who’s #1? framing your messages for the right audience southwest florida chapter association of...

Who’s #1?Framing Your Messages for

the Right Audience

Southwest Florida ChapterAssociation of Fundraising Professionals

June 12, 2012

What are you thinking about right now?• Every day tens of thousands of signs, signals, cues and

messages bombard you.

– Which ones get through?

– Why? Or why not?

The challenges are never ending• The economy with increased pressure to meet client needs• Board recruitment, development and mobilization• Donor development / endowment building• Competition – real or mindset?• Staff recruitment and retention• Marketing pressures – traditional vs. social media• Accountability / transparency• STRESS!!! and more…

Your role as a communicator in the nonprofit sector• Develop an awareness and acceptance of your organization’s mission

• Create channels of communication with those your organization serves

• Establish and nurture an appropriate atmosphere for fundraising

• Formulate and disseminate public policies relative to your mission

• Motivate constituencies to work to achieve your mission

Today you’ll learn more about…

• Connecting emotionally with your most valuable audiences

• The difference between demographics and psychographics and why you should care

• Developing messages that drive organizational success• A real life case story - generations and their influence on

the marketplace

“So how do I start?”– With no money

– Staff cutbacks

– Time pressures

Discovery

Conclusions

Execution

Time?Budget?Quality?

Getting to the Emotional Connection

EFFECTIVE POSITIONING

KEY PROSPECTKEY PROSPECT PRODUCTPRODUCT

MARKETPLACEMARKETPLACE

What is your positioning?If you’re lucky enough to get into someone’s overcrowded head, what do you want them to think of you?

What is a ______?

Positioning• You don’t own your positioning; your key prospect does—

positive or negative as it may be (like a reputation or a credit score)

• The key is to determine which benefits are most motivating to your most valuable key prospects

– Uncovering the emotional connection– Using communications to connect

To your key prospect, what do you offer that the marketplace needs

that no one else can provide?

Brand perceptions are triggered by

Your identity

Your message

Your performance

I recognize you.

I know what you promise.

I know what you deliver.

A brief interlude…

Demographics vs. Psychographics

Why do marketers care so much about this?

Demo vs. “Real Person”• White male• 50-64• $100,000+ HH income• Active in community

service• Interested in political

action

Jerry

Jerry

Demo vs. “Real Person”

Jerry Garcia

Jerry Falwell

Now that both are dead, they Now that both are dead, they finallyfinally have something in have something in common!common!

Who would you spend $1 on?

Who is your Key Prospect?• Paint a vivid picture - a profile you’ll view as the small, center-ring of your

target and the “aiming point” for your message. – How do they behave? – What do they do in their free time? – What do they read, listen to, drive?– Do they have a family, grandchildren, pets?– Where are they from geographically?– What would they save in a fire?

• Using psychographic descriptors will help pool a specific type of person into this center ring; and help you identify the window of opportunity to reach them.

• Direct aim at this precise target will then concentrate fire where it will do the most good.

• Concentrated fire will guarantee that the circles nearest the center of the target will also be hit.

Identifying your Key Prospect• You can’t develop the proper messaging unless you take the time

for this important step.

• You can’t reach everyone, but aim at the target and you will have the greatest success in reaching those with the greatest IMPACT on your organization.

• Overspray is a bonus!

Key Message Platform

• What are your most important messages?

– How will those resonate with your key prospects given what you know about them now?

– Prioritize the messages based on the key prospect you are addressing.

Marketplace Challenges• What other options does the target have instead of using your

product?• Is the demand for your product/service consistently growing,

shrinking or staying the same? • What are the obstacles?

– Is it a competitor with a similar offering?– Is it a mindset?

• What role do the economy, purchasing trends, and geography play?

What does your product/service offer?

• What are the most important physical attributes/features of your offering?

• Why are these attributes important to the prospect? Why should they care? What is the benefit?

• What major and minor differences exist between your offering and those of your key competitors?

Questions to answer Who is the primary key prospect to whom communications will be

addressed?

What is the purpose of the communication?

What competitive benefit will be promised and how will that promise be supported?

What personality will distinguish the brand?

What is the window of opportunity when the key prospect will be most receptive to the brand?

How will I measure success?

Don’t fear “research”

• It fills important gaps• It can validate or redirect internal assumptions• It doesn’t have to be expensive

– Secondary analysis– Mail, phone and online surveys– Depth interviews– Ethnography (observational)

A case story

Florida West Coast Symphony becomes…

The Challenge• 60 years of a strong reputation as a brand that continues to deliver

timeless classics to Sarasota’s classical music lovers.

• Southwest Florida is home to a large Mature population and that has helped insulate the national trend in declining audience numbers and ticket sales.

• However, this Mature audience continues to age and is unable to attend performances or support the organization.

What Was Needed• Grow audience beyond Mature patrons to new younger audience –

Baby Boomers

• Attract this audience despite their lack of connection to classical music or motivation to attend a performance

• Accomplish this without alienating existing Mature audience

What we learned• Southwest Florida has been insulated from the nationwide decline in symphony

subscriptions due to strength in numbers of the Mature audience here.

• As this Mature audience ages further and is unable to attend performances or support the organization, we must look to the Boomer’s massive influx into this market for new audiences.

• Research has validated that what resonates with audiences in their 50s is quite different from that which moves audiences in their 70s or 80s. And how we market to them must be different as well.

• The word “orchestra” has the widest appeal, feeling less formal and restrictive than “symphony” and signaling welcome change to new audiences.

What was confirmed• An undeniably high-quality musical experience, and among classical music

enthusiasts, a stellar reputation.

• The need to offer the classics in a new way, speaking to new audiences in a language they will understand.

• Boomers, comprising over one-third of Sarasota County’s population, offer tremendous audience potential

– BUT, they have a finite amount of time and an infinite number of choices on how to spend that time!

• The symphony experience delivered by the Sarasota Orchestra = high quality rejuvenation in a busy, often un-centering world.

• Respect for a 60-year brand that continues to deliver timeless classics to lovers of classical music today.

• Programming that takes advantage of what is familiar to attract audiences to enjoy classical music in a new way.

• Live musical entertainment in a broader, less formal and more varied perspective.

• A look that reflects its energy and spirit

Revealing the Brand

Accolades…

“The Florida West Coast Symphony did the kind of smart, audience-centric strategic marketing that more orchestras ought to employ. Many of us in the orchestra world admire and applaud Sarasota’s aggressively comprehensive approach to growing its audience. We look forward to following the exciting future of the Sarasota Orchestra.”

– David Snead, director of marketing, New York Philharmonic

Results• 60th Anniversary Season

– For the first time ever, season single ticket sales surpassed subscriptions—a key indicator that the new brand marketing efforts were attracting a new, younger audience.

– The first Beethoven concert in the Journeys to Genius series targeting the Boomer audience played to a sold-out crowd.

• Three seasons later…– Orchestra sales continue to exceed forecasts and are up year over year.

– Journeys to Genius subscriptions are up 22 percent from the previous season.

– Pops subscriptions are up 39 percent year over year.

– Youth orchestra and summer music camp enrollment is up 11 percent and 20 percent respectively.

The power is in your focus• Identify and understand your most valuable key prospects.

• Deliver messages that will reach your audiences where and how they want it.

• Smart thinking up front delivers consistent and pinpoint communication that will deliver business results.

Patricia CourtoisPresident/COO

pcourtois@clarkeadvertising.com

941-487-1916