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I’ve been talking a lot to clients about the hows and whys of marketing. I hear myself using the following words and terms quite a bit:

• Target audience
• Messaging
• Story
• Emotion
• Compelling
• Call to action

Yes, this is a bit jumbled….but they do all come together.  A piece of marketing – whether a social media post, a direct marketing piece, an ad, whatever – needs to do certain things to be effective:

There should be a clear idea as to whom is the target audience.  There should be thought given to the messaging to best speak to that audience.  If at all possible, make sure there is a story – it might just be a start to a story – but a story is the best way to draw someone in to start to education them about your product or service (think of the old days – when it was a blantant sell – we are well beyond this now!).  With a story comes the idea that there is emotion, which makes the message compelling to the audience; we know the audience will ask “what’s in it for me.”  Finally, there should be a call to action, that drives someone to do something as a next step.  Don’t just leave the person hanging….allow them to engage more if that is what they would like to do.

So I found an example of an ad from the Gatorade “Become” campaign, which does much of this quite well (click on image for a larger view):

Gatorade’s campaign right now is targeted toward an audience of moms, quite clearly.  (These are real moms, I have learned, so that makes these pieces all the more powerful.)  Umm, yes, there is emotion coming through, and a great story that is I’d call compelling (yes, I have to admit I am the target audience….and I emphasize with this and other moms in the campaign). 

There is a clear message that this mom wants what is best for her daughter, and will go to great lengths to provide that to her.  As a mom, I can see myself in her shoes, in this situation. I feel her anxiety, her pride, her nervousness, and I too want to do what is best for my kids.  If it means I should buy Gatorade, so be it.  (As a note, Gatorade is doing a good job to clarify that harmful ingredients like high-fructose corn syrup aren’t in the product – this is important to me to know this.)

Gatorade’s call to action is to go to a special URL (www.gatorade.com/moms) - and when I go to it, I see video stories of real-life moms with kids involved in sports (some of the stories are real tear-jerkers).  I see Gatorade is creating a hub for moms to go to for info on sports issues (like injuries), is presenting a panel of experts, and is enabling me to learn about the moms and kids (and their stories) behind the campaign.  It’s a cool site.

Gatorade figured it out.  As a mom of athletes, I want what is best for them.  I’ll do anything for them, always be there for them …. and do whatever it takes.  They are talking to me with messaging that means something, and giving me a call to action that makes sense.  I am engaging further with the brand.  And I will remember that next time I am in the grocery store.

Now back to your world - I’ll bet you have ideas for what you can do with your brand.  Keep thinking, and then test some of your ideas.

Do you you have thoughts about this? other ideas? I invite you to connect with MMC on our Facebook page - and let’s continue the discussion!

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Filed under: Audience, Branding, Direct Marketing, Marketing Campaigns, Messaging, Social Media, Stories, Strategic marketing on April 1st, 2011