Enhance Your Goals with Communications

March 2008

Who we are
Flint Communications Part of the Flint Group

What well cover

Who are you?
Determining your brand positioning

Who needs to care?

Identifying and analyzing key audiences

What do they need to know?

Determining key messages Matching them to audiences

What well cover

How do you reach them?
Identifying the best way to deliver your messages

After lunch Hands-on planning session

Who are you

What is your brand ?

Your brand is not A brand is not a logo A brand is not identity A brand is not a product

Your brand is
A brand
is a persons

gut feeling
about a product, service or organization.

Your brand is

not what you say it is

what they say it is.

Your brand is

Its the position you have in their mind or heart.

Photo by Elvire.R.

So Where are you positioned today? Where do you want to be tomorrow?

Examining your positioning

Begin with who you are

Mission, vision and core values of your organization. Who, where you serve? Who else is out there?
Serving the same audience, same services? Competing for the same dollars? Talking to the same donors?

If I asked
What is the one thing you do best? Are there other unique distinctions between you and your competitors? If you had one minute to tell someone about your organization, what would you say?

And more questions

What words would you use to describe your organization? Where do you make the greatest impact? What do you do to make life better? What is the reputation of your organization?

Think about your history, your staff and volunteers, and more.
Where are you strong? Where are you weak? What gets in the way for you?
Obstacles Issues Current or past events

I wish they knew ____ about us.

Summarize your unique distinctions.

Who needs to care?

Determine target audiences.

List all possible audiences. External (include customers, clients, members, etc)
Individuals Businesses

Internal
Staff, Board, Committees, Volunteers

Identify who could possibly inuence them. Include other funding sources, regulators, thought leaders, associations.

What do you know about them?

Individual Demographic information:
Average age Gender Family lifecycle stage Income Education Geographic Size by revenue Size by number of employees Industry Geographic

Businesses Demographic information:

Who needs to care the most?

Prioritize your audiences.

Prioritize Target Audiences

Analyze all audiences Individual Businesses Awareness vs. Potential Use matrix tool to plot audience Focus efforts on audiences with high potential High Potential/Low Awareness High Potential/High Awareness

What does each audience know or need to know?

Awareness

Knowledge

Liking

Where are they now?

Preference

Commitment

What resonates with and engages each audience?

What hurt do you address, what need do you ll?

What makes them care?

Psychographic information:
Interests Hobbies Leisure pursuits Cultural Beliefs, thought patterns Core Values

What issues might get in the way?

Reputation
Industry Organization

Frustrations

What does each audience need to know?

Develop your positioning statement and an elevator speech.

A brand positioning statement

.is a statement that denes the place a brand occupies in the audiences mind relative to competing offerings. This statement is the foundation for all communications material but is not the external message.

Brand Positioning
Positioning Statement:
We aim high on everything we do.

Brand Promise Statement:

We aim high on everything we do; higher than our clients expectations, higher than their goals for business growth. This takes passion. This takes re. This takes knowing that good enough is never good enough. And it isnt good at all if it doesnt get results.

Develop a Great Elevator Speech

Image by jepoirrier

Elevator Speech
What it is:
A brief, compelling description of
Who you are What do you do Why does it matter

Needs to be short and concise easily said in a short elevator ride! Needs to pass the So What? test

Elevator Speech
Example printing company: At ACME Printing we help companies save time and reduce costs by making it easier for them to print their invoices and accounts receivable forms and process their payroll checks.

Develop Key Messages

Key messages
Open the door to direct communication with your audience. Bridge what your audience already knows with where you are trying to take them. Are customized to each audience. Address the hurt and the need. Are the one thing that audience needs to know. Are backed by proof or supporting points. Get your audience curious.

Key messages are

Concise: avoid jargon and acronyms Active: make every sentence active Positive: talk about what one can do, not what you can't Short: one memorable sentence, 10-15 seconds to say. Specic: address a particular challenge and audience.

Andwhere and how will they get my message?

Develop Communications Strategies

Effective strategies.
inuence a target audience to achieve a specic outcome by using selected messages, messengers and channels or mediums to reach the target.

 Objectives
Educate Awareness Action

Strategies

Who
Prioritized target audiences

Key Messages
Persuasive, compelling messages that resonate with target audiences

Initiatives
Dene How and What you need to accomplish

Tactics
All the different ways you reach people Vehicles for delivering key messages

Strategy Example
Objective
Strengthen current donor relationships

Who
Cass/Clay businesses with 50+ employees with High Potential/High Awareness Adults in Cass/Clay with household incomes of $75,000+

Key Messages
Brand key messages Cause/program specic based on donors interest

Strategy Example
Initiative
Nurture current and past donors through annual fund raising campaign

Tactics
Hold kick-off meeting Launch media campaign
TV Radio Print

Set up speaking engagements at specic targeted businesses Send out media releases with campaign milestones

Strategies
Action plans
Steps needed Whos responsible Timeline Budget

Evaluate

Last words
Don't get trapped into feeling like you have to know everything to get started. Learning happens as you make and try out new strategies and messages.