Getting The Message Right - 4 Things You Need To Understand
As social entrepreneurs and purpose-driven organisations, you’re focussed on creating a positive impact in the world and furthering your cause… but you know you’ve got to bring in an income to fund your good work, and for that you need an audience and supporters who “get you”.
Here’s what I’ve learnt from my years as a brand designer and by speaking to many social enterprise owners, charities, and change-makers.
Step 1.
Understand who you’re talking to.
This might sound obvious, but it can be more difficult and complex than you think. You’ve done your research and found your key demographic audience, you’ve probably outlined some personas and have a good idea of the people you’re tailoring your approach to. Whilst it’s useful to do this work, demographics will only get you so far - we need to consider the psychographics of our audiences; the real personality behind the person. Understand what makes them tick, what are their ambitions and why they might want to align themselves with your cause?
Through research carried out alongside my web development partners at Charity Box, we’ve worked out that, roughly speaking, there are 3 types of supporters for a cause:
Those who are directly affected by the cause.
Those who want to do something good but don't have a specific cause in mind (though they might have a topic, such as environment or women’s rights etc.)
Those who want to be part of something, and if it's for a good cause it's a bonus.
By identifying which category your ideal supporter falls into, you’ll be able to start crafting a message that better resonates with them.
Step 2.
Understand what problem you’re solving for them.
Chances are you started your organisation to solve a specific problem that the world has, you’re doing your part for society and making people’s lives better or striving to heal the environment in some way. These are all excellent things to do and I totally commend every single person who dedicates their time to these good causes. However, unless you have a core group of hardcore supporters, the people who will eventually support what you do are likely more concerned with a problem closer to home, something in their own life that you can address via your cause, if not directly.
I believe that people are fundamentally good, but we’ve evolved to be a little bit selfish… not in an intentionally nasty way, rather it’s in our genes to preserve ourselves and make our own lives better/easier. So, if you can identify a problem that your ideal audience has, and work your cause into that (rather than the other way round), you’ll be more likely to resonate with them and be more effective when it comes to getting them onboard.
Step 3.
Understand what desires they have - and how it relates to what you do.
As I said above, people have a desire to make their own lives better or easier in some way. And relating this thought back to my earlier point about there being 3 kinds of supporter, you may be able to craft a message that satisfies a desire whilst communicating to your audience in way that reflects where they are on their journey.
For example, people have a yearning to be part of something, be that a movement, part of a fandom, a member of political party, or simply a group of likeminded people who enjoy the same music. If you can tap into that desire to become part of something bigger, and connect with people on that level whilst weaving the message of your cause into it, you’ll be able to reach your audience on many levels and have more luck getting them onboard.
Simply by being part of an ethical movement might not be enough. As you may have identified in your persona building exercises, you may have identified that your ideal support may not directly care about a specific cause, however because it relates to something else that they care about - and it’s wrapped up in a community/movement aspect, they are more likely to get involved. One example of this could be a charity sporting event. Even if a person does not directly fight for your cause (yet), they might care about health and fitness, and they want to do more in their local community. So creating activities and a messages around health, fitness, and local sports could be a clever way to build support for your cause by stealth.
Step 4.
Understand the tone of voice best suited to resonate with them.
Now, once you’ve understood and acted upon the previous 3 areas you should be a better position to tackle the correct tone of voice needed to speak directly to your target audience. At the beginning of the branding journey I like to take my clients through a worksheet I created to help them ‘Find Their Brand Voice’. This is an important exercise as it quickly sketches out, and clarifies, the kind of organisation you want to be seen as.
You can quickly imagine the difference between the tone of voice of an organisation that aims to brand themselves as all about empowering the individual, and one that is wants to be seen as the organisation that cares for and supports the individual. for example. The difference can be subtle, but powerful. And by understanding these nuances, as well as the specific individual desires your ideal supporter has, you’ll be able to tailor a message and approach that’s laser focussed and feels like it was made just for the person who interacts with your marketing.
Get a free personalised brand report.
If you’re working to make the world a better place, then your brand can be a powerful tool to help you get the job done. Take the Social Impact Brand Scorecard now and get a personalised report in just 2 minutes.