Marketing Land Trusts

Marketing That Matters:

Strategic Communication Principles to Profit Your Organization and Change the World

Randi Hogan, Vice President Lindsay Nichols, Director

Land Trust Alliance Rally 2008 Pittsburgh, PA

September 18, 2008

Agenda •  Overview of strategic communication principles (30 minutes)

•  Audience mapping (30 minutes)

•  Break (15 minutes)

•  Message development (1 hour)

•  Role playing (30 minutes)

•  Creating a strategic communication plan (30 minutes)

•  Questions and discussion (15 minutes)

Marketplace snapshot and assessment

•  Communication clutter

•  What are the top issues that concern Americans/the people in your community?

•  How do people perceive land trusts?

•  What is our movement’s/organization’s marketing capacity/resources?

Marketplace snapshot and assessment

•  What are your association’s top 3 goals?

•  What are your top funding and marketing challenges?

10 Core Principles For Marketing That Matters

1: Don’t Fear Marketing Use Marketing as a Core Organizational Strategy

2: Know Yourself Build Upon Your Mission

3: What’s Your Definition of Success? Define Your Goals

Marketing Principles

4: Know Your Audience Be Aggressively Audience Centered

5: Question Conventional Wisdom Don’t Limit Your Audience

6: What’s Driving the Customer Decision? Communicate Value and Values


7: Emotion Trumps Data Connect With the Heart First, Mind Second

8: Build a Community Empower People as Messengers

9: Walk the Talk Be Authentic and Transparent


10: Use Your Platform to Change the World Leverage Marketing for Social Impact


Case Study

Map Your Audiences

15 minute break!

Develop Your Messages

Case for Support : •  Problem

•  Solution

•  Strategy

•  Right organization

•  Investment


The [state association] builds and sustains the quality and effectiveness of land trusts, as well as other organizations engaged in land conservation, drawing upon their collective expertise and resources to ensure responsible and successful conservation.


We face a crucial time in land protection in [our region]. While for the moment, much of our [landscape] is still intact, the special places we protect – or lose – this decade will determine the character of our landscape forever. This decade is our last chance to safeguard the large remaining tracts.

The task is too enormous to face alone, so 13 local, state and national conservation organizations have joined forces as the [state association].


Problem/Opportunity:

Solution:

Strategy:

Right organization:

Investment:

Small Group Work

Large Group Reporting

Role Playing

• Strategic Plan - Affirms mission and values: identifies goals, strategic direction and funding needs/priorities

• Marketing/Communication Plan - Reflects mission and values - Translates goals and strategic direction into marketing/

communication objectives and strategies

• Work Plan - Provides detailed implementation plan and operational

budget; assigns responsibility for tasks; identifies timeline

Levels of Planning

Marketing Plan Categories

•  (Affirm mission and core values)

•  Goals •  Objectives •  Audience

–  Motivations & influences

•  Strategies •  Desired Results •  Tactics •  Resources/Budget •  Timing

Creating a strategic communication plan

Goals Objectives What are you trying to do? These should be ambitious and bold, but achievable as well.

How will you know when you’ve accomplished your goals?

• Accelerate the pace of land conservation.

• Encourage strategic conservation.

• Ensure the permanence of conservation.

• Build strong land trusts.

•  Number of strategic media hits have increased by x percent.

•  Consistent messaging appears in media coverage.

•  Brand messages are accurately conveyed through collateral and other communication materials.

•  Stories are used to demonstrate the brand.

•  The perceived credibility of Land Trust Alliance is enhanced.

Target Audiences What drives them?

Who/what influences them?

Who is in the best position to help you accomplish your goals?

What values do they hold and what motivations are relevant to the change you seek?

Who is in a position to influence your target audiences in the desired direction?

• Land Trust Professionals: executive directors of land trusts and other paid staff; land trust service centers

• Friends and supporters of land trusts: current and former board members, volunteers, land donors, philanthropic donors

• Political decision-makers

Clean air/water Food security Scenic landscapes Community Recreation Secure future

Environmentalists Attorneys Government Family/Friends Media


Strategies Desired Results How can you best influence the desired change in the audiences you’ve identified?

What specific measurements will tell you these strategies are working?

•  Engage staff and board on new brand

•  Create a core collateral package that conveys brand

•  Develop a formal media relations program

•  Engage in targeted direct outreach to key influencers

•  Integrate brand into fundraising communication

•  Audiences use stories to explain the benefits of land conservation and Land Trust Alliance’s services

•  People are becoming members and champions of Land Trust Alliance

•  Audiences are establishing relationships with government officials to advocate for land conservancy


Tactics What can you do specifically to motivate the change you seek?

•  Develop a PowerPoint presentation and toolkit to use with brand training. •  Shift the organization to a storytelling entity, with clear mechanisms to

capture stories collected from staff, board, land trusts, partners and supporters.

•  Review content of all communication tools using the approved brand messages, voice and look.

•  Create a basic PowerPoint template for use in speaking engagements. •  Evaluate major local land trust victories or losses as a potential hook/entry

point for a larger trend story that can be pitched to national media. •  Identify high-value opportunities to speak/present/showcase at major

national and regional conferences, symposia and meetings. •  Provide online charity evaluators, such as Guidestar, the Better Business

Bureau and Charity Navigator, with updated brand messages, mission, vision and goals from the revised case for support.


Goals Objectives What are you trying to do? These should be ambitious and bold, but achievable as well.

How will you know when you’ve accomplished your goals?


Target Audiences What drives them?

Who/what influences them?

Who is in the best position to help you accomplish your goals?

What values do they hold and what motivations are relevant to the change you seek?

Who is in a position to influence your target audiences in the desired direction?


Strategies Desired Results How can you best influence the desired change in the audiences you’ve identified?

What specific measurements will tell you these strategies are working?


Tactics What can you do specifically to motivate the change you seek?


Questions/ Discussion

Free tips and tools for marketing and fundraising are available at: www.metgroup.com

Marketing That Matters

•  About the authors: •  Eric Friedenwald-Fishman, Creative

Director/President of Metropolitan Group •  Chip Conley, CEO and founder of Joie

de Vivre Hospitality •  Published by Berrett-Koehler, October

2006 •  Part of the Social Venture Network (SVN)

book series •  Goal of MTM: To offer a contemporary

approach to strategic marketing that helps change the world

•  Available at your local independent bookstore and at powells.com, amazon.com

Metropolitan Group: What we do and who we help

•  Practice Areas •  Strategic

Communication

•  Resource Development

•  Intercultural Communication

•  Organizational Development

•  Focus Areas •  Environment and

Sustainability •  Heritage, Arts and Culture •  Community and Economic

Development •  Libraries •  Foundations •  Social Justice and Human

Rights •  Children, Youth and

Families •  Public Health •  Socially Responsible and

Green Business / CSR

Washington, D.C. 202.380.3123

Chicago 312.628.1447

Portland, Oregon 503.223.3299

Metropolitan Group crafts strategic and creative services that empower social purpose organizations to build a just and sustainable world.

www.metgroup.com

Randi Hogan, CFRE Vice President 202.380.3114 [email protected]

Lindsay Nichols Director 202.380.3116 [email protected]

Technology

Marketing Land Trusts