It's a paradox. There are a lot of organizations out there whose main goal is not to get bigger and richer. As nice as bigger and richer might be, these organizations instead are purpose-driven. While their purposes are tremendously diverse, they generally boil down to this: we aim to leave the world a better place than we found it.
It's so beautiful. So what's the paradox? Of all the bugaboos that afflict these "social enterprises," the most common is marketing. Yes. They have a heck of time finding companions for their journey, whether we're talking customers, donors, or sponsors.
The summer before last, four guys formed Unite Digital Marketing Co-op in Saskatoon to help social enterprises shake this bugaboo. Each is a specialist in one aspect or another of communications - video or graphic design, writing or photography or music. All know how to apply these art forms to make marketing effective and efficient.
But that's at the back end of their practice. At the front end, they are conversationalists. These guys know how important it is to get clients talking and thinking about what they want to say, to whom, and why.
The First Stage is to get clear about the goal of your enterprise. It's great to want to "build a better community." But how many people might that be: a hundred? A thousand? Ten thousand? What do you want them to know about your enterprise? What do you want them to do as a consequence of knowing you?
Driving down to this level of exactitude often reveals differences between the members of an enterprise. What used to be hidden behind vague language is brought out in the open. So Stage Two is to secure a common commitment to the goal.
The clincher is generally the budget which you have available. To affect the lives of ten thousand, you will need way more money than you currently have. What is the most efficient way to use the money available to you right now?
Stage Three of the conversation is intriguing. The guys at Unite Digital will help you to deepen your understanding of the community that you want to build. Note: it's not a "market" you're "targeting." It's a community, which you are going to create around your interests and objectives.
Imagine again these people with whom you want to communicate. What exactly do they need in order to interact with other members of this community?
An important point here is not to be ashamed about trying to connect with a specific group, as opposed to the "general public."
You want to connect with the people ("Group A") who are likely to care a lot about your message and be motivated to act on it. Given all the messages bombarding Group A these days, you want to craft one that they will not reflexively filter out. The key is to be genuine.
Does this sound exclusive? It isn't really. For one thing, with so much money, you may really only be able to connect with Group A. For another thing, Groups B and C may still hear, even if they are not the focus of your attention for now.
At this stage, it also may be time for a little research. Where does Group A associate? What messages have proven most powerful to them before? A lot of this information may be available for free off the Internet. More might be available locally through conversations with local institutions and businesses.
Finally, you arrive at Stage 4 of the conversation - the place where many enterprises are tempted to start. Given what you want to say, to whom, and why, what media are the best?
You might figure you can guess how a co-op named Unite Digital would answer that question. But you might guess wrong. To these guys, digital is just one medium among many, and each can bring its own value to your marketing. What you are really trying to create is a communications portfolio, which could well feature the digital realm, too.
That's a creative approach to marketing. It doesn't put the Media first, or the Enterprise, much less the Consumers or Customers. First and foremost is the Community - the one that is, and the one you want to build.
*For an example of Unite Digital's work, check out http://www.povertycosts.ca/. Poverty Costs is the marketing campaign Unite Digital helped four community partners to craft in order to educate the public on the true cost of poverty. An additional goal was to lean on the Province to introduce an effective poverty reduction plan. It seems to be working! The government has assigned a task force and the conversation is moving forward.
