An Introduction to Marketing

An Introduction to Marketing 02 This guide is designed to help any volunteer-involving organisation who want to develop their marketing skills; • To increase public awareness of their organisation. • To recruit more volunteers. • To find new donors. The guide was commissioned by the Voluntary Action Media Unit www.vamu.org.uk VAMU is a Big Lottery funded project set up to investigate and improve the way charities work with the media The booklet contains practical advice on making a marketing plan, case studies concentrating on how other volunteer-involving organisations have used marketing tools to help them and an overview of the marketing tools available to you. A section at the end of the booklet contains links to a number of sites that offer free information and advice to help you to make the most of the marketing opportunities open to you. The booklet was prepared by Media Trust from material researched and provided by The Institute For Volunteering Research, an initiative of Volunteering England, Voluntary Action Media Unit and VolunteerGenie.org.uk. The writers gratefully acknowledge their invaluable contribution. Introduction To Marketing 03 The Institute for Volunteering Research was established in 1997 to develop knowledge and understanding of volunteering, with particular relevance to policy and practice. It is an initiative of Volunteering England and the Centre for Institutional Studies at the University of East London. To find out more about the Institute, you can visit www.ivr.org.uk Volunteering England works to support and increase the quality, quantity, impact and accessibility of volunteering throughout England. The organisation works across the private, public and voluntary sectors to promote volunteering and its value to society, to encourage and strengthen volunteer management and campaign for the interests of volunteers and volunteering as a whole. To find out more about Volunteering England, you can visit www.volunteering.org.uk Media Trust works in partnership with the media industry to build effective communications in the Third Sector. We seek to be an innovative, creative and high-impact media charity, working across the UK to bring the media industry and the Third Sector together through a range of media and communications partnerships and projects. Our services include: • • • • • • Communications Advice and Training Media Matching Community Newswire Media Trust Productions Youth Media Campaigns and Community Channel. Media Trust aims to create a society where the Third Sector is widely visible and celebrated. Media Trust corporate members: BBC, BSkyB, Channel 4, Daily Mail and General Trust, Discovery Networks Europe, Disney Channel UK, Emap plc, Guardian Media Group, ITV, MTV Networks UK & Ireland, News International, Newsquest Media Group, OMD, Time Warner and WPP Group Introduction To Marketing 04 What is Marketing? Marketing is perceived by lots of business people to mean simply promotion and advertising. However, the term ‘marketing’ actually covers everything from company culture and positioning, through market research, new business/product development, advertising and promotion, PR (public/press relations), and arguably all of the sales functions as well. It’s the process by which a company decides what it will sell, to whom, and when and how and then does it. The Chartered Institute of Marketing (CIM) defines marketing as ‘the management process responsible for identifying, anticipating, and satisfying customer requirement profitably.’ But in the most simple terminology, MARKETING IS SELLING MORE STUFF TO MORE PEOPLE Marketing is about growth If you are not aiming to grow your Business/Charity/Voluntary Organisation marketing has no purpose. Marketing operates on the principle that is not sufficient simply to provide a product or service and then concentrate on finding people to buy it. Instead you must find out what customers want and then produce a product or service that meets those needs. Therefore the most important principle of marketing is: know your customer. When you understand how customers think and what they like, you can develop services that meet those needs and come up with appropriate ways to communicate with them. Introduction To Marketing 05 PART 1 - CREATING A MARKETING PLAN The first and most important ingredient for any successful marketing campaign is the marketing plan itself. It will set out the steps for what you want to achieve, how you can achieve it and in what timeframe. A detailed, specific plan will greatly enhance your success in any fund raising or volunteer recruitment initiative. There are 11 steps detailed below. Stick to them and you have a map for achieving success. 1. DEFINE YOUR GOAL Record in writing what you are setting out to achieve. If you have several desires you will need a plan for each. Make sure that your statement: Describes a worthwhile goal Has a single desired result Is clearly stated and is easy to understand By writing down your desired result and then refining it, you will have something that you can easily communicate to all the people whose support you need whether it’s your boss, your colleagues, volunteers or financial backers. 2. DEFINE ITS VALUE Record the financial or other benefit that will accrue from your campaign and state who it will assist. By identifying how much your project is worth you assign it a value others will understand. Identifying the turnover and profit (whether financial or simply beneficial) of your idea will greatly aid getting your plan approved or raising the money you need to realise it. 3. CALCULATE THE LIKELY RESULTS Carefully consider all the likely consequences of your plan and who will benefit. Also calculate any possible downsides. Most plans have at least a few. Then consider what will happen if you don’t implement your plan. This is easily forgotten but not doing something can be as influential as doing it. All these points may be integral to winning the support of others for your plan. Introduction To Marketing 06 4. SET A TIMEFRAME Specify how long the campaign will run and if possible, allocate dates. Also consider how much time is available to spend on marketing, on average, per week. 5. WHAT ARE YOU PROVIDING? This exercise is amazing for many people who believe they know what they do, but actually discover that they either don’t or can’t adequately describe it in a way that isn’t boring or confusing. 