At Transcend Ideas, we had the privilege of collaborating with Forward Steps, a nonprofit organization based in Boulder, CO, that supports youth who have experienced foster care as they work toward completing their postsecondary education. Our partnership centered around a unique fundraising campaign: Climb Kilimanjaro, Elevate Scholars.
This inspiring initiative was spearheaded by Forward Steps’ Executive Director, Jennifer Falkoski, who trained and climbed to the summit of Mount Kilimanjaro, Africa’s tallest peak, to raise funds and awareness for the Guardian Scholars Program. This program provides the resources and community support that foster youth need to overcome barriers in higher education.
To amplify the campaign’s impact, Transcend Ideas crafted a multi-faceted strategy to tell the story of Jennifer’s journey and the critical mission behind it. Our work included:
(Video) ‘Training Diaries’: We edited Reels on Instagram of behind-the-scenes footage of Jennifer’s training, showcasing her dedication.
Educational Content: Data and insights about the challenges youth in foster care face in pursuing education.
Scholar Stories: Highlighting the experiences of current and former Guardian Scholars.
Custom Brochure: Print designed to engage potential donors and sponsors.
Email Newsletters: Bringing supporters along for the climb with real-time updates and storytelling.
Custom Landing Page: A dedicated webpage to provide donors and sponsors with a clear understanding of the campaign and how to support it.
Timely Blog Updates: Regularly updated blog posts that mirrored and reinforced the narrative of the campaign.
Gala Integration: Creating a cohesive narrative for the Annual Gala, which featured a mountain theme and celebrated the scholars’ achievements.
The campaign culminated in raising over $77,000 for Forward Steps, ensuring the Guardian Scholars Program can continue to elevate youth to new heights—just as Jennifer reached the summit of Kilimanjaro.
Old Bill’s Fun Run is a local philanthropic fundraising race in Jackson Hole that is quickly setting the standard for what community wellness can look like in rural areas. The mission of Old Bill’s is to highlight the critical work and increase funding to local non-profits. This includes funding to support public health, reach marginalized populations, and support emergency service work in Teton County. Bringing the community together over shared philanthropy creates stability in a mountain community that can often be in motion. Strategic messaging can bolster and increase the credibility of your non-profit mission. The Old Bill’s fundraiser and community race every Fall is the perfect platform for you to raise awareness and tell the story of your non-profit.
via Old Bill’s Fun Run
Old Bill’s Fun Run has poured funding into nonprofits in the community since 1997. Philanthropic events like Old Bill’s Fun Run center their mission around the community. Did you know that there are more than 200 non-profits that serve Teton County, WY! This community, like most all over the country, has its setbacks, challenges, and barriers. We also know that when we amplify non-profits they pour back into the community.
This guide will hopefully help you tackle a fundraising campaign, similar to Old Bill’s Fun Run. It can be a daunting task to stand out among the rest, but it is possible!
Preparing Your Marketing and Fundraising Campaign:
1. Target Market Audience
Who is your audience and where do they spend their time? Your donors may be a bit older and may not be a social media like your younger audience may like to spend their time. Plan to add targeted ads to your strategy for an impactful campaign and explore more platform like radio, newspaper, and digital ads on popular community websites.
2. Set a Clear Budget for Fundraising
There is a fine balance between making an impact with your ad spend versus unintentionally wasting marketing funds that could’ve been used strategically on other goals in your campaign. Having a clearly defined marketing budget, that includes an advertising budget for print and digital media, will help your organization to move more efficiently through the length of your marketing campaign.
3. Get Real and Tell the Story
Tell your impact story in the campaign. A non-profit’s mission is only as effective as the lives that it elevates. Empowering people and enriching the lives of the locals who serve a community is the goal of any non-profit. It becomes critical to make your brand story authentic and believable with your marketing to build trust with viewers.
Building a strong narrative that is supported by high-quality imagery, testimonials, consistent brand identity, compelling storytelling, and messaging lends itself to an authentic and honest story. If you can pierce your audience emotionally with the impact you are creating for real people – you can fund the mission of a non-profit servicing Teton County.
4. Pacing Your Campaign
Prepare your media and scheduling (for the most optimal time) can be a critical part of your campaign visibility. Do you have a plan for preparing, organizing, and scheduling the media for your campaign? Whether you are utilizing supportive graphics, photos or videos, having them prepared and ready to go will help keep the rhythm of your campaign steady and consistent.
Rising Together with Strategic Fundraising Campaigns
Intentional preparation and attending to the 4 key steps listed above can help your campaign run successfully. We rise together by funding service industry work and supporting every non-profit’s success. Consider donating to support the livelihood of the individual stories that hold up the economy in Jackson Hole. Together, we can make a difference!
How are you doing managing the stresses in your life and with maintaining compassion? There are 3 key indicators for you to do a self-assessment to see where you reside on your empathy health, also called the 3 A’s of Compassion Fatigue. The ABCs of Compassion Fatigue are Awareness, Balance, and Connection.
