Archive - Green marketing RSS Feed

Go beyond promotion for its own sake

June 6, 2013 in Copywriting, Green marketing, Nonprofits, Social responsibility, WMD Blog with 0 Comments

[Dalya's Note: This is an excerpt from my award-winning book Writing to Make a Difference: 25 Powerful Techniques to Boost Your Community Impact.]

When you are writing to make a difference, your two-fold goal is both to promote your organization as a part of a socially responsible solution AND to educate your readers about key things they need to know in your issue area.

Constituent education is often the first step in marketing, especially if you are tackling a complex, often misunderstood problem that involves many variables, processes, or actors. Most of your readers are not specialists in your area, but their interests make them want to know more. You would be wise, then, to build an educational component into your organization’s branding.

EXAMPLE:

As a socially responsible business, you offer environmentally friendly laundry services to people in your neighborhood. While your customers obviously know their need for clean clothes, many of them may not be aware of the hazards of chemicals often used in the dry cleaning process. Your marketing, then, would need to include information about why you offer green services, as well as how you do so.

In this world of information overload, we all could use a guide to the most critical aspects of the issues important to us. We also want to hear about how we can personally get involved, presented in a way that we can relate to.

And that information is precisely what you and your organization excel at providing! Give it to your readers—repeatedly and consistently. The more value you can deliver, the more they will see your organization as worthy of their support, investment, or patronage.

Promoting your brand and appropriately educating your community go hand-in-glove.

bonus tipBONUS TIP:

Just remember that you can never be 100% objective, no matter how hard you try. While your readers know you have a perspective, they also expect you to be clear and honest with your facts and opinions, and to explain your frame-of-reference.

 

 

 

 

Give your readers good reasons to trust you

May 29, 2013 in Copywriting, Green marketing, Nonprofits, Social responsibility with 0 Comments

[Dalya's Note: This is an excerpt from my award-winning book Writing to Make a Difference: 25 Powerful Techniques to Boost Your Community Impact.]

As a writer, your intention is to create ongoing relationships with your readers. And all solid relationships begin with trust. One way to build trust is to demonstrate your familiarity with the problems your readers face. Show that you are “in the know” by citing what other experts in your field are saying. And back up your official, academic, or professional claims with on-the-ground testimonials from people who have used your service or product and are similar to your readers.

You can also reassure your readers with ways to lower the risk of working with you. For example, offer a satisfaction guarantee. Or tell them about an evaluation or feedback process (e.g., an online rating system) that will let them exchange their views about your effectiveness with other customers or clients.

Another idea is to describe your product or service by comparing it favorably with an easily recognized brand that your readers know, trust, and value.  Or, use a colorful analogy or metaphor that they can quickly grasp. Reduce their unfamiliarity with your brand and encourage their interest in you and your work.

EXAMPLES

  • You may have seen this technique used in phrases such as, “If you liked X you will love Y” and the “Alternative Nobel Prize” (the popular name for the somewhat obscurely named “Right Livelihood Award”). Saying something is the Mercedes of solar heating systems (vs. the Ford or Honda) is another great example.
  • You may have bought a less expensive store-brand drug or food product that is marketed as equivalent to a well-known brand  because it features the same active ingredients. Emerging musicians are often marketed by comparing their styles with those of more established stars.
  • Some marketers use the phrase “Disneyland for grownups” to describe Las Vegas, New Orleans, or Amsterdam. Such a comparison leaves no question as to its meaning.

In addition, your readers want to know that others they respect (often called  “thought leaders”) agree that your work is important and worthy of support. Highlight awards, great media coverage, and endorsements.

And, of course, when a few bad apples produce scandals, scrutiny of all public interest organizations goes up. So it behooves your organization to always be as transparent as possible: show that your community can trust you to be open, honest, and accountable for what you do and say. Being a consistently visible and reliable presence is one important way to do this. And your documents can play a vital role in sending that message.

Show that you share goals, values, concerns, and attitudes with your readers

May 21, 2013 in Copywriting, Green marketing, Nonprofits, Social responsibility with 0 Comments

[Dalya's Note: This is an excerpt from my award-winning book Writing to Make a Difference: 25 Powerful Techniques to Boost Your Community Impact.]

People are reading your material because they feel that your organization’s core beliefs and aims are aligned with theirs. Your job is to consistently show them that they are right. Connecting with your readers on this plane—appealing to both their hearts and their heads—gets the best results.

Ask yourself: What is the very soul of your message?

Your organization’s mission embodies its passion, sincerity and spirit. It energizes your brand and should shine through in every piece of writing you create. You are conveying not only literal subject matter, but also your organization’s attitude and stance. By the words and methods you choose, you are saying a lot about who you are and why you do what you do.

EXAMPLE:

Say you are writing a brochure that explains the importance of a specific aspect of your work. Your organization promotes child health and safety, and your brochure will explain why and how lead paint should be removed from homes with young children. You understand the urgency, you are clear on what needs to be done, and you want to motivate parents to protect their children from the toxin.

The brochure you write will advance your organization’s brand in that it will reflect:

(1)   Your knowledge about the issue and how to handle it

(2)   Your caring attitude about the pressing nature of the issue

(3)   Your interest in making homes safer for youngsters

(4)   Your unique ability to help parents in your community take positive action

People who read your brochure and can identify with your basic messages will then want to engage with you. And you’re ready to partner with them.