6. WHO ARE YOU SELLING TO? For example: if your campaign is to recruit volunteers it is essential to analyse very carefully what sort of people are likely to respond. This is possibly the most essential step for mounting a successful campaign. Only by targeting the right audience will you achieve the desired result. Large amounts of time and money can be wasted in approaching people who have no interest in your product or service (charity). • Do you have a profile of the sort of person who currently gives to / volunteers for your charity? What demographic group do they belong to? What are their occupational circumstances? Are they in full or part-time work, self employed or retired? What are their preferred hobbies and interests? Which radio stations do they listen to? Which newspapers do they read? All these factors will inform how you choose to approach potential volunteers. 7. WHAT ARE THE BENEFITS OF YOUR SERVICE FOR THE VOLUNTEERS/DONORS? What makes people give money or time to charity? What customers love is what your product or service will do for them. Both marketing and sales operate on the principle that people buy what they want. Every good salesman knows that he can only sell people what they want or need and much of the sales process is concerned with finding out what the prospect wants and then giving it to them. Therefore, if you can promise potential volunteers/donors something they want in return for their time or money, they are more likely to sign up. For some this might be a feeling of personal achievement, for others, companionship, whilst many will undertake volunteering simply because they enjoy it. Once again it’s worth drawing up a questionnaire to identify how your existing volunteers benefit from their involvement with your charity. Introduction To Marketing 07 8. DEFINE EFFECTIVE METHODS TO ATTRACT CUSTOMERS (DONORS/VOLUNTEERS) There are many different methods to contact your targets (potential volunteers/donors. A recent survey of successful business managers asked them, “What is the best way to attract customers?” Interestingly the answers differed for every business, demonstrating that there is no single, successful approach. You will need to analyse the most suitable approach for your particular circumstances. However, the following list comprises the most common answers the whole range of businesses gave as their most effective methods of attracting new customers: • Referrals • Trade shows and professional association meetings • Sales calls • TV, radio, or print ads • Websites and newsletters • Placement and appearance of buildings/shops 9. HOW MUCH? Define and record your budget. Decide how much you have to spend and compare it with the figures written down in step 2. Is it realistic? How does it compare with the ideas you formulated in Step 8 when you considered effective methods to attract new volunteers or donors? 10. WHAT ADDITIONAL RESOURCES WILL BE NEEDED? As well as money, there will undoubtedly be other aspects you will need to consider to make your plan happen. The key is to identify, as far as possible, all the other people, premises, machines etc that will be required. This step also requires you to consider how much of your time will be required to activate the plan. Your existing commitments will still need attention so you may have to decide what to delegate and what to simply leave so that you can free up the time to focus on your plan. Introduction To Marketing 08 11. DEVISE EVALUATION STRATEGIES How will you measure the success of the plan? It is essential to have as many indicators as possible in place before you start spending any money. Commercial organisations have a simple way to measure the effectiveness of their marketing campaigns – sales. If sales go up after the campaign begins and go down once it’s finished, it’s a reasonable assumption that the campaign worked. You need to find an equivalent measure. It may be the number of new volunteers you attract, or the number of enquiries you receive. Whatever it is, it’s important that you keep records and analyse your measurements regularly. If there’s no evidence that your marketing effort is having a positive result then the best thing to do is to stop. Otherwise you’ll just be wasting money and resources that could be better employed elsewhere. Introduction To Marketing 09 CASE STUDY EXPERIENCE PLANNING A MARKETING CAMPAIGN Contact the Elderly set out to devise a marketing campaign which could be used in local/regional areas whenever there was a need to find new volunteers in those areas. They wanted to increase awareness of Contact the Elderly and clearly explain what was involved in becoming a volunteer for it. The campaign was designed to stress the low level of time commitment required from each volunteer and the important role they play in helping lonely elderly people in the community. The campaign needed to appeal to their core group of volunteers (in their 50’s+). A simple clear message was needed for a clearly defined volunteer activity. Their resulting campaign message was, “Can you make a cup of tea… and chat about anything?” and “Take Sally and Harry to Sunday tea.” To help them devise their Marketing Plan they commissioned research from the Institute for Volunteering Research to research their existing volunteers and what motivated them. They wanted to identify what sort of people became volunteers, what benefits they derived from the role, what motivated them to continue volunteering as well as how best to contact and communicate with potential volunteers. The results gave Contact the Elderly key information for their campaign. They began by mailing questionnaires to all their volunteers – some 3,000 people. Of those, 1303 completed and returned their forms – a very good rate for a postal questionnaire. THE FINDINGS Of their existing volunteers 66% worked as hosts, holding coffee mornings and similar forms of social get-togethers for the elderly while 44% were drivers and a further 10% were co-ordinators. The team initially set out to establish a vol un tee r pro fi l e so that they could gauge what sort of person their current volunteers were and this would then inform them who to target as potential recruits in the future. Introduction To Marketing 10 Their questionnaire revealed that the volunteers were overwhelmingly female (87 per cent) and concentrated between the ages of 45 and 75. Most were in the 55-64 age group but many were also aged 45-54. However, it was also clear that significant numbers of other age groups were being drawn to volunteering as is shown in the table below. WHAT AGE GROUP DO YOU BELONG TO? 18-24 25-34 35-44 45-54 55-64 65-74 75 and over Their next area of interest related to status. 