Campaigns: Creative and Channels

This is the fourth in a series. Here's the?link to the first article,?Health Campaigns, if you want to start at the beginning.

At this point in your campaign, you have defined your goals, determined who is in each of your audiences, and put together some key messages. Now you need to start sharing information.

Channels

Most campaigns will use multiple marketing 'channels'. A channel can include media, social media, email collectors and lists, websites, paid advertising, mailed materials and many others. But a channel can also be more personal - in-person meetings, Zoom presentations, phone calls, and emails to personal contacts.

To start, I like to take inventory of what channels and resources are available to the campaign. For most organizations, there are several established channels that can be used.

At a minimum, consider establishing these channels:

• Website - This can be a basic page with a simple message, photos or video, and links to sources that support your cause. It should have a clear call to action (CTA) to maximize engagement opportunities.
• Email List - Email is still a very effective channel and is critical for a campaign. Get your email list started early and use it at least once a month to keep people informed. Be sure to follow anti-spam regulations (in Canada, see CASL). MailerLite is an easy-to-use system that has a really good free plan.

• Social Media?- Another obvious one. Social Media is useful for not only sharing your campaign details but enlisting others by mentioning them in posts, sending direct messages and amplifying their campaign-related posts.?
• Influencers - If you know people with large social media followings who are interested in your cause, keep them informed and feed them 'exclusives' that they can post. If you don't know any influencers, you can hire them - a direct message is the easiest way. One note: pick influencers in your country or region - there could be an excellent UK-based influencer but if your campaign is Canadian, they won't be effective.
• Media Contacts - Get a list from a supporting organization or start one yourself. Media outlets include TV, news websites, web magazines, some print outlets, etc. If you have a news angle, offer your campaign story by means of a media release to gauge interest. You don't have to worry about spam rules for media outlets but don't send them non-newsworthy information or they'll tune you out.

There are many others: mailed postcards and posters, media advertising, digital advertising - the list goes on! Add your ideas to the comments!

Audience to Channel Analysis

Next, do some thinking about what channels will work with each of your audiences. Social media might be something you and your team use - but do the people you need to reach spend much time on social media? Or would email or even mailed postcards work better? List each audience and the channels they are likely to use.

Once you have the channels identified, prioritize them based on your ability to sustain the effort to keep them going. Start to think about how often you will use each channel and what the effort will be to keep them filled with new content.?

And that's a great segue to creative...

Creative

Creative is any content you use to promote your campaign. It includes brand (logo + more), graphics of various designs, photos, videos, animations, ad copy (words), op-eds and well-told stories.

Creativity is critical to your campaign.

It can be hard for organizations, both small and large, to come up with creative ideas for a campaign. That's why - even for grassroots campaigns - it may be necessary to hire a professional designer, publicist or videographer. (Or us!) Why? Because you need to break through and reach people - and that often requires high quality.

When I was a kid, we had three channels of TV, one newspaper, a half-dozen AM radio stations and the mail. Today, we have hundreds of TV channels, multiple screening services, social media, and too many news websites to count. We are bombarded by marketing messages of all types and from thousands of businesses and ALL large public organizations.

To break through to its audiences your campaign needs to be creative. Some ideas:

• A brand that speaks to the audience. This should include a name, an impactful logo, a memorable tagline and some structural elements (font, colours, lines) that will support other creative. Queering Cancer?is an excellent example - name, colours and tagline all work to convey meanin

• Key messages 'distilled'. You have written out the key messages - but have they been reduced to their most basic and memorable forms? We ran a campaign about 10 years ago to prevent a Down syndrome clinic from closing. The key messages were good but we needed something simple that everyone on the team could remember and recite. We came up with:

All Kids Deserve Health Services.

(Spoiler: it worked!)

• Do you have a single compelling benefit that you can say in only a few words? If not, there's work to do!
• Compelling video. Ready For My Shot's first campaign was political. We found a 65 year old man with Down syndrome (very, very old for Ds...) who was willing to help. We took some professional photos and recorded a short video. I edited it with music, captions and a call to action. We ran that video for the first month of the campaign - and it attracted new supporters and caught the attention of the media.?
• Quality animations.? Everyone loves an engaging animation. Modern animators can bring life and emotion to your campaign's story.
• Graphics. Graphic designers crowd-pleasers - and that's because great design draws attention. Something eye-catching, something dynamic, colourful, and interesting. Let the designs tell the story.

• Great stories. Find your campaign champions and tell their stories. Tell them in words, in pictures, and with video. Your audiences are human and they can be persuaded by authentic stories. Post them on your website, find sympathetic organizations with blogs and consider hiring a publicist to request interviews based on your stories. As Gaping Void says:

If you can touch hearts you can change minds.

What's Next?

Okay... that's a lot. You have channels picked, messaging refined, and a start on creative. What's next? You need a plan, and I'll show you how to create one in the final article in this series!

Mike