The Essential Ingredients of Successful Marketing Campaigns

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The Essential Ingredients of Successful Marketing
Campaigns

• John Grain
• NAVCA Conference, September 2008

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What we will do

• Stay awake
• Learn something
• Have a bit of fun
• Together, come up with the ingredients to make a
  compelling marketing proposition for your audience

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Before we start

• Draw one of these
• and
• Take a pack of these

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Our ingredients

• Like baking a cake
• The right ingredients combine to produce the
  perfect outcome
• So, the better the ingredients the better the
  cake - each has its own important part to play

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First - what kind of cake?

• Have a clear objective
• Know exactly what action/outcome you desire
• For example do you want to
• Raise money?
• Recruit new supporters?
• Campaign on an issue?
• Communicate a brand message?
• Launch a new service?
• Gain information?
• Invite to an event?

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The recipe

• In the middle of your mixing bowl write down what
  it is you want to achieve with your marketing
  campaign
• Make it just ONE simple sentence

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Our eleven ingredients

• Planning
• Technique
• Creative Concept
• The Seven Questions of Proposition
• Protagonists, Hooks, Interest, Conflict, Brevity,
  Emotion, Clarity
• Execution Delivery

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Planning

• Who are you talking to?
• Know your audience
• Demographics
• What can they tell you that helps

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Ingredient 1 Audience

• On your post-it note write down
• A summary of who your audience is that you wish
  to communicate with
• The approximate number of them
• 3 or more useful things you know about them

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Technique

• How will you reach them?
• What is the most appropriate way of communicating
  with your audience

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Ingredient 2 Method

• On your post-it note write
• The method you will use to communicate with your
  audience
• 2 reasons why you have chosen this method

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Creative Concept

• What will it look like?
• How can you best appeal to, and engage with, your
  audience using the method you have chosen?
• Picture the finished article in your minds eye

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Ingredient 3

• On your post-it note write down
• A summary of the main elements of your concept

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Proposition

• Why does it matter?
• The most crucial element
• Telling the story to prompt the action
• Decision time - will you be unputdownable or
  cant get into it?
• 7 key elements (in no particular order)
• We all love a good story

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Whos the Protagonist?

• A car needs a driver, so do stories
• They drive the action
• They tell the story
• Make them honest
• Make them personal

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Ingredient 4 The Hero

• On your post-it note write down
• The name of your protagonist
• 3 or more things that you know about them

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Whats the Hook?

• Like a good book you need to hook your audience
  from the start
• Begin your story where the audience can
• identify with the situation
• Identify with the protagonist
• Identify with the goal
• Make it specific

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Something happened today that really made me
think. Something that I felt I had to share with
you. Something that seems quite unbelievable in
21st century Britain.
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Ingredient 5 The opening

• On your post-it note write down
• Your opening 3 sentences. (Dont worry about
  copywriting skills, just think about what the
  hook will be)

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Keep it Interesting

• Predictable is boring
• Push your USP
• Throw in some barriers surprises
• Statistics - handle with care
• Numbers numb, jargon jars, and no-one marched on
  Westminster because of a pie-chart
• Use humour if appropriate

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Ingredient 6 Attention!

• On your post-it note write down
• Details of 3 highlights that will keep your
  readers attention

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Wheres the Conflict?

• There is no drama without conflict
• Heighten heroism when juxtaposed against villainy
• Be good v bad
• Or conquer heroic odds

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Ingredient 7 Conflict

• On your post-it note describe
• the enemy
• Is it an organisation?
• Is it a disease or disability?
• Is it other people?
• Is it poverty - if so what sort?

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The Telling Details

• Brevity is your God - worship at the altar of
  conciseness
• Pick a few well-chosen details or highlights that
  bring your protagonists story to life
• Vividly paint a picture of the world you are
  portraying

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Ingredient 8 Ups Downs

• On your post-it note write down
• 2 or 3 obstacles that your hero must overcome to
  succeed
• OR
• 2 or 3 barriers your organisation must overcome
  to succeed

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Whats the Emotional Hook?

• Your audience are giving you their time and
  attention
• so do more than just recite the facts
• Make it an emotional experience that makes their
  time worth while
• Make them feel, empathise, understand, and care

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Ingredient 9 Emotions

• On your post-it note write down
• 5 to 10 words to describe how you want your
  audience to feel when they receive your
  communication

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The Call to Action

• Dont just give information
• Give a story
• Make the reader know what it means and how they
  fit in
• Are they clear and convinced about what you want
  them to do
• Urgency? Why do they need to do it now?

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Ingredient 10 Their role

• On your post-it note write down
• The single main action you want your audience to
  take after hearing your story
• 3 or more reasons why your story will make them
  do it

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Delivery

• Proofing and copy-checking
• Printing and packing instructions
• When do you contact them?
• Seems simple, but for whatever medium you are
  using there are bad, good, and best times to
  contact your audience
• So make sure you find out what they are

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Ingredient 11 Calendar

• On your post-it note write down
• The appropriate day, month, or event that your
  marketing communication will be timed to coincide
  with

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The finished product

• You should now have the plan for a marketing
  campaign where you know exactly
• What you want to achieve, who you are contacting,
  with what, in what format, with a unique and
  compelling story and a clear call to arms sent at
  exactly the right time

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And finally

• Questions?
• Thank you
• Leave a card for a copy of the presentation