1% 4% 9% 19% 35% 1% 11% WHAT IS YOUR CURRENT EMPLOYMENT STATUS? Full-time paid work Part-time paid work Retired Full-time education Looking after home or family Other 24% 19% 45% 5% 5% 3% The findings showed that 45 per cent were retired whilst only a quarter were in fulltime paid work and 19 per cent worked part-time. When they were questioned about their area of work, unsurprisingly, many worked in education and healthcare. However what was interesting was that the largest response was from ‘other’ category (31 per cent). Included were a very wide range of occupations: advertising, agriculture, army, barrister, book keeper, charity, clerical, construction, journalist, management Introduction To Marketing 11 consultant, television presenter, motor trade market research, publishing, sales, self-employed, working in the voluntary sector and more. WHAT BEST REPRESENTS YOUR AREA OF WORK? Education Medical and healthcare Catering Leisure/entertainment Transport IT Engineering Local government/civil service Finance Other 21% 17% 3% 4% 1% 3% 2% 11% 9% 31% The questionnaire then questioned volunteers about their residential location: WHICH COUNTY DO YOU LIVE IN? The replies received showed that almost half (4 in 10) of all volunteers were concentrated in the South East. Contact the Elderly was also found to be overwhelmingly a white organisation with 97 per cent of the sample describing themselves as White. Seven per cent considered themselves to have a disability. The length of time volunteers continue to work with the charity was one of obvious importance for future marketing as it would give a strong indication of how many new recruits would be needed over time to maintain numbers at their existing level. Introduction To Marketing 12 HOW LONG HAVE YOU BEEN A VOLUNTEER WITH CONTACT THE ELDERLY? Less than one year 1-3 years 3-5 years 5-10 years Longer than 10 years 11% 32% 17% 16% 24% Almost a quarter of replies were from volunteers who had been with Contact the Elderly for over 10 years and half of those had volunteered for between 11 and 20 years. How are Contact the Elderly volunteers recruited? As expected a relatively high proportion of recruits were attracted by word of mouth (24 per cent were recruited through a friend and 22 per cent were introduced by another Contact the Elderly volunteer). The local press were also an important source, as was radio and TV. However, many (15 per cent overall) were also attracted by a range of methods recorded as ‘other’. Of those direct mail accounted for most while local newspapers and the church were also significant. HOW DID YOU HEAR ABOUT VOLUNTEERING OPPORTUNITIES WITH CONTACT THE ELDERLY? Through a friend/relative From another volunteer Article in a local newspaper Promotion on TV/radio Volunteer Bureau/Centre Through paid work 24% 22% 24% 12% 4% 2% 1% 1% 15% Contact the Elderly newsletter Contact the Elderly website Other When the researchers considered the different types of volunteer, they found that the hosts tended to be recruited through ‘word of mouth’ such as through friends and relatives or other volunteers. Introduction To Marketing 13 The drivers, however, were more often recruited through adverts in the local press and other forms of direct advertising. Motivation for volunteering Understanding people’s motivation for volunteering would provide essential information in deciding how to appeal to potential recruits. The question showed that almost 30% volunteered because they had been asked. Personal contact was clearly a very powerful tool. However, almost half identified that they specifically ‘Wanted to volunteer for an organisation that helps the elderly.’ On the other hand it appeared that marketing based on the reputation of Contact the Elderly was not likely to be successful as only 2% acknowledged this as a motivation for involvement. WHAT WAS YOUR PRIMARY MOTIVATION FOR BECOMING A VOLUNTEER WITH CONTACT THE ELDERLY Attracted by the reputation of the organisation 2% Wanted to volunteer for an organisation that helps the elderly 46% To meet people To do something enjoyable I had spare time Someone asked me I knew somebody who had been helped by Contact the Elderly 3% 5% 6% 29% 0% 7% Other What are the benefits of volunteering? Identifying what volunteers get out of the work they do for the charity was a key element in defining the most attractive benefits to publicise when approaching potential volunteers. Over two-thirds of those questioned identified a fun element. This was mirrored by The National Survey of Volunteering 1997, which also showed that having fun was rated most highly in relation to the benefits of volunteering. Other options such as ‘It broadens my experience of life’ and ‘It gives me a sense of personal achievement’ were also ranked as highly important. Introduction To Marketing 14 WHAT BENEFITS DO YOU GET FROM YOUR VOLUNTEERING WITH CONTACT THE ELDERLY? I can meet people and make friends It makes me feel less selfish as a person I really enjoy it It broadens my experience of life It gives me a sense of personal achievement Other 32% 41% 69% 37% 36% 8 Do Contact the Elderly volunteers also volunteer elsewhere? Over half (58%) of Contact the Elderly Volunteers also volunteered for another organisation. The Church was identified as being a favourite option with 13% of those who volunteered outside Contact the Elderly mentioning it. With the high incidence of ‘word of mouth’ recommendation likely to occur in church circles it would appear a worthwhile avenue to investigate for potential volunteer recruitment. The questionnaire then focused on issues connected with volunteers’ entertainment and hobby choices as these again could potentially provide useful information about where and how to approach potential recruits. Newspaper readership Eleven per cent of the respondents said they did not read a newspaper, while 30% said they read a local weekly paper. Of the options given The Telegraph (23%), Mail (22 %) and The Sunday Times (16%) were the most widely read. Local weeklies appear to be the best way of reaching potential volunteers. Introduction To Marketing 15 WHICH NEWSPAPERS DO YOU REGULARLY READ? None Local Weekly The Sun The Mirror The Star The Mail The Guardian The Times The Independent The Telegraph The Express The Sunday Times The Mail on Sunday The Sunday Telegraph The Observer Other 11% 30% 3% 3% 1% 22% 9% 14% 6% 23% 7% 16% 15% 11% 6% 11% WHAT RADIO STATIONS DO YOU LISTEN TO? None Radio One Radio Two Radio Three Radio Four Radio Five Live BBC Local Radio National Commercial Local Commercial Other 6% 6% 30% 14% 53% 8% 19% 7% 19% 17% The high percentages in several categories suggested that respondents listened to more than one station. Introduction To Marketing 16 However, clearly there was a bias towards Radios Two, and Four, BBC Local and local commercial. Of the 17 per cent of respondents who said they listened to ‘Other’ radio stations, most were national commercial – of which Classic FM was very popular. WHICH HOBBIES AND INTERESTS DO YOU ENJOY? Gardening Home Improvements and DIY Holidays