What’s the mother of all Tribal PR |Marketing | Advocacy myths?
Strategies that work for them won’t work for us.
Let’s face it: this myth—spoken or unspoken—may well have stopped you in your tracks as you looked to explore new and exciting ways to improve your Tribe or position your business for success. It’s an idea that many just cannot get past.
But it’s absolutely false.
We’re talking about the whole palette of innovative online technologies and strategies—inbound marketing, digital advertising, retargeting, and so many more—that the big corporations and major-league political and advocacy groups use.
They use them because they work. They use them because they improve efficiency and cut costs. They use them because they breed success.
But don’t just take our word for it.
According to a corporate study by a global marketing and research firm, corporate entities that engage in a variety of “Web 2.0” strategies report significant returns on investment and operational success as a result. For example:
- 54% of surveyed companies reported that those strategies helped reduce internal communications costs by as much as 20%.
- 52% reported increased effectiveness of marketing efforts, with just awareness alone improving by 25%.
- 51% reported measurable benefits in customer relations as the result of something as simple as blogging.
- 48% reported customer benefits from use of social media.
And those were just a few of the dozens of reported corporate benefits of incorporating these sorts of strategies into their game plan.
But you don’t need statistics to tell you that Web strategies work for big corporations and small businesses, alike, do you?
After all, you have probably visited Amazon.com and seen how once you look at an item, the site intuitively knows what else to offer you as you continue your shopping. If you are a movie buff, you probably know what is playing at your local theater not by looking in the newspaper like you used to, but rather by visiting Fandango (where you can not only look…but buy tickets, too!). If you have a favorite local restaurant, you might be a fan of that restaurant’s Facebook page so that you can know what their nightly specials are or when they are offering special events or discounts. And don’t forget about online advertising! Have you noticed that no matter where you are online, somehow they know to show you ads for your favorite shoes, hotels that you might frequent, and that car that you were checking out online the other day?
The corporate world has figured out how to leverage the power of digital communication, for sure, and the top folks in the political and advocacy communities have, too!
Have you ever watched Twitter light up during a Presidential debate, as advocates for every candidate and point-of-view support or rebut the candidates in real time in your timeline? Or have you seen the stories about the millions and millions of dollars that are raised in a single day through a candidate’s or organization’s email or text club lists? And, again, let’s not ignore advertising! Those “Web-only” ads hit harder, are more focused, and generate far more action than what you might find on TV. It’s no accident. Clearly, these are folks who know how to take advantage of emerging technologies and strategies to achieve their goals.
So why aren’t you doing the same?
There is not a single online strategy that those folks use that you cannot also use to similar effect and overall success.
How do we know?
Well, over the course of the past 25 years or so, we have worked with countless associations, advocacy groups, and member-based organizations all across the United States—including several Native Tribes and Tribal businesses. And for many of those 25 years, our primary focus has been to help them embrace and exploit the kinds of digital strategies that are becoming critical to Tribal PR | Marketing | Advocacy. Their willingness to ignore the common myths—especially this these-things-won’t-work-for-us myth—has been the first step toward new levels of success.
Using the kinds of strategies we will be discussing, we have helped our Tribal partners, in particular:
- Strengthen their brands
- Communicate more effectively with Tribal members
- Build stronger relationships with members
- Inform and engage members
- Increase member activism
- Deliver quality, effective online training
- Manage and shape public opinion
- Grow their capacity for communications & advocacy
- Support and defeat candidates at every level of government
- Achieve legislative goals
- And so much more.
And so much of that success has been directly due to their willingness to turn this first myth right on its head and realize a simple, fundamental, but powerful truth:
Yes, what works for them WILL work for us!
We are not talking about reinventing the wheel here. We are simply talking about finding a wheel that works for you and using it to get your Tribe or business moving!
Can we tell you more?
Contact us at chris@visuality.com, and we will be happy to speak with you about how our ideas and approach might help you achieve your goals! Or follow us on Facebook for updates, ideas, new, and more!