Over the last couple of weeks, we have delivered an expanded version of our marketing workshops aimed at not for profits. Here are some nuggets from the workshops that are necessary no matter what you do:
1 Benefits before Features
Take a look at your advertising medial both online and offline. Are you talking to the reader about what’s in it for them or about the features of the product or service you are offering? In our time-constrained world, we want to know what it is, time and cost, and what we will get out of it. One participant’s ah-ha moment came when she remembered she’d read our workshop flyer and had been sold on the benefit. She now has that nugget in time to refer back to when she puts together her advertising materials from now on. Focus on the results first and foremost, then talk about the features. Compare with what you previously did and check out the difference in response rates.
2 Create your avatar and change your plan
This simple exercise can change the way you look at your clients forever. It is a given that we can’t target everybody because the benefits to different demographics will vary so much we run the risk of attracting nobody. Instead, delegate a colleague to be a typical member of the target group you want to reach. Get your colleague to role-play this person by answering your questions about who they are as a person, demographic, interests, etc, and how they pass their time. We have done this a few times at workshops and get the same enthusiasm as a result. The (potential) client becomes real and it turns out they’ve been hiding in place sight and not necessarily where you’ve been looking. Take for example the 45-year-old male social housing tenant, who dropped out of school, is unemployed and who’s interested in sporting pastimes. He’s not going to come forward for a literacy course advertised in a newsletter but maybe encouraged to step forward if it improves his enjoyment of or participation in a sporting pastime. Get the content right and he will tell others. Be bold enough to get into character, see what hidden nuggets you can uncover about your target market and act on them.
3 Find the hungry crowd and work out where they hang out. If they’re not ready, nurture them.
You can’t offer a product or service if your target market isn’t hungry. What stimulates this hunger? Pain or pleasure? What nuggets of clues are you searching for? It’s too easy to make sweeping statements about whether they hang out on social media or read the newspaper. Dig into the personality and habits of your avatar and you may come up with specific places they hang out. But don’t go to these places unless you have something to offer that they want r need. What if they don’t know they need what you are offering? The secret is either to shock them with facts or inspire them and be there when they make up their mind. Which do you choose?
4 Focus your visibility on how you get in front of people when they are looking for the product or service you have to offer.
In today’s information-overloaded society, we can’t process every piece of information. If people don’t know who you are, that’s ok, they don’t need your product or service yet. Instead, focus your attention on when and where you get the most impact when they do need the product or service you are offering. If you don’t have a ‘brand’ then focus on your unique selling proposition. Focus your energy on becoming the sparkly diamond that draws their attention.
5 The money is in the list
Your database is your golden goose. It is 6-7 times easier to sell to an existing customer than to a new one. Not only that, but your database contains your fans; people who can refer your services. They may, in their networks, have the people you are looking for. Keep the people on your database informed. You never know what gems are hiding in your list.
Are you ready for a marketing health check?
Marketing is not just an issue for business. Recent, current and future changes to funding models where funding will follow the client, will have significant implications for not-for-profits who will need to update their marketing strategies NOW to operate in highly competitive environments in the future. Are you a community organisation that needs to update your marketing style? Start with a MARKETING HEALTH CHECK – contact us at support@thecommunityentrepreneur.com.au or 03 9005 5889 to find out more.