October 8th, 2009

Stop Preaching Only to the Converted

bullhornOn Tuesday, Shayna posted her reflections on the Web of Change Conference she attended a few weeks ago.  Each of the themes she pulled away from the event will stimulate your thinking about the work your organization does and its effectiveness.

One challenge that probably hits home for many who’ve worked any type of campaign is that constant struggle to make sure we’re not just talking to each other.  It’s very easy to do.  Early victories in any campaign (fundraising, advocacy, electoral) are almost always the result of succesffully engaging folks already on board – the proverbial low hanging fruit.  But then it’s easy to keep going back to that group to help achieve the second or third benchmarks in your campaign.  While you may be able to accomplish those, you begin to fall into the trap.  Everyone feeds off of each other and while you may be generating activity, you’re not moving the ball towards the ultimate goal.
Those early benchmarks are not the end game.  They help get your effort moving, but the change your campaign is seeking (most likely) requires that new people be enlisted and engaged.  And that’s this week’s Three Things: Three Things to Help Stop Just Talking to the Converted.
1) The importance of segmenting – I know, you’re thinking that if I’m talking about segmenting then I’m talking about folks already on your team.  That’s partially true.  But can you identify people from how, when and why they started following your cause?  If you can screen out the folks who are still learning about your cause and talk to them differently, then you can potentially activate a whole new group of people who may be on board but not ready to take action. Not to mention, having a real understanding of the how, when, and why people got to be on your team helps you better…
2) …Identify who’s missing.  Where is the hole in your coalition?  Do you need more Democrats, Republicans, or Independents?  Men or Women?  Business Leaders?  Faith leaders? Elected officials?  Supporters of related issue X, Y, or totally unrelated issue Z?
Talking to and engaging new folks is good.  Talking to and engaging the right new folks to help you get closer to the goal is better.  Once you know who you need, you can better figure out to find and approach them.
3) You can’t be the only one talking.  While there is plenty you can be doing to reach new people, you’ll be a lot more successful if you’re not the only one singing your cause’s praises.  For each target group you need to engage, you need messengers who can help you find the right networks of people, validate your purpose to them, and bring the willing on board.
New tools can be helpful here as Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter and the works can make it easier for those on board to spread your message to their networks.  That’s only helpful if your new targets are easily engaged online.  If not, you’ll have to rely on the old-fashioned social networking of lunches, receptions, conferences, phone calls and meetings to get people’s attention.
Note: All of this applies offline as much as it does online.  Sure the tools and technologies are different, but you still have a list, you still have channels in which to communicate and you still have a need to bring in new people to your coalition.
And that’s how you can stop talking to just the converted and hopefully begin talking to the new folks you need to make the change your seeking.  Do you have more thoughts about reaching new audiences, offline or online?  Share them below and I’m sure we’ll continue this discussion in future posts.

One challenge that probably hits home for many who’ve worked any type of campaign is that constant struggle to make sure we’re not just talking to each other. It’s very easy to do.  Early victories in any campaign (fundraising, advocacy, electoral) are almost always the result of successfully engaging folks already on board – the proverbial low hanging fruit.  But then it’s easy to keep going back to that group to help achieve the second or third benchmarks in your campaign.  While you may be able to accomplish those, you begin to fall into the trap.  Everyone feeds off of each other and while you may be generating activity, you’re not moving the ball towards the ultimate goal.

Those early benchmarks are not the end game.  They help get your effort moving, but the change your campaign is seeking (most likely) requires that new people be enlisted and engaged.  And that’s this week’s Three Things: Three Things to Help Stop Just Talking to the Converted.

1) The importance of segmenting – I know, you’re thinking that if I’m talking about segmenting then I’m talking about folks already on your team.  That’s partially true.  But can you identify people from how, when and why they started following your cause?

If you can screen out the folks who are still learning about your cause and talk to them differently, then you can potentially activate a whole new group of people who may be on board but not ready to take action. Not to mention, having a real understanding of the how, when, and why people got to be on your team helps you better…

2) …Identify who’s missing.  Where is the hole in your coalition?  Do you need more Democrats, Republicans, or Independents?  Men or Women?  Business Leaders?  Faith leaders? Elected officials?  Supporters of related issue X, Y, or totally unrelated issue Z?

Talking to and engaging new folks is good.  Talking to and engaging the right new folks to help you get closer to the goal is better. Once you know who you need, you can better figure out to find and approach them.

3) You can’t be the only one talking. While there is plenty you can be doing to reach new people, you’ll be a lot more successful if you’re not the only one singing your cause’s praises.  For each target group you need to engage, you need messengers who can help you find the right networks of people, validate your purpose to them, and bring the willing on board.

New tools can be helpful here as Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter and the works can make it easier for those on board to spread your message to their networks.  That’s only helpful if your new targets are easily engaged online.  If not, you’ll have to rely on the old-fashioned social networking of lunches, receptions, conferences, phone calls and meetings to get people’s attention.

Note: All of this applies offline as much as it does online.  Sure the tools and technologies are different, but you still have a list, you still have channels in which to communicate and you still have a need to bring in new people to your coalition.

Changing your approach so you’re not preaching only to the converted can be hard, but most of the time it’s absolutely necessary to make the change you’re seeking.  Do you have more thoughts about reaching new audiences, offline or online?  Share them below and I’m sure we’ll continue this discussion in future posts.

Leave a Reply