Air out your outreach approaches.
Campaign Refresh.
It’s a new year, and there’s a lot of stuff going on in the world, which means it’s a good time to wipe down, tidy up, dust off, and air out your behavior change strategy.
So far, we wiped down your behavior change goals, tidied up the target audience, and dusted off your key messages. We’re at the final step in fully refreshing your campaign: airing out your outreach approach.
First things first: What was your outreach mix last year?
In the previous post, we assessed the mix of key messages you shared with the audience. Now, we’ll look at the different ways (channels and formats) those messages were delivered to the audience.
Create a list of the active channels you used last year to share new content with your audience (as opposed to more passive ones like website pages that don’t get updated frequently).
This may include emails (newsletters, blog posts), YouTube videos, listserv posts, radio and podcast programming, social media, and more. For the social media channels, I recommend listing the specific platforms you used last year so you can assess how each one is performing.
Total tally: How many total channels did you use last year?
▢ 1-2
▢ 3-4
▢ 5-6
▢ 7+
Step 2: Assess how the year went.
Since we want to air out your outreach mix, it’s helpful to assess each individual approach to determine what needs adjusting for this year.
For each channel, ask:
▢ How many people are following your organization on the platform (# of email subscribers, listeners, followers, etc.)? Has this figure increased or decreased over the past year?
▢ How frequently are you able to post new content? (2 times a week, monthly, etc.).
▢ What type of content do you post on this channel? (carousels 60% of the time, videos 10%, static images 30%).
▢ Is audience engagement on this channel high, medium, low, or nonexistent?
▢ What is your level of effort for creating and sharing content on this channel? (very high, high, medium, medium-low, low).
It can be helpful to develop a grid or spreadsheet to track your responses for each channel. Once you build it, you can use it quarterly and annually to continually assess what’s working.
Step 3: Adapt and adjust for this year.
It’s our last dose of logic chain fun! Use your assessment above to determine whether your outreach approach needs a quick airing out in the sun (line dry) or needs an infusion of fresh air (ventilate).
Line Dry
If you have a good mix of outreach approaches that seem to be delivering key messages to your audience without burning out the team, then all you need is a brief line-dry refresh.
→ Make a plan to keep the outreach channel active. Aim to match the frequency of messages you shared last year. If capacity permits, you can set a goal to increase your activity on one or more channels.
→ Explore what new formats are emerging so you stay relevant. Content formats are constantly evolving; identify a few approaches that caught your attention recently and determine if they make a good fit for your channels.
→ See if you can deepen engagement on one of your channels. Followers increasingly crave belonging and community – is there an opportunity for you to use one of your more popular channels to build a closer connection?
Ventilate
You have a wide array of channels, but it’s not clear if all of them are delivering key messages to the right people (or you know some of them aren’t delivering).
→ Avoid over-indexing on a particular channel. If most of your outreach is happening on social media or through a single platform, it may be time to intentionally lean into a different channel or platform. This is a classic “too many eggs in one basket” example, so adding other channels can help vary the message.
→ Mix up the formats. You don’t have to give up a channel or platform you feel strongly about; instead, try to mix up the format. Instead of static posts on social media, play around with video or animation. Instead of newsletter formats, try a single-topic email.
→ Simplify your channels. We want to be in all the places all the time to reach the audience, but that can put a strain on limited resources. If you’re struggling to keep messages flowing to everyone, or you’re simply feeling exhausted by the process, then focus on 2-3 approaches you can dedicate time to.
Behind the scenes: A refresh exercise
Behind-the-scenes (BTS) videos are an outreach format that has grown popular in the past few years and continues to cut through the clutter. These videos are typically created by an employee who brings the audience into lesser-known areas of a company or organization to share what happens “behind the scenes.” (Here is an example that was recently written about: the Staples Queen).
These video formats are popular because they come directly from an employee, which feels real and authentic, and share a perspective that feels exclusive. This approach does not have to be done over video – you can use image carousels and stories (written or oral) to do something similar.
Consider this your challenge for the year: how can you give your audience a real-world, authentic, employee-driven sneak peek into the inner workings of your work?
Congrats! You have now successfully refreshed your campaign! I hope you are feeling reinvigorated and excited about the new ideas you will be implementing this year.