Rambling/Walking Golf Other sports Theatre Health and beauty Alternative Health Films Eating out Reading Family Activities Pets/Animals Ot her 64% 27% 65% 48% 8% 22% 54% 13% 11% 35% 60% 69% 46% 35% 17% ‘Other’ interests included some answers that could have been included in the listed categories, such as swimming. Several people also mentioned music, which, it was later suggested, could usefully have been included on the main list due to its relative popularity. Introduction To Marketing 17 CONTACT THE ELDERLY EXTERNAL EVALUATION Contact the Elderly found it useful to talk to their various different kinds of volunteers to explore the following areas: • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • Reasons why volunteers leave (if possible – we have however thought of introducing an exit interview when the volunteers leave) Number of years volunteers stay in group Level of involvement of volunteers (do they do other things apart from driving/hosting/coordinating. For example, promote Contact the Elderly? How do they rate the support they receive? How can this be improved? Need for training? Why do people volunteer for Contact the Elderly? What was their primary motivation for becoming a volunteer with Contact the Elderly? What would they like to see changed? What can the charity do better? Would they like to help the charity in other areas or with recruiting other volunteers etc? Age range Sex Location Occupation Hobbies Other voluntary work Papers read Ethnic Background How heard of Contact the Elderly More information on Contact the Elderly’s campaign can be found at www.volunteergenie.org.uk Introduction To Marketing 18 PART 2 – THE RIGHT APPROACH Every time you approach an individual to become a volunteer, speak to someone with a view to raising funds, address a meeting or undertake to persuade a colleague round to a different way of thinking you are, in fact, selling. Selling is the process by which you persuade anyone to do anything. Throughout this booklet the terms ‘selling’ and ‘marketing’ will be applied to the procurement of volunteers and funds. Marketing is often said to be the most creative aspect of business. And it is true that creativity is a very useful quality for anyone associated with marketing. But the crucial requirement for success in the field is developing the right approach and learning to make the best use of knowledge and techniques. These simple, cost-effective ideas are designed to help you increase sales (volunteers or funds), without draining your budget. 1. FOCUS ON HELPING, INSTEAD OF SELLING Never try to force people into buying what you have to offer. No one likes to feel they are being sold to. For example: How did you react the last time a double glazing salesman got you on the telephone? The key is that most of us like to make our own buying decisions. We prefer to seek out what we want rather than having it forced upon us. And exactly the same psychology applies in charity. Therefore focus on offering helpful information rather than applying pressure to sign up. 2. TARGET If you’re trying to target everybody, then chances are you’re not targeting anybody. Scattergun rather than rifle-shot marketing just doesn’t work. First, find out who the right people to benefit from what you have to offer are and then target them with information relevant to them. Know your customers. This understanding will inform you about how your initiative might grow and the best ways to reach potential customers. Introduction To Marketing 19 3. State your target clearly in all of your marketing materials and discover which niche online sites can help you laser target your organisation to a specific audience. FOCUS ON THE LIFETIME VALUE OF YOUR VOLUNTEERS AND DONORS It costs between three and seven times more to recruit new customers than to retain existing ones. When Contact the Elderly surveyed their volunteers they discovered that 24% of them had worked with the charity for more than 10 years and a further 16% had volunteered for between 5 and 10 years. Selling/recruiting is an expensive business but selling to new customers is particularly expensive. Continuing a good relationship with an existing customer is far simpler and less costly. 4. TALK TO YOUR CUSTOMERS ABOUT THEM AND THEIR NEEDS Ask your volunteers how the experience of volunteering could be improved for them. Many organisations’ publications, ads, letters and sales literature are filled with words, photographs and information that do nothing more than toot the company’s horn. Instead make sure all your charity’s communications focus on your volunteers and donors needs. Rather than using words like, “I,” “me,” “my,” use “you” and “your.” 5. DEVELOP CUSTOMER CENTRIC RELATIONSHIPS Take an interest in your volunteers and donors. Send them helpful articles that you think would interest them. Make sure they are kept up to date with charity news. If you know of an event that a volunteer or donor will be celebrating, such as an anniversary or birthday, send them a card or small gift. 6. STOP SPENDING MONEY ON INEFFECTIVE MARKETING One great way to save money is to stop wasting it on marketing and advertising that isn’t producing for you. Track the number of responses you get from whatever method you use and if you’re not reaching your goals, change your strategy. Introduction To Marketing 20 7. FOCUS ON BENEFITS NOT ON FEATURES Spend your time focusing on how your prospects will benefit from what you are offering. For example insurance salesmen don’t sell the coverage amount, they sell the benefit of security. In Marketing and Sales this is called ‘Selling Benefits not Features.’ To give another example, when you buy a car the salesman won’t sell you a lump of metal but a comfortable, stylish way to travel. To help to make this distinction work in the context of your own environment try using the words “w hi ch mea ns t ha t” to convert the features of what you’re offering into benefits. For example, in the volunteer recruitment situation you might say to prospects, “Volunteering will bring you into contact with other people, w h i c h m e a n s t h a t you will build a bigger circle of friends”. (When Contact the Elderly surveyed their volunteers they found that one of the main reasons people volunteered is to make friends). 8. BE PERSISTENT Persistence is power when it comes to increasing your sales and profit. Far too many people fail because they don’t follow-up long enough to produce results. Most sales are made after the seventh or eighth contact the sale is rarely made after just one contact. For example, Contact the Elderly found that to recruit volunteers in local areas, people needed to receive the Contact the Elderly message several times from different places before they actually volunteered: they needed to see the post card in their doctor’s surgery, see it again in their local shop and then read about the Contact the Elderly’s volunteers in the local paper before they got in touch with the charity. 