Nela Kačmarčik-Maduna
Communicate Smarter

Can your communication reach, inspire, and engage people?

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Communicate Smarter: Ten possible reasons why communication fails and campaigns remain unseen

Many campaigns on rights, development, and sustainability never get the deserved visibility, publicity, and support. A good example is communication and advocacy for investing in human potential. Despite the consensus about the importance of investing in children, human potential, or a sustainable future, too many children still lack access to nurturing care.

Communication professionals in non-profit organizations dealing with this topic often struggle with their workload and lack of resources. Despite the fact that significant advocacy initiatives frequently require long-term consistency and trust-building, project logframes frequently limit campaigns.

This list is my attempt to summarize 25 years of experience in strategic communications, combined with formal and non-formal education in management, economics, and social and behavioral sciences. I am aware that complex questions cannot be answered with simple answers, but a checklist like this one can help remove obstacles for a good public advocacy campaign.

Is your target audience clearly defined?

Important topics and socially impactful campaigns often should be seen, understood and impactful for everyone. That is one of the biggest risk factors in communication. If the target audience can not relate to the campaign, the message will be invisible to them.

An average person receives thousands of calls-to-action, marketing prompts and media messages. Our brain is forced to make quick decisions, and often subconsciously, ignore most of it.

In your communication, when you define who you want to reach and what you want to achieve, it becomes much easier to formulate the messages, define tactics and strategies.

If you missed defining your target audience at the beginning, it’s better late than never to correct and prevent further frustrations and losses.

How can you prevent the risk of a campaign remaining unseen?

Create an avatar or persona: define one person and describe their characteristics, habits, values, preferences, and interests. For a campaign that is attempting to reach a wide audience (“everyone”), this means creating several personas and planning communication tools and channels for each of them.

How do you prioritize when you need to reach multiple target audiences? One method is power mapping—segmenting audiences by their importance and influence. For the audience segments with low power and low interest, the campaign organizers should limit the campaign resources, focusing on the audience segments with more power and more interest.

Lack of mutual understanding

Related to the previous point, it is easy to assume common sense when we express our thinking, logic, or demands. However, it is also wise to assume that common sense is not so common. This is valid for messaging, collaboration, and the management of communications equally. Lack of previous research on the interests, motifs, and knowledge of target audiences, as well as potential obstacles, may result in failed communication.

Confirmation bias (the tendency to notice, focus on, and give greater credence to evidence that fits with our existing beliefs) and status quo bias (preference for the current state of affairs, resulting in resistance to change) are well researched.

How can a campaign be kept from being ignored?

Establishing partnerships and confirming relevance for a topic with the target audiences will be the first step. Working jointly with the stakeholders is a great way to build trust and create mutual understanding.

Lack of trust and authority

Your attitude is something like, “I just want to work. I am a specialist, technical person, manager,… I am not interested in getting more attention. The importance of my work, topic, ide/mission will speak for itself.”

Unfortunately, many other campaigns that are less important, less ethical, or less socially responsible do not assume their ideas will “speak for themselves”. They communicate, promote, and know how to grab attention. Many others – ideas, businesses, organizations, and people who are not as creative as you are, not as important as your work is, not as socially or economically valuable as your work is – understand the importance of communication.

Especially in the era of an abundance of online opportunities to present, promote, and attract supporters and clients, your hesitance to participate can significantly limit your chances of getting what you are worthy of.

How do you attract media attention to an important topic?

Here are some ideas, and this list is not exhaustive.

  • The first step is to set the intention and clarify the purpose and vision of the initiative. That will ease communication and increase the chances of inspiring more supporters and partners.
  • Depending on the existing capacities, make sure that communication is considered an important part of the initiative. Do not wait to finish everything to start talking about your work.
  • Make sure to document your intention, goals, principles, and key messages. That way, it will be easier for all participants to stay on track.
  • Regularly remind everyone involved to share their experiences from the project with their friends, families, and neighbors. Make it easy with templates, suggestions, and recognition.
  • Plan communication experts, interns, and volunteers in your team, and, prior to that, do not forget resources for the production and distribution of contents.
  • Join the celebration of significant days relevant to your cause and establish and support partnerships.
  • Make your work and your team visible consistently on your own channels.
  • Finally, make sure the media can easily access information about your project and organization in case of interest in your initiative.

