Recently we were collaborating with a client on a marketing piece that they were producing with our input. That piece had to work hard and do some double duty: it needed to convey the “why” or the mission of their organization, and then creatively ask for money for this cause. In similar nature to those pieces at other nonprofits, there was the feeling that this one needed to be just right, and that it if it hit the right note, it could be a piece that would be useful to them for a long time. Does this sound familiar?
After one round of edits, we were hashing out whether or not the text was getting close to where we wanted it. The client said, “Great. We’ve got this text. But does it sing?” By this, he meant that yes, the text was functional in nature, providing the right background information and context. But did it go beyond that to drive someone to complete the call to action or just simply become inspired, interested and engaged?
It wasn’t there quite yet, but a couple of days later we all agreed: it sang.
Here are some questions to ask yourself or your team when taking your communications from “So what?” to singing:
- Does the piece have the mission and vision of your organization at its core?
- Does it show a problem (the need your organization exists to meet) and give a solution (how your organization is working to solve this problem)?
- Does it clearly tell your audience, if sufficiently interested and engaged, how to answer the call to action (sign up to volunteer, click to give a donation, etc.)?
- Does it tell your readers how to share the information with others (for example, by including share and like buttons for social media platforms)?
- Is it well-written to completely describe the problem and the pertinent information about your organization? Will it capture the hearts of your audience members?
- Does it include visual pieces like photos or imbedded video to help drive the message home?
How do you make your content sing? Tell us.