9. OFFER TO BE A SPEAKER OR INDUSTRY EXPERT Business and organisations are always looking for speakers for their meetings and get-togethers. Make yourself available, look into the possibilities for speaking at community events in your area. 1 0. DISTRIBUTE INFORMATIVE LITERATURE Make sure that you get your charity benefits and ideas into the hands of your prospects. Introduction To Marketing 21 12. If people don’t know what you have, how can they make a decision to purchase it? Direct Mail, notices in shops, doctors and dentists’ surgeries or even leaflets dropped through letter boxes will help achieve this. TELL YOUR PROSPECTS AND CUSTOMERS WHAT TO DO Getting your message into the marketplace is important, but getting prospects to respond is the real test. Tell prospective volunteers exactly what you want them to do next (e.g. drop your reply card in the mail, attend a volunteer recruitment meeting etc). 1 3. TAKE ADVANTAGE OF TESTIMONIALS The testimonial can be the strongest sales tool you possess. Whenever an existing volunteer or donor says something positive about your charity, ask them if you could use their statement in your marketing materials. For example: You could ask an existing volunteer to attend a volunteer recruiting meeting to talk about their experiences. 1 4. LEARN A NEW MARKETING TECHNIQUE EVERY DAY Read, go to seminars, listen to audio tapes. Continuously improving your sales and marketing skills will help you to increase your sales. 1 5. ASSOCIATE WITH POSITIVE, SUCCESSFUL PEOPLE Successful selling is 90% attitude. People buy from people who are positive and upbeat. Talking to and learning from people who are always striving for and meeting their goals, will help you commit to and achieve your own. 1 6. BELIEVE IN THE SERVICE YOU SELL If you don’t believe volunteering is a positive and rewarding undertaking your prospects won’t either. Present the benefits of working with your charity in a confident and enthusiastic way. 1 7. LEARN FROM SOMEONE WHO HAS EXPERIENCE Marketing is an important skill based on both knowledge and experience. The fastest way to gain that knowledge is to find someone who knows what works and has done it successfully in your market sector. Introduction To Marketing 22 PART 3 – COMMUNICATION METHODS If you think of the creative side of marketing as generating wild and crazy ideas you are right – but only partly right. You have to do some open-minded thinking to conceive good ideas but then you need to be able to apply effective analytical concepts to turn them into the practical applications you will need in you advertisements, presentations and other marketing activities. WHERE DO IDEAS COME FROM? Effective marketing can rely on extremely simple concepts. For example, to sell more washing powder it turns out that it’s often best to tell the customer that it washes whiter. But such simple strategies are not always useful. How can we generate the out-ofthe-box thinking that generates the unusual, exciting, and effective marketing ideas we need? One of the most widely used but most misunderstood form of generating ideas is brainstorming. Brainstorming arose in the 1950s in America’s advertising industry, and soon became a byword for creative thinking. We now all understand that it’s just a way of getting a group of people together and harnessing the power of the collective mind to think thoughts individuals don’t, or won’t. But although it may seem to be a nebulous, intangible exercise, successful brainstorming needs rules. If you’re going to use it here’s what you need to remember – the five essentials of brainstorming created by the American Alex Osbourn. • • • • • No one should adversely criticise any one else’s idea. The more unusual or even crazy the idea, the better. Aim for quantity. The more suggestions put forward, the better the chances of finding a winner. Ideas can be toyed with. They can be combined and recombined with others or adapted to improve them. The group must be interactive. As individuals indulge their imagination or even fantasy, the rest should help them along by offering cues, associations, and pointers that will generate still more ideas. Introduction To Marketing 23 The central purpose of brainstorming is to unlock the suppressed creativity of each individual. Often people in group meetings are inhibited to the point where they won’t put their own ideas forward, no matter how good they are. Brainstorming should remove this barrier by removing the element of criticism – Rule 1. Generating quantity then enables the group to look at the whole range of ideas and start to apply a critical eye. This is the second and often neglected part of brainstorming. It’s all very well having the ideas, but they need to be tested against the requirements of the problem they’re meant to solve. The review process is vital, and is the only way to sort out the wheat of good ideas that come from brainstorming for the chaff of bad ones that will also emerge. On the following page is a simple list of potential methods to attract more customers/volunteers/donors. It is not exhaustive but provides a quick guide which should help you to generate creative ideas. Introduction To Marketing 24 T H E COM MUN ICAT IO N ME TH O DS HOW TO DO IT – THE TOOLS The following is a simple, easy to consult list of the primary methods you might consider using to communicate information about your charity to your volunteers, donors and prospects. It is intended as a quick reference guide and is not necessarily exhaustive. Referrals Referrals, which would include personal testimonials, word of mouth, and press coverage, are probably the single best way to attract new customers. When Contact the Elderly researched how their volunteers had been recruited they found that 44% had been introduced by a friend, a relative or another volunteer. Proactively seek out referrals from anyone connected with your charity but don’t forget to graciously thank anybody who refers you. You could even offer incentives for qualified leads (i.e. people to sign up or express and interest). Celebrity Endorsement This has long been a favoured marketing tool for Charities, often with stunning success rates such as occurred as a result of Bob Geldof’s Live Aid concerts in the eighties. However, recent research indicates that while most charities find celebrity endorsement helps to communicate objectives, it is much less clear that it positively improves long term fundraising efforts. It seems that fundraising is only really helped if the