In the end, do not expect everyone to care about your organization, your project, or your results. Even if people in the media or celebrities care about your cause and want to support you, they may have other priorities at the moment when you request their attention.

Inconsistency in communication or messaging

From time to time, you get the inspiration and motivation to plan, prepare, and publish several social media posts. Once in a while, you get a media request for an interview, and from time to time, you decide to afford the professional PR/marketing/communication service of an agency or a consultant. Other than that, you put on your “invisibility cloak.”

This could work only if the invisibility cloak existed. The majority of nonprofits are visible even when they do not communicate; their message was somewhere between “I do not care for my audiences” and “I have more important things to do”. This also contributes to the previously mentioned lack of trust, authority, and understanding.

How do you improve the consistency of messages and stay on brand in a campaign?

Creating a set of key messages, including the versions adjusted for different audiences, tools, and channels A list of answers to the expected questions, taglines, and slogans is a good way to start compiling contents suitable for social media as well.

Detachment from Communication

If your organization relies solely on one person or one team to do all communication, this can be a missed opportunity. Similar to the previous point, the fact that an organization has many priorities and “more important things to do” cannot justify a neglect of another managerial responsibility: one to establish respectful and valuable relationships with the “external” world, including beneficiaries, donors, sponsors, neighbors, suppliers, partners, etc.

How do I find time, money, and other resources for communication?

(ChatGPT generated the following response, and I concur fully.)

Finding time, money, and resources for communication can be a challenge, but it’s essential for success. Here are some steps to help you secure what you need:

  • Prioritize Communication: Recognize the importance of effective communication in achieving your goals. When you understand its value, you’re more likely to allocate resources to it.
  • Set clear goals: define your communication goals. Knowing what you want to achieve helps you determine the resources required.
  • Budget for Communication: Include communication expenses in your budget. Allocate a specific amount for advertising, PR, or marketing.
  • Leverage free or low-cost tools: Use cost-effective communication tools and platforms. Social media, email marketing, and content creation can often be done on a budget.
  • Outsource or Collaborate: If resources are limited, consider outsourcing certain communication tasks or collaborating with partners or influencers. This can be more cost-effective than hiring full-time staff.
  • Time Management: Prioritize communication tasks in your schedule. Allocate time each day or week for activities like responding to emails, creating content, or engaging with your audience.
  • Automation: Use automation tools for repetitive tasks. Email marketing platforms, social media schedulers, and chatbots can save time and money.
  • Training and Skill Development: Invest in training for yourself or your team. Improved skills can lead to more efficient and effective communication.
  • Grants and Funding: Explore grants, scholarships, or funding opportunities specifically for communication initiatives. Nonprofits and research projects often have access to such resources.
  • Measure ROI: Regularly evaluate the return on investment (ROI) of your communication efforts. This data can help you justify ongoing resource allocation.
  • Networking: Build connections in your industry. Networking can lead to partnerships, sponsorships, or other opportunities that provide resources for communication.
  • Crowdsourcing: Consider involving your audience or community in content creation or idea generation. Crowdsourcing can be a valuable resource for content and engagement.
  • Repurpose Content: Get the most out of your content by repurposing it for different channels or purposes. This maximizes the value of your existing resources.
  • Grant Proposals: If you’re working on a larger project or initiative, explore grant opportunities or partnerships with organizations that align with your mission.
  • Volunteers and Interns: Nonprofits and small businesses can often benefit from volunteers or interns who are passionate about your cause and can help with communication efforts.

Remember that effective communication doesn’t always require substantial financial resources. Creativity, consistency, and strategic planning can go a long way in maximizing the impact of your communication efforts within your available resources.

Lack of authenticity and originality in communication

Do you often become aware of missed opportunities only when you see somebody else doing a campaign you like or if your “competitor” gets the publicity that you secretly wanted? Sometimes you think that anyone can do it, regretting that you didn’t think of it first. The fact is that a successful campaign requires months of planning, bigger budgets, or other prerequisites you may not be aware of. Of course, inspiration from successful examples should initiate better planning, but don’t forget that a simple replication could be counterproductive.

How do you coordinate key messages and communicate smarter?

