Technology is nothing without a philosophy to guide it. Without your message, your point and your call to action, all the apps, texts, mobile alerts, emails, news feeds, and whathaveyou are meaningless. Simply bombarding people with your name and slogan without a clear goal is not going to work.
Focus on the basics, the core of your reason for existence: who are you, what do you do, and what you want. Period. And while that may seem simple at first glance, really addressing this issue with focus and respect for your target audience is a little more complex. Just because you know what a word means, doesn?t mean everyone will: if your words or phrases don?t make sense, your readers will move on so fast your head will spin.
No One Will Bother to Ask Questions
Know you will be competing for time and attention- be clear and direct. Some causes and organizations will be a little tougher than others to frame; one of my early challenges was to develop a tagline and slogan for a very obscure medical condition, yet make it compelling enough to have people stop, look and remember. The name of the condition was for two doctors, so that didn?t mean anything to anyone; the symptoms were neither dramatic or rare enough that they could not frequently be confused with other conditions; many doctors only heard the name of the condition in medical school and learned nothing specific about the disorder.
The solution was to re-imagine how the experience of this condition was explained by patients to their own doctors and community. What we learned was the type of information and facts that caused the listener to want to know more and engage with us. It is as much about what your audience needs to hear as it is about what you need to say.
Be Clear, Not Mysterious
Hone your message, be clear and direct, who you are, what you do and what you want. Put the time and energy into creating a strong, immediate and clear identity. Then, and only then, seek the app, the text and viral video to share it.
Want someone to review your message to see if it is really saying what you want it to? Run it by us and we will tell you what we perceive.
Get in touch here or call us on 310 828 6979.
Cindy Lauren is the Principal of Lauren Associates – non profit consulting
As well as advising Executives and Boards on all aspects of nonprofit management, the firm specializes in developing fundraising solutions for all sizes of organizations.
Image Credit:
Technology by Motifake After Dark