celebrity has personal experience or understanding of the cause. So being very careful about the choice of celebrity is evidently essential. One recent instance when the method was successfully employed was when ‘The Year of the Volunteer 2005’ asked Matthew Pinsent and Miss Dynamite to endorse the Billion Minutes campaign to encourage young people, those with no qualifications, black and minority ethnic groups become more involved in volunteering. Although several other communication methods were used in conjunction with Celebrity Endorsement, at the end of the campaign 1.6 billion minutes had been pledged by the groups targeted. Introduction To Marketing 25 Trade shows and professional association meetings Face to face marketing would include events such as fundraising dinners, community events such as children’s workshops, volunteer-appreciation events, fundraising musical performances, and workshops such as the one recently held by the Media Trust and the Joseph Rowntree Foundation to discuss the issue of poverty in Britain with prominent members of the press. Sales Calls In the charity sector targeted direct mail campaigns can be made more effective by a follow up phone call to raise funds or attract new volunteers. Placement and appearance of buildings/shops Where location sells the product, this can be an extremely useful addition to your marketing mix. Big Issue Magazine, for example, relies upon the placement of its salesmen to attract revenue. Signs and posters These can appear in shop windows and businesses forecourts, T-shirts, umbrellas and, of course, on shopping bags. To use bags effectively you need to make them much easier to read and far more interesting than the average brown paper or white plastic shopping bag. You will need to use the most powerful design principles you can to come up with a hook – a striking image or attention-getting phrase to get everyone looking at the bag. The prime example of this is French Connection’s company logo FCUK which completely revolutionised the fortunes of the company in this country. Signs and posters can also be extremely effective when they appear on buses, in bus shelters, on or in taxis, at airports or on the interior of tube panels. Even bumper stickers, on the inside of car windows, can achieve good results. Try to use humour and wordplay on your posters and always show your logo prominently as a powerful reminder of your identity. Think carefully about the visual display. Remember, a picture can paint a thousand words. Contact the Elderly obtained permission from CBS Outdoor (poster contractors on transport systems) to put up volunteer campaign posters for the charity on the London Underground. A simple, light hearted, black and white cartoon was designed to stand out amongst the busy, multi-coloured adverts on the tube. All those who helped to produce the poster for free were credited on the poster. Each time a poster appears on the London Underground network, it generates approximately 50 calls to the charity from people interested in volunteering. Introduction To Marketing 26 Press Advertising This has been shown time and again to be a highly successful method for charities to attract volunteers and raise funds. For example, Contact the Elderly discovered, when they questioned their existing volunteers about how they had been recruited, that 24% had responded to an advertisement in a local paper whilst 52% of their drivers were recruited by this method. However, press advertising can be expensive and for this reason it is essential to seek out inexpensive publications and monitor the results for each campaign very stringently. One very good way to advertise on a budget is to take advantage of the thousands of club and professional newsletters that are published. Professional subscribers often have greater buying power and can be more disposed to giving to charity. Local newspapers are another very good outlet as small papers often charge less than one tenth of the price national newspapers for advertising. Press Releases Press releases are a very cost-effective way to get your message out to many people … for free. Submit your press releases to a wide variety of publications for immediate release. Keep in mind that newspapers will usually only print releases that are of interest to their readers, rather than of a selling nature. By timing your promotion to coincide with a related local or national event, you may be able to convince editors to include your release in their media vehicle, be it newspaper, radio, or television. If you are going to write your own press releases then stick to the following requirements: • • • • • • • A punchy or funny headline. Summarise the story in the first sentence. Write in the third person. Don’t use jargon and keep it simple and easy to understand. Set out where and when your story/event/ launch is happening and who is involved. List case studies and potential interviewees. You can include a quote from a key player in your organisation but keep it brief. Suggest a photo opportunity. Say if you are offering an exclusive. Give each particular media outlet a reason to cover your story. Give them the closing paragraph you’d like broadcast or printed. Introduction To Marketing 27 • • • Only quote one web link, one charity name, one phone number for the article. Repeat the key, most important information at the end - the event, place and date (if appropriate) and your key message. Put a couple of sentences about your organisation and what it does. This is taken from www.volunteergenie.org.uk. Also don’t forget newspapers and other publications are always looking for helpful tips / articles that would be of benefit to readers. Submit simple, problem/solution type articles related to your charity. State the problem and then share some insightful tips that can help to solve the problem. Always include information at the end of your articles so that people will know how to contact you to receive more information about your services. In October 2006, the British Heart Foundation issued a press release with a request for volunteers to run up to Christmas. Each press release was tailored to target local press and they mentioned the address of the shop in each area which needed the volunteers. They found targeting local press the most efficient and effective method of recruiting volunteers. During the PR campaign BHF shops reported a noticeable rise in enquiries about volunteering. More information on BHF’s campaign can be found at www.volunteergenie.org.uk Case Studies Case studies, such as stories about specific volunteers, can be an invaluable part of selling information about charity, whether it’s to attract funds or recruit volunteers. Real life stories bring