Here's how you increase outreach to your key publics,
from customers to reporters. Your plan should be based on
the four "legs" of a solid chair: your Message,
Market, Medium, and Partners. To begin
your brainstorming, take out a piece of paper and write
those four legs across the top. Begin writing under any
category, and skip across as you think of things. Consider
having your staff do this with you on a piece of butcher
paper posted on the wall during a staff meeting.
Message: What do you want to tell people about
your store and/or their lives? How do you want to inspire
them to take action (join, donate, buy, volunteers, get
tested, meet, write...)?
Market: Who is it you want to reach? The more
specific you are, the more likely you will be able to reach
them. Consider your target markets. If one market is
"women," what are the niches in that market? How do they
break down as customers? Students? Mothers with young
children? Working women? Fanciful dressers? Concerned with a
particular local issue? Vegetarian gourmet eaters?
Medium: How do you want to reach them? At home? In
another part of their lives? What will they see when they
buy something? Is it related to one of their "hot button
needs" or interests? Where do they pass by on foot or in the
car? Where do they pause or wait? What do they read?
Partners: Who else reaches your current or
potential customers? Do they share your values? Can they
reinforce your message? Do they offer a different resource,
cycle of customer patronage, complementary product, or
service?
Now draw lines between the categories. For example, what
if you decide one of your main messages is helping people
with three big habits – good food, no smoking, and exercise
– and you title your message "Save My Life"? You might
launch a six-month campaign, two months on each theme, and
find appropriate partners for each. For example, co-sponsor
an in-store evening panel talk (or at a nearby hospital,
with a display from your store and other partner retailers).
The three-person panel would have various health experts
with ten minutes of presentation each, thus with ample time
for attendees' questions.
Other partners might include local health food stores
(alternative rewards in good eating displayed there), local
shopper newspapers (advance article with tips and suggested
readings and resources), fitness centers (sponsoring
exercise programs to get people through withdrawal), food
outlets (offering rewards for those who pass the six-month
mark of no smoking), and dental groups (free teeth cleaning
to all who go a year without smoking).
The more like-minded partners you recruit who can reach
the same niche market, the more you will multiple the
exposures to your message and your store. These partnerships
are a positive way to involve your staff and give them
responsibility related to one of their key interests.
The more specific you are in choosing a message, market,
medium, and partners, the more satisfied you will be with
your results. You will get more leverage, and you will bring
out the best sides of your partners. They can feel they are
providing a genuine community service and showing off their
business in the best possible light.
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