Non-profit and service-industry work is exhilarating when you feel like you are making a tangible difference in your community. Compassion fatigue results when there is a loss in your ability to nurture effectively when catering to others’ physical and emotional pain. Often, the demands of service-oriented industries can take a hit on our energy levels and the risk of burnout is real. Executive Directors and limited staff members have to wear the hat of many different roles in an organization and run on limited funds and time to make critical services available. The work is meaningful but the pressure can be intense if not effectively managed. If the distinction between another person and yourself becomes blurred and the emotional pain of the other is taken on as one’s own, you could be at risk for fatigue. If not effectively managed, compassion fatigue can have negative physical, mental, and emotional repercussions.
Many service providers and caretakers don’t realize when they are facing compassion fatigue. The condition can be surrounded by feelings of helplessness and powerlessness with patients or family, reduced feelings of empathy and sensitivity, feeling overwhelmed and exhausted by work demands, feeling detached or numb, and loss of interest in activities you used to enjoy.
Do You Know How to Manage Compassion Fatigue?
Compassion fatigue affects everyone. The trick is finding a meaningful way to anticipate and work with the fatigue that will enhance your ability to combat it. We’re here to bring awareness to the most important step in any position is to take care of yourself. To heal the healer reinforces the fortitude needed to get back to the demands of work by incorporating the ABC’s of compassion fatigue: Awareness, Balance, and Connection into our regular routines.
Awareness
Building awareness of and taking action is the first step needed when recentering yourself in responsibilities. Your ability to attune to when you are out of sync is key to knowing when to take action and make a needed change. Your awareness skills will grow the more you recognize when your compassion is waning thin. ****Take a moment to step back and breathe. In. Out. In. Out. Is there any tension in your body? Taking intentional moments throughout your work day, on days off, or when with others – take your minds off of the demands and find where sources of stress may lie; whether they be physically with tension throughout your body or mentally with distractions and disruptive thoughts and get curious with the sources of stress.
Balance
Is your day a never-ending list of demands? Effective planning can help you find a balance between what can stay and what needs to go from your priorities in a day. Write out a list of everything that requires your presence in a day and write a secondary list alongside this to how you will ‘balance’ out the responsibilities on your plate to stay grounded through your every day. Finding balance can be as simple as stepping outside in the middle of your work day and taking a moment to be present with beautiful surroundings.
Connection
Isolation has started to dominate our existence in the past few years. From the pandemic to streaming subscriptions, it has become more convenient to enjoy the comforts of home. Rather than venturing out and forging meaningful connections with people in your community, people often opt out. The discomfort it takes to find a routine outside of your home is well worth the relationships you gain. There are so many people to meet with different backgrounds and views on the world. Even from the comforts of home, we often remain disconnected and distracted. Spending meaningful time with the ones we love is where we can find the most empowering healing.
Live Empowered in Your Compassionate Roles
Keep the 3 ABC’s of Compassion Fatigue front of mind as we roll into the busy summer months. Remember to fosterawareness, find balance, and build connections in your life to stay above overwhelm. Your ability to find a manageable pace of working with stressors will impact how you show up in your community. Sharing the tools to combat compassion fatigue will help us build more resilient communities and empower our non-profits to thrive!
Need an effective management plan for your non-profit marketing? Transcend Ideas would love to support your organization. Let’s get coffee and discuss the compassionate messaging goals for your organization.
Fundraising for nonprofits is exciting when the money is rolling in, but more often than not, it can feel like a tireless and thankless job. To aid the campaign process, we appreciate the content that Donorbox, a fundraising platform, presented in a recent webinar, helping to simplify the steps for nonprofit employees to regain joy in community work.
Send Tax Donation Receipts
The end of the year often ends in a blur of business tasking to wrap up the quarter’s work. One crucial addition to that list is remembering to send tax donation receipts. Remember a short thank you note, as well, to every donor who supported your organization via mail or email goes a very long way.
Goal Setting for Your Non-Profit
Non-profit work can feel like it pulls your attention and time in a hundred different places. Goal-setting can help determine the direction and impact you hope to make. Does your organization tune everything back to the mission statement?
Here are some goal related questions you should be asking:
What kind of impact does your organization hope to make?
Are you working on a small scale or large scale?
Do you hope to increase donor retention or start generating donations this year?
After determining the organization’s goals, the types of fundraising needed and the tactics to be used will become apparent. This can help save time in the long-run as you can make decisions clearly and efficiently regarding budgets and tasking. Outline a budget and financial items that need to be accomplished within a given timeframe and follow through with delegating tasks to volunteers or board members of your non-profit to find the success you are looking for.
Organizational Goal Planning For Non-Profit
Fundraising
There are a variety of ways that a non-profit can receive funding. Fundraising tactics include peer-to-peer, crowdfunding, events, corporate donations, and more. Always keep track of all the moving parts when running non-profit operations and managing donation money. Start with what are the steps when dealing with fundraising for a non-profit.
Donorbox has 5 key steps they call the 5 A’s of Ask: attract, ask, acknowledge, account, again.
It’s important to put effort into attracting donors, but equally crucial to continually seek donations, publicly acknowledge donors, account for funds in financial records, and consistently maintain these practices to nurture meaningful donor relationships.