articles, press releases and campaigns to life so it is well worth expending time and effort on collecting them. Radio and Television interviews If you can speak knowledgeably about your product or service and tie it effectively with current events, radio interviews are a great way to reach a wide audience and improve your customer base. It is, however, worth undertaking some media interview training as successful broadcasting is a learned skill which will greatly enhance your ability to sell your charity. Girlguiding UK is a charity that relies on local and regional media coverage to recruit their volunteers. Recently just one small feature which they had on the BBC regional programme (London) Inside Out led to them receiving 100 calls from people interested in becoming volunteers for their organisation. More information on GirlGuiding UK’s campaign can be found at www.volunteergenie.org.uk Introduction To Marketing 28 Radio and Television Advertising This can be a highly effective way of marketing but it can also be very expensive so it is essential to use it in a carefully directed way to avoid wasting money. It is proven to be an extremely effective way to advertise products and services that appeal to a mass market. For example, food, cars and toiletries are regularly advertised on television as they are used by everyone. Services and products that are likely to appeal to a more specific audience are more successfully marketed through targeted means such as Direct Marketing methods or by Referrals. However, much more flexible and affordable variation of the medium is increasingly being used on websites that communicate through radio-style voiceovers, PowerPoint-type slides and digital video to carefully targeted audiences. Direct Marketing This involves marketing via leaflets, brochures, letters, catalogues, or print advertisements which are mailed, or distributed directly to current and potential consumers/donors/volunteers. Beware of sending unsolicited e-mails, however, as there are very strict regulations governing their use. If in doubt contact the British Direct Marketing Association for detailed advice. To be successful, your direct-mail piece should look professional and feature wellwritten copy. Hire a professional copywriter and designer if these skills are beyond your ability. You may even be able to barter for design or writing work. Or approach The Media Trust and use their ‘Media Matching’ service to find a professional who is prepared to help you for a bargain price, or even better, pro bono. Telephone Marketing This is often used in conjunction with direct mail to follow up mailouts. It can also be very useful method of gaining information about your customers/volunteers. For example, it could be used as a method to contact volunteers or donors rather than written questionnaires. It has the advantage of two way communication and is therefore a good way of approaching warm leads such as those who have already expressed an interest in the charity. Inbound telemarketing can also be a very useful way to encourage customers and prospects to contact you. Introduction To Marketing 29 You could provide a free phone number on your website, on any packaging you use, or on brochures and business cards so that anyone who prefers to contact you by phone rather than by e-mail can do so. By having a trained telemarketing person available to take incoming calls you can greatly increase the quality of your communication with your prospects and possibly persuade many to sign-up who otherwise would not have done. Also remember, even the outgoing message on your answering machine or voicemail system can help promote your business when utilised correctly. Make sure your message provides additional product or service information so that it works for you, even in the middle of the night. Brochures Brochures are still an effective way to present your product or service to new customers. They are relatively cheap and easy to print, and you can distribute them by mail or by leaving them at locations where they will be noticed such as in local shops, doctors’ surgeries or even at your local church. A professionallooking brochure can help convince potential customers who are still on the fence about your products. However, be careful to make sure your brochure accomplishes what it sets out to achieve. Before setting out to design your brochure, consider exactly what purpose you intend it to serve, who will receive it and what action you want it to prompt. It must have maximum appeal to attract the prospects you want. Make sure it has a punchy headline, carefully select, brief and straightforward copy and choose an eye-catching visual to make it stand out. Don’t try to communicate too much information but try to stick to a maximum of three simple messages. Websites Your website is the first impression of your charity for many of your customers. Make it a good one. Your site should provide information about your charity in a clear and intuitive format. Many people prefer to do their research online before committing themselves, so make sure that your site leaves your customers and prospects with the right impression. There are a number of strategies you can use to market your charity online, including search engine optimisation and search engine submission, copywriting that encourages site visitors to take action, website design strategies, online promotions, reciprocal linking, and email. Introduction To Marketing 30 Online marketers are constantly devising new Internet marketing strategies in the hope of driving more traffic to their websites and making more sales, as is witnessed by the increasing use of blogs as a marketing tool, for instance. In June 2007 SITA Trust, V, BTCV and The Wildlife Trusts came together to create GreenPrints – a campaign to encourage young people to get involved in conservation volunteering. This campaign is still in progress but the focus of their volunteer recruitment is to launch a website www.greenprints.org.uk to engage and inspire young people. More information on the GreenPrints campaign can be found at www.volunteergenie.org.uk Affiliate Marketing This is part of the internet marketing mix. It is a system of advertising in which site A agrees to feature buttons from site B, and site A gets a percentage of any sales generated for site B. Online affiliate programs are one of the most cost-effective ways to market your charity to a wide range of potential customers. You have the benefits of a commission-based sales force but without any of the hassle of managing actual employees. E-zines are periodically published electronic newsletters delivered by e-mail. When you provide interesting and informative content related to your charity you can