our campaign) really can’t wait ;)

    What About White Papers?

    March 13, 2009 at 1:44 pm | In Client Work, Communications tools and tips, building brands | Leave a Comment

    If you are curious about white papers you will want to read this blog post by Vertical Response (after you’ve read this one of course;)

    I like VR’s post because it answers the all important question, “What the heck is a white paper?”

    From Wikipedia: A white paper is an authoritative report. White papers are used to educate customers, collect leads for a company or help people make decisions.

    and then the VR post goes on to provide tips for what to include, and suggest ways to promote a white paper once you’ve got one.

    But something that might not come across clearly is that you actually need to approach this from the other direction.

    Instead of writing a white paper and then thinking about how you are going to use it and promote it, first think about your PR and marketing objectives, decide if or how a white paper will meet those objectives, who the white paper is for, what you want them to do/think after reading it, how you are going to get the white paper in front of them, and then figure out what content needs to go in the paper.

    There are a lot of good PR and marketing objectives that can be supported by creating a white paper (or hiring someone like me to write one up for you). Here are a few:

    1. Demonstrate that you are an expert in your field
    2. Demonstrate that you care about your clients, prospects and colleagues by giving them a  document that is valuable to them and makes it easy for them to understand and use your service
    3. List build – a white paper that attracts the interest of your target market can be used as an enticement to subscribe to e-newsletters and other forms of permission marketing
    4. Prospecting – a white paper can be a powerful CPC (Pay Per Click advertising) draw. Google ads that drive people to your white paper can help you build site traffic and permission marketing lists. But keep in mind that people who want information are different from people who want to buy and there are different reasons that companies choose to speak to both markets.
    5. Sales support – a white paper can become non-salesie common ground between your sales staff (or you) and your clients/potential clients. It provides an opportunity to discuss industry best practices and that conversation can feel more like a beneficial exchange of ideas than a hard sell. (And while you are having that conversation you can further demonstrate that you are an expert in your field and that you care…)

    So check out Vertical Response’s blog post about white papers, keep in mind they offer a service that makes it pretty easy to link a white paper to your e-newsletter sign up process, and if you are interested, contact me to discuss developing a white paper (tool kit, tips sheet, or industry report) that supports your PR and marketing objectives.

    What makes you relevant?

    March 9, 2009 at 5:14 pm | In Client Work, Communications tools and tips, building brands | Leave a Comment

    I worry about coaches and service providers who are continuously positioning themselves/ their ideas/ their companies with statements like, “Given these difficult times…” or “Recession-proof…” or “In today’s market…”

    What does that do? It demonstrates that you have read the papers – fine – but if you do too much of that kind of positioning, it can crazy glue you/your idea/your business to the thing that you are telling people makes you relevant – in this case the “downturn”.

    Call me kooky, but I don’t see that as a long-term success strategy.

    In contrast, consider how Curves has chosen to shape their relevance. They know that it is in their best interest for clients to look at their membership as a long term, life-improving, feel-good choice, rather than a quick fix to a temporary weight-loss problem. They know that their target market is uncomfortable, or even unhappy with their bodies today. Fine, but Curves wants clients to love them now and to keep right on loving them, even when they reach their weight loss goals.

    So, instead of attaching their relevance to a potentially temporary weight problem that could ultimately make Curves irrelevant, they position themselves for the long term with messages about women loving their bodies – that vision will never be irrelevant. Then, they reinforce their relevance to their target market by demonstrating their popularity (stores opening everywhere, 4 million members world wide). And by making a program that’s only 30 minutes, they’ve created an opportunity to reinforce that their service is specifically relevant for women with busy lives (all of us). You will notice that all the things Curves relies on to make them relevant show up at the very core of what they do.

    You will also notice that they are not running ads that jump on the downturn band wagon, “Lost your job? Lose weight too!” It sounds absurd but the point is that any company could try to use the economy to make itself relevant, but no matter how you spin it, grasping for relevance really doesn’t look very good.

    Now, I hope this post isn’t going to confuse people who have heard me challenge them to try to relate what they are saying (in articles and presentations) to something that’s going on in the world. (E.g. refer to a news item, a popular figure, or a current event.)

    I want to be clear.  There is a critical difference between using topical real world examples to illustrate concepts or to help people relate to you, and hammering people with empty statements like “In difficult times like these…”, which say little more than, “Look I know what’s going on and I’m telling you I’m relevant!”

    Do you have any ideas about relevance that you want to contribute? Any questions you are pondering?  I’ve spent a fair amount of time thinking about questions of relevance in the past couple of weeks and I haven’t come up with any hard and fast truths. But you will find a few other posts on the topic because questions of relevance are relevant to me. What about you?

    What about price???

    February 20, 2009 at 11:07 am | In Communications tools and tips, building brands | Leave a Comment

    In my last post, workshop announcement checklist for coaches I suggested that including a price on your 1st tier promotion for a workshop (or service) isn’t necessarily a given.

    (Quick explanation of tiers: if 1st marketing tier = announcing the workshop in your newsletter, the text might link to a 2nd tier marketing tool such as a landing page on your website.In an offline example, the 1st tier could be a rack card and if it tells people to call for a free consultation, the free consultation is your 2nd tier.)

