No one person can change the world on their own. Whether it’s the support of donors, the partnership of other stakeholders in our field, or clients to utilize our services, we need other people to get to where we want to go. So, the biggest mistake a changemaker can make is to disregard your audience.
We recently talked about the 4 key ingredients to making change and the importance of defining who you’re trying to reach. Once your audiences are defined, you must tell stories that center those folks. In other words, you want to tailor your messages to your audiences in order to spark engagement.
Here are four super simple ways to amplify the power of your communications and turn casual followers into active supporters:
1. Tell them why they should care.
In order to support your work, people need to know why it matters. That’s why it’s important to thread your why throughout your messaging – and it’s also why you should make sure every message you send touches on what matters most to your audiences.
Before you begin developing any communications, take time to understand what’s most important to your audiences, so you can center those things in your storytelling. Think about any factors that will motivate your audience to engage with you, whether it’s how your product or service can make their lives easier, how your work impacts their community, or how you provide an essential service at a more affordable cost than other providers.
Let’s imagine you’re a childcare service provider trying to reach lower-income parents in need of childcare. It’s highly likely that the safety and well-being of their children is the parents’ top priority, so you’ll want to explain how your childcare services will positively impact their well-being, as well as emphasize your qualifications and values so that they can trust their children will be safe in your care. Additionally, because of their income level, cost will be more important to them than it would be for a higher-income audience, so be sure to advertise the affordability of your services.
A great example is this AirBnB ad targeting potential hosts. The ad not only highlights the more obvious benefit of hosting an AirBnB – the ability to earn extra income – but it also demonstrates how becoming a host can benefit their audiences’ overall lives, allowing them to pay for the things that matter most.
Source: www. stimulantonline.ca
2. Center them in the story.
Next, when speaking to a particular audience, remember that your audience is the protagonist of the story. Nonprofits especially tend to make the mistake of centering the people they are helping in their communications. However, if you’re hoping to persuade donors to fund your work, your message should elevate their role. For instance, instead of:
“Our organization is helping lower income individuals access quality healthcare. Support our work by making a donation today.”
Say:
“By making a donation, you’ll help lower income individuals and families access quality healthcare.”
With simple language changes that center your audience, they’ll more easily understand how they fit into the change you’re creating. As a result, they’ll be more motivated to get involved – because they know they’ll be making a difference.
3. Give them direction.
Possibly the most important thing to consider when writing to drive action is what exactly that action is. When developing any communications, think about what it is you’re asking your audiences to do – the more clear it is, the more likely your message will spur them to action. And the more simple and straightforward that action is, the more likely they will take it.
For example, if you’re a healthcare clinic trying to get people to take advantage of your services, your message should definitely include a call-to-action (CTA) to make an appointment. But, you’ll more likely drive appointments if you tell them what step they need to take in order to do so. For instance: “Visit our website and click “Make An Appointment.”
To get to this level of specificity, you’ll need to do some deep thinking beforehand about the goals you’re trying to reach. Once you’ve defined what you’re seeking to achieve, you can then get even more specific about exactly what you need from your audiences in order to make it happen.
4. Meet them where they’re at.
Finally, a key piece of tailoring your messages to your audiences is to use language and visuals that resonate with them. You want to make sure your messages are easily understood by your audience, so use language that they themselves would use in their everyday lives, and avoid unfamiliar terms they would have to look up in order to understand – this will instantly prevent your audience from engaging with your message.
Aside from accessibility, consider the cultural significance of the language you use and whether it’s appropriate for this audience. Stay away from terms that might be outdated or even offensive to certain members of your audience. For instance, make sure you don’t use Gen Z slang if marketing to older generations – at best it could go over their heads, and at worst they could have an entirely different understanding of the word.
Similarly, when it comes to visuals, think about what will and won’t resonate with your audience. A good example is when using photography, it’s important to use images of people that actually look like your target audiences, or images set in the place where they live. This will automatically allow your audiences to connect with your story and see themselves in it. And the opposite will happen if you choose images that alienate them; if you were to use images with a green, grassy landscape when trying to reach an audience in an area that is entirely desert (like in the below example), you’d instantly be signaling to them that you either don’t understand or don’t care about their reality.
When it comes to marketing and communications, these few simple tips can make the difference between forming a deep connection with the people you’re trying to reach, and simply making noise that ultimately leads nowhere. By keeping them in mind, your communications are sure to resonate with more people, drive more action, and elevate your impact ten-fold.