greatly enhance subscriber loyalty. If you do not have the time to run your own e-zine or newsletter, you can submit articles with your information to different publications. When you are perceived as a knowledgeable expert, potential customers know that they can rely on you for quality information. Introduction To Marketing 31 RESOURCES Free media resource links: Marketing is a commercial tool and many of these sites are concerned with selling goods and services. The underlying concepts of marketing set out in these pages can be applied to any activity where the aim is to grow and help more people to cope with the problems of everyday life. Most of these pages also contain further links to other relevant information, so it pays to drill down through them. www.volunteergenie.org.uk Volunteer Genie is a great site with a vast range of resources for anyone looking to attract more volunteers and improve the service they offer. It includes pages on some more unusual marketing techniques, such as Guerilla Marketing www.vamu.org.uk The Voluntary Action Media Unit (VAMU) was set up with the aim of researching and improving the relationship between charities and the media. We want to encourage debate about the place of voluntary sector stories in media coverage. Through our research we hope to develop strategies that will radically change the voluntary sector’s media profile and the effectiveness of its volunteer recruitment campaigns.” The site has lots of links to important research about the voluntary sector and the media. www.mediatrust.org Media Trust is a dynamic, innovative charity bringing together the media industry and charities. The Trust works to build effective voluntary and community sector communications through a range of partnerships, projects and services including media training, a film and TV production unit, our digital TV station Community Channel, and Youth Mentoring. Their website includes an exceptionally wide range of material on every aspect of working with the media, including online guides to marketing. It also offers links to two invaluable services. Media Matching enables you to make contact with a media professional who wants to help the voluntary sector by working with you either pro bono or at greatly reduced rates. Introduction To Marketing 32 The service covers every aspect of media work, from designing websites to help with PR and marketing. Community Newswire is a service where media professionals will take your own press release, assess them for newsworthiness, re-write them if necessary, and then send them out to national media outlets through the Press Association’s wire service. Both services are f r ee. www.volunteering.org Volunteering England works to promote volunteering as a powerful force forchange, both for those who volunteer and for the wider community. The site contains much useful help, advice, and information about working effectively with the media to promote your cause. www.lloydstsbbusiness.com/support/businessguides/salesandmarketing.asp A free guide from Lloyds TSB to improving sales and marketing. It covers much the same ground as the other guides but includes a couple of useful extras. www.businesslink.gov.uk Business link is a government-sponsored website that offers free guides and advice to UK businesses. The guides contain much that is useful to third sector or volunteer-seeking organisations. www.webcredible.co.uk Commercial site that offers free and helpful information on improving your web presence. www.yourmediaplan.com A guide to where to place adverts if you have the resources to pay for them. www.realbusiness.co.uk 27 ways to advertise for free (or dirt cheap). A site with advice for commercial organisations but with some very useful tips on unusual ways to market. www.consultancymarketing.co.uk/marketing-plan.htm A commercial site that includes a short marketing plan with examples of how to complete it and use it. www.lawworks.org.uk A site where lawyers who want to work for the public good can be contacted by voluntary sector organisations. Introduction To Marketing 33 Free advice is available on a wide range of subjects, including management consultancy and marketing www.ecb.co.uk A site with links to many organisations dedicated to the recruitment of volunteers that could provide assistance to organisations searching for volunteers - and keen volunteers looking for opportunities. It’s run by the England and Wales Cricket Board and the prime focus is sport, but the links will also take you to organisations that can help with recruiting volunteers for other causes. www.learnmarketing.net A commercial site that has a host of useful pages on a wide range of marketing topics from basic concepts to the complexities of how to set prices and devising an effective product mix. www.mediauk.com MediaUK is a free online directory of just about all of the media in the UK, encompassing television, radio, newspapers, magazines, and more. www.clarity-in-communication.com A commercial site with some good tips, particularly about branding. www.bplans.co.uk This site is promoting commercial software for business planning. It also includes some interesting sample business plans that give insight into planning and marketing a business. www.cim.co.uk The Chartered Institute of Marketing is the professional body for UK marketing people. The site has a lot of useful information, but sadly little of it is free. It is a very good place to look for advanced publications should you need them. www.tutor2u.net/marketing A very comprehensive site intended for teachers and students but very useful for the rest of us nonetheless. A search for ‘free marketing plan’ will return dozens – hundreds – of free marketing plan templates. They all include the core information, but you may find tips pertinent to your own case within them. Browse! Introduction To Marketing 34 www.volresource.org.uk This is operated by Volresource which contains links to a wide range of sites with very useful information about working with the media. It also includes a lot of other material on every aspect of voluntary work. This link takes you to their marketing page. “VolResource aims to provide practical resources for people involved in charities, voluntary or community organisations, making use of communication technology such as this web site and our email newsletter. This site carries briefings, contact information, specialist sources, suppliers and more, with news now on VoluntaryNews. It acts as a portal bringing together basic information on these pages, a wide range of links to relevant web sites for more material alongside tips on key issues and what to look out for elsewhere. You can use VR as a database of contacts.” Introduction To Marketing