The first step would be to start with a rough draft—maybe even using AI to generate it.

Next, adjust your style and tone of voice.

Finally, make sure to share the plan and key messages with everyone in the organization (or on your team).

Needless to say, encourage and empower your team to communicate, share, and engage in the campaign.

Competing priorities and attempts to communicate everything to everyone

Working on such important tasks in a “specific” market or society, it is easy to assume everyone should support you. Even if you do not see the rationale for defining the target audiences or specific focus in your messaging, competing priorities and biases will reduce the clarity and efficiency of your messaging. With so many people who should be concerned about your work, it can seem impossible to decide where to focus. Recognizing that “everyone” should hear about you and your work, project, objective/mission, with a lack of focus, the probability of reaching, inspiring, and engaging relevant audiences will be quite low. Trying to communicate with everybody about everything is the most expensive strategy.

How do you avoid comparison and fear of failure in communication?

Striving for perfection and making attempts to prevent mistakes in communication can be the most ineffective way to plan a communication strategy. Instead, iterative processes, testing, and continuous improvements will be a great way to incrementally improve communication and achieve impactful campaigns.

One-way communication

If you believe that the best use of social media is free placement of your messaging, you can probably expect only friends, team members, and partners to react and share your contents. At the same time, if you avoid actively asking for feedback, you may never be quite sure how well understood your content is. Treating social media as a free message board is another missed opportunity. If you are forgetting or neglecting the “social” of social media, you risk missing some important signs and signals that could connect you with your audiences. This does not necessarily mean that you can respond to everyone’s expectations; this doesn’t force you to satisfy everyone. This is just reinforcing the point about audience segmentation and focus.

How do you get feedback on a communication campaign?

Communication as a two-way process recognizes the value and importance of listening and understanding the feedback from the target audiences, as well as the obstacles to change and the “noise” in the communication cycle. In your communication strategy, you will be mindful of the necessary elements and the potential obstacles.

Focusing on risks and negative aspects of communication

Although having an impeccable reputation is your utmost important priority and you cannot risk getting into a media crisis, your organization may risk more opportunities by shifting its focus only on negative aspects of communications.

What can be done instead is proactive reputation and trust building, strategic networking, and partnerships.

What are the important indicators of effective communication?

While acknowledging the importance of good crisis communication planning, it is also critical to monitor the metrics that indicate its effectiveness. While “vanity metrics” such as impressions or the number of media placements or events can be a good start, the indicators illustrating engagement, support, or change are the real measure of communication success.

“Curse of knowledge” or professional arrogance

It is understandable that the experts may not always have the time or patience to explain complex terms and sophisticated knowledge to every single person in the audience. Similarly, if you see the value of publicity and communication, the audience will appreciate an additional communication step to bridge the knowledge and jargon gap. Indeed, not all audiences are worthy of investment in communication, but if you are clear about your priorities, focus, and objectives, an additional task to explain, simplify, and produce user-friendly communication will be required, especially if you hope to get support from these audiences.

How do you simplify language and explain complex topics?

A glossary of acronyms, abbreviations, and explanations of technical terms is always a good start in planning the communication strategy for a complex topic. Additionally, a consultative process with stakeholders and audiences (simply asking them if your communication is clear or listening to their questions and comments) will be of great help.

What can be done to improve the effectiveness and efficiency of communication?

I hope a checklist like this can help more people understand why sometimes non-profit campaigns contribute to feelings of helplessness, disappointment, and confusion. At least, thinking about these questions helps everyone to protect their mental health, which is challenged if people are faced with too many “awareness-raising” campaigns in which they do not recognize the relevance, clarity, or call-to-action.

Keep in mind that different people understand information differently. If you want a large and diverse group of people to understand and engage with your content or message, use several techniques in parallel. Combine storytelling, metaphors, analogies, illustrations, numbers, facts, and quotations.

What I practice with my clients is defining audience segments, not only by characteristics and demography but according to their interest and knowledge about the given topic. We plan different communication tactics, tools, and channels for those:

  • affected and interested
  • interested but not affected
  • not interested and not affected
  • supporters
  • advocates
  • active opponents, etc.

It is also possible to divide audiences based on their previous knowledge, interests, and motivations.