5/15 FREE Writing Wednesdays: Strategic Communication Research (with a Special Guest)

May 14, 2013 in Copywriting, Green marketing, Nonprofits, Social change, Writing Wednesdays with 0 Comments

writing_wednesdays_jpeg

You may THINK you know who you’re trying to reach, but have you done thorough research on who they are and what they’re looking for? We can’t effectively engage them if we don’t know the answers to these fundamental questions.

If you called into Writing Wednesdays, you learned how to improve your strategic communications research skills!

Our Special Guest, Forrest Anderson, took the perspective of an outsider who is “consulting” with your organization to help you improve your communications with your stakeholders (donors, community members, etc.). He spoke about Using Research to Drive Client Communications Projects, and outlined the three main research topics to consider when approaching such projects:

  1. The client
  2. The target stakeholder
  3. The business environment

In addition, he discussed what is usually worthwhile to know about each and offered some techniques for gathering that information.

The recording is now available: HERE

About Forrest Anderson:

Forrest W. Anderson is an independent consultant in PR research, insight and strategy development. He has practiced public relations for more than 30 years and has been involved in public relations research and measurement for more than 25 years. He has headed the research functions at GolinHarris International, Applied Communications and Text 100. His clients have included both for-profit and not-for-profit organizations. He is a founding member of the Institute for Public Relations’ Commission on PR Measurement and Evaluation and sits on the Board of Directors of the San Francisco Chapter of the Public Relations Society of America, providing pro bono research and measurement support. He provides similar pro bono support to the San Francisco chapter of the International Association of Business Communicators. He holds an MBA from the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University and is the author of the Blog Reputation, Research, Relationships and Messages at http://forrestwanderson.blogspot.com.

 

Forrest’s Recommended Links:

  1. Forrest Anderson’s presentation
  2. Forrest’s website
  3. Forrest’s blog  and its most popular post

 

 

Emphasize your uniqueness

May 14, 2013 in Copywriting, Green marketing with 0 Comments

[Dalya's Note: This is an excerpt from my award-winning book, Writing to Make a Difference: 25 Powerful Techniques to Boost Your Community Impact.]

Ask yourself: What is amazing, special, inspiring, stimulating, and unique about your organization’s work?

 You probably know more than most people do about the many outstanding public-benefit organizations improving your community. In this way, you are truly blessed and inspired. However, all of those organizations inevitably encounter competition for all kinds of resources. Everyone needs financial backing, people-power, public attention, market share, etc.

To make your organization stand out, you need to highlight what distinguishes it from similar groups. You must show how your organization is uniquely positioned to address a specific need that your community has expressed.

For instance: Does your organization deal with a particular aspect of an issue that no one else focuses on? Do you have a breakthrough approach or method? Do you work with a severely underserved community? Do you offer a product or service that solves a compelling social problem but is not readily available anywhere else? Do you have a history that has positioned you as the ‘go-to’ organization in your community for years?

Those distinguishing characteristics are key parts of your brand and bear repeating (over and over again).

EXAMPLE:

“‘When ‘Get Well Soon’ seems a bit out of place, Kimo Kards™ are cancer recovery greeting cards that have just the right words to help a friend or loved one through the difficult journey of chemotherapy and other cancer treatments.

Our messages are positive: designed to encourage and inspire men, women and children in different ways, including humor, scripture, and empowering words. Every card is ‘Created by Survivors for Survivors.’”

Your uniqueness must be so clear — and so relevant to your readers’ individual or community lives — that it gets noticed and gets people talking about you. This defining quality of your organization makes you the best choice for your readers to support or work with.

Ask yourself: What makes your organization different?

EXAMPLE:

International Development Exchange (IDEX) answers the Frequently Asked Question, “How is IDEX different from other international organizations?”:

“Since its inception in 1985, IDEX has made it a priority to support economic development initiatives in a way that is quite different from traditional large-scale philanthropy and prevailing models of global aid that are often top-down, paternalistic, and money-centered. IDEX’s grantmaking model has evolved over the years, but remains focused on:

  •   The value of community-based solutions and the wisdom of local leaders who are grounded in their communities.
  •   Providing multi-year unrestricted grants so that local partner organizations can apply funds where most needed and can plan for the future.
  •   Providing additional resources as opportunities arise. This may include participation in conferences in the U.S. or elsewhere or facilitating connections to fair trade organizations.”

Some ways organizations have traditionally set themselves apart from the pack include:

  • high quality and value
  • superior effectiveness
  • personal service and attention to detail
  • speed or convenience
  • outstanding credentials, experience, or clientele
  • unusual ease of use
  • continuous innovation
  • widespread familiarity

And as a public-benefit organization, you probably can also talk about qualities such as:

  •   community accountability
  •   values-driven decisions
  •   socially responsible sourcing and trading
  •   environmental responsibility
  •   community participation
  •   a leading-edge point of view

Your uniqueness is whatever your ideal readers really want and are concerned about but cannot easily get elsewhere. Once you identify those unique selling points, you can begin to incorporate them in your brand.

You might even take this idea one step further by showing how your work in conjunction or coalition with others in your field sets your organization apart.

cautionCAUTION

If your organization is “too unique” (special in unfamiliar ways) you may generate initial resistance. Try to relate your work to things your intended readers already know and trust.

 

Page 1 of 512345»

3.5.1