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At the very moment I sent you this newsletter, I began my training workshop at the ESP National Extension Professionals Annual Conference. Here’s a bit of what I’m sharing there so you’ll feel included! Every day we ask people to do something: join, volunteer, donate, attend, recycle, eat, read, exercise. Sometimes they say yes; lots of times they say no, or don’t say anything at all. The path of every consumer (and that’s what our participants are) begins with curiosity, followed by enlightenment and then commitment. We must begin our interaction with consumers by sparking curiosity. Think of curiosity like this: You get a stack of mail and in a split second, you decide whether to keep or toss each piece. We keep the things that make us stop and say, “I may need that.” Here’s the thing, though. They’re not curious about us. They’re curious about how we help them solve a problem that’s keeping them from living the life they want to live.Yet, what do we do in our marketing? Talk about us, talk about the event we’re having, talk about our history, our partners, our process. Instead of talking about us, we need to talk about WHO THEY’LL BECOME after participating, volunteering, donating, joining. “Great brands obsess about the transformation of their customers.” — Keith Reinhard, Chairman Emeritus of DDB Worldwide
So how do you change your messaging?Let me give you two examples from the Extension world: Instead of: We are hosting a finance workshop. We will discuss retirement savings programs. Use: We believe your hard work today should provide security for you in your retirement years. That’s why we will review all the retirement savings opportunities available so you can choose what’s best for you. Find the peace of mind you’re looking for at our finance workshop.
Why is the second one better? As a recently retired person, I want to “transform” from worry to peace of mind. I’d go to THAT meeting. EXAMPLE 2 Instead of: This class addresses the ins and outs of buying/building a home. Participants will learn how to prepare financially, select a home, negotiate price, review contract and what to expect at closing. Use: You’re ready to buy your first home, but you’re worried you’ll be taken advantage of. Extension’s first-time homebuyer program prepares you to choose a home in your budget, negotiate a fair price, and review your contract so you’re confident at the closing. You’ll have no regrets when you open the door to your new home.
Why is the second one better? Any first-time homebuyer looks forward to walking into their home the first time confident they paid a fair price they can afford on terms they can live with. THAT’S THE TRANSFORMATION. Our friends at the Center for Public Interest Communications at the University of Florida College of Journalism and Communication know about this stuff. "People fail to act not because they do not have enough information, but because they don’t care… If we want people to engage and take action, we have to connect to what they care about and how they see themselves.”
I used to think that if I just gave people more information about Extension, they’d do the thing I was asking them to do. Now I know that we must first connect our messaging to the transformation they want to experience, either for themselves, their family, their community, or their world.
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