We all know the story; a new advertisement comes out, it goes viral, and sales either crash or skyrocket. Such is the power of marketing in today’s world. It can influence a person’s preferences, choices, and even beliefs about a product.
At the end of the day, success in marketing is determined by its ability to convince others to avail of something that will lead a business to profit. As paradoxical as it may seem, social causes and not-for-profit campaigns have much to take away from a good marketing campaign.
In essence, spearheading advocacy is similar to advertising a product, only instead of promoting products, you are promoting a cause. With the stakes much higher, advocacies need to inform as many people about the cause and get them on board.
Here is where fully managed marketing services can step in to make that happen.
A Story
Everybody loves a good story, which is why many good advertisements use stories as a backdrop to deliver their message. Your story is the reason your cause exists and why you fight for what you do. It is a convincing story that will help people understand where you are coming from, which is the first step in bringing them over to your side.
Whether it be your own personal story — as was the case for the young people behind #MarchForOurLives — or the stories of people you care deeply about and wish to help, like with every charity, your story defines your cause, so it is important that you know how to tell it.
What good marketing can do is to emphasize and bring out the best of the story and tie the story into the cause. This will make your cause more grounded in reality and make it more relatable to your audience.
A Face
Every cause needs a face to capture the audience’s attention and represent what the advocacy stands for. Many organizations use popular figures to serve as ambassadors of the cause, but this need not always be the case.
The face of your campaign can be anyone who encapsulates the message of the cause and communicates it to others. We have all seen viral photos of children in war-torn situations, or of a boat of refugees crowded together.
Faces are more relatable to people than abstract ideas; good marketing can capture your entire message in these faces to get people to listen to your story. They say a picture is worth a thousand words; a face is worth a million pictures.
A Call to Action
At the heart of your cause must be the change you wish to see. A call to action is what you want people to do after hearing what your cause is about. It must be simple enough that anyone can do it, yet be able to have a large enough impact toward achieving your goal.
Your cause has to convince your audience that taking action is worth their time and effort; this is where marketing comes in. Marketing is essential to persuade your audience to heed your call to action, whether using a combination of your story, a face for the campaign, or both and more.
This is the culmination of your cause, so it is the job of marketing to bring everything together. Marketing has long been perceived as simply a tool for business; it is time to change that perception. Marketing can be a tool for social change, and good marketing can change the world.