    When deciding whether or not to list price on a marketing tool, the factors to weigh include:

    • is there a 2nd tier? If you are sending someone somewhere for more info, you could hold back on listing the price and use people’s curiosity to drive them to the 2nd tier.
    • is price your best selling feature? Is it what separates you from the pack?
    • experience – have your clients told you that they are specifically attracted to you by your price (high or low)

    In a recent article by Kevin Lee, for ClickZ, (Feb 20, 2009) he gives readers a few more things to consider about using price as an incentive to get people to move from the 1st tier to 2nd tier (he’s specifically talking about attracting clicks for pay for click ads that drive people to 2nd tier, which might be someone’s website or a landing page). He writes,

    Price may seem like the obvious choice as an incentive to click, but price is a dangerous area for many marketers. Before including pricing in your ads, consider the following:

    Your brand position may not be as a price player in the market. An aggressive price may actually convince people to look elsewhere. If you compete on other variables, price can be a dangerous incentive.

    Sometimes people prefer to pay a bit more if they believe there are additional service benefits. Buyers may have been burned in the past by lowest-price providers and the simple mention of a price may cheapen your image.

    If you can’t win the price war, why start it?

    Do you want a price shopper as a customer? Some studies (and some evidence I’ve seen from clients) show they have the lowest predicted lifetime customer value (i.e. they are always shopping for price).

    So you need to think about your brand, and about what your clients need / expect from you. Everyone’s answers are different.

    Workshop announcement checklist for coaches – the fun version

    February 16, 2009 at 10:28 pm | In Communications tools and tips, building brands | Leave a Comment

    I love writing for coaches. My clients are passionate, educated, articulate, and full of integrity. They make it really easy for me to help them with their marketing – who wouldn’t want to spend time with these people?

    One thing clients come to me with over and over is, “What needs to go on my workshop announcement?” or “What information do I need to include on the invitations to my seminar?”

    Here’s my checklist, which anyone, especially coaches, can use to make sure you are giving people everything they need to say, “Sign me up!”

    • 1 or 2 Line “What’s in it for me” statement: Foreplay isn’t the only kind of play couples need to do more of. Your favourite sassy, silly, relationship savvy marriage coach is back with another uproariously funny seminar that will leave you and your partner laughing your way back to love.
    • Name of the presenter (said with enthusiasm): Dr. Micky Love Joy returns to Vancouver with…
    • Title: How Tea Tasting Saved My Marriage: and other hidden pathways to rekindled love
    • Date: Feb 15, 2009
    • Location: The Ramada ballroom, Vancouver – discounts on rooms available (even locals might want to get a room)
    • When: 2:00 – 8:00 PM, with a Steak, Salmon, or Vegetarian meal served at 6:30
    • “What are we going to be doing” details: Wondering what you two could possibly have fun doing together for 6 hours? This seminar is a great mix of Dr. Love Joy’s sage observations about love and romance, and fun, off the wall assignments designed to get couples moving, laughing and loving with muscles you forgot you had! You will get out on the town, enjoy a great meal, share a laugh with new friends and all the while you will be learning and practicing to play for love-sake.
    • “Who is this for/What will I get out of it” details (this could be a list of learning outcomes, results, a testimonial, or a combination): Dr. Love Joy’s students walk out of her seminars wondering when they last had so much fun loving their lover. In a recent survey of past participants, couples overwhelmingly describe the seminar as a life changing experience. And they say they would never go back to a love life without play.
    • Overcome a known objection, or highlight the biggest benefit (and again this might be done well with a testimonial): “My husband wasn’t really into self-help seminars, but when I told him there was a steak dinner in it for him, he agreed to give it a shot. We had an amazing day at your seminar, and a year later, Ned is nudging me to check more things off our “to-enjoy together” list. We have never enjoyed ourselves this much, and we are doing it together. I’m really grateful.”
    • Specific details: Bring a good pair of walking shoes, comfy clothes for rolling around, a change of clothes for a glamorous dinner/dance, and a hair brush.
    • Link to more info about you, and your program details: The link goes to your website, with extra information / sales language – this is specifically for people who need more time/information to make a decisions so make sure the web page inspires people to register for this workshop.
    • Registration details: If someone is ready to sign up make sure you give them the opportunity and make it EASY.
    • Your bio (remember this isn’t where you went to high school – make sure your bio is written to support the sale): Dr. Mickey Love Joy has been bringing people back to love since she opened her private coaching and counseling practice in Hope, BC in 1968. Her best selling book Love: Ain’t it a Riot launched her onto the seminar circuit in 2001. Since then she has helped thousands of couples find love through laughter. Her next book Money or Nothing tracks 4 couples who almost divorced over money trouble, but they made it back from the brink financially and lovingly through the magic of play.
    • Urgent Call to action (with an easy link to register): The 1st 15 couples to register will receive a free advanced copy of Money or Nothing and a free 20 minute play date with Dr. Love Joy. Register Now!

    Now, the price tag is always a sticky point. If your announcement is designed to push people to a website for more details, you can opt to just have the price on the website. Some people like to have the price on the announcement so people get a sense of either the value, or the affordability of the program – if that will help someone decide to act, I say give it to them. It’s your call, so I’m leaving Price off the checklist.

    But remember that the #1 thing to get right is message. You know who is most likely to come to your seminar. You know who you are going to be sending the announcement to. When those people read your announcement, are they going to know that the seminar was made for them?

    Write for your audience. Give them what they want to know. Give it to them in a clean and clear way. Connect it to something tangible and something intangible that they want. Put their needs before your deeds.

    When you have that nailed, use the checklist to make sure you give people everything they need to buy.

    Note: the order is a little flexible, and images help a lot – if they help you tell your story.

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