In your fundraising efforts, creating fundraising goals that are SMART (specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-bound) helps to focus on real ways planning can make a difference with your organization. These smart goals can also be called KPIs or key performance indicators. KPI’s are quantitative measurements of donor retention, average money raised from a donor, monthly donors, new donors, etc.
Communication Touch Points With Donors
Fundraising Trends:
Maintaining a positive relationship with donors is crucial for maximizing your non-profit’s impact. Achieve this by consistently demonstrating the value your organization offers in stewardship and the lives it impacts. This will attract more individuals whose personal values align with your mission.
Some of the trends that are emerging in the non-profit fundraising world include a focus on donor trust and experience. CharityWater had a brilliant idea to use VR headsets to allow donors to be immersed in a virtual reality showing African women walking buckets of water to the river and back, showcasing what the value a monetary donation would hold.
As we delve into a new generation of digital technology, using AI for fundraising will prove to be a smart pivot in your organization strategy. Other smart trends include cashless giving, alternative currencies, and experience-based fundraising.
Community Fundraisers in Jackson Hole
Locally in the Jackson Hole region, there are two events that bring non-profit fundraising to the next level with community engagement and involvement that makes for memorable experiences.
Transcend Ideas is a proud challenger of The Tin Cup Challenge, a local philanthropic fundraising event in Teton Valley, Idaho. Join us on July 20, 2024 to participate in the local fun run and donate to a favorite community non-profit!
The Community Foundation of Teton Valley works to elevate lives through the power of generosity by championing the nonprofit sector, empowering donors, promoting a culture of giving, and serving as a catalyst in addressing critical community needs. The Tin Cup Challenge is a proud sponsor of community programming by sponsoring matching donations from local businesses, giving grant awards, leadership training, and more.
We also proudly support Old Bill’s Fun Run, another community and philanthropic race event in Jackson Hole, Wyoming. Old Bill’s is one of the most successful fundraisers in the nation. The race brings the community of Jackson together over a shared goal of altruism. Kindness for others and community and a singular drive to make a difference. Since Old Bill’s has started, it has brought more than $256 million dollars to Jackson.
We hope you’ll join us on September 7, 2024 as we’ll be out supporting this event that celebrates the local nonprofits that support our community!
Thank you for reading our summary of the great content put out by Donorbox! Can Transcend Ideas support your work to increase your non-profit fundraising and strategy? We’d love to support your work and enhance your digital marketing strategy.
The most effective marketing campaign is one that builds awareness on issues. They can evoke a thought, a pause, a consideration, an emotion, an action, a changed behavior, and at times all of those things over time. Learn how you can start building awareness with marketing. There are many tactics to make an awareness campaigns stick, here are some great examples:
In summary that this blog post covers:
Catch Phrase
Evoke Emotion with Bold Imagery/Design
Consistency
Educate and Inform
Influencers
Normalize Issues
1. Catch Phrase
A successful catch phrase will stick with the audience. Something short and sweet and easier to remember is key.
“Only you can prevent forest fires” from Smokey the Bear to build the awareness around what you can do to prevent forest fires.
What makes a catch phrase work:
Short and easy to remember/recall
Direct
Actionable (clear call-to-action)
“Only You Can Prevent Forest Fires” – Smokie the Bear
2. Evoke Emotion with Bold Imagery/ Design
When your audience evokes an emotion it leaves a lasting mark on their heart. Shock and abrupt imagery does get your attention and discomfort comes up.
When imagery stands out and colors are bold, that’s a great ingredient to a memorable campaign.
The plastic straws (single-use plastic) campaign
Quit cigarette smoking
Gun reform in America
“Plastic Straw Problem” – Green Peace
“Every cigarette rots you from the inside out.” – Search ‘ Smokefree’ for free quitting support
3. Consistency
Consistent is key. When you see and hear this message consistently it stays with you. You can even recall the slogan years later – that’s good and effective marketing tactic.
“This is your brain. (egg)
This is drugs. (frying pan)
This is your brain on drugs.” (fried egg in the pan)
“This is your brain on drugs” – Partnership for a Drug-Free America
4. Educate & Inform
When you offer up education to the public you are empowering them with information so they can discover what they need to do or not to do based on this new information. When a campaign lays out the desired behavior and the reason why it’s important to change it – that’s an effect campaign.
PlayCleanGo – Clean off your gear, clothes, dog to help the spread of invasive species
No Poop Fairy – Clean up after your dog and directly impact our waterways
PlayCleanGo – What are invasive species?
5. Influencers
The very definition of “influencers” are those that influence others. Many public figures (singers, actors, television personalities) know their influence on others and want to use their persuasion to promote campaigns they care about.
This is no difference today with influencers you see promoting products on social media. You may also see them share their opinion on social issues like reproductive rights, the climate crisis, etc. Building awareness with marketing is what they think about full-time in how they present themselves, how they talk, and the products they promote.
“Don’t listen to rumors about AIDS. Get the facts!” – American Red Cross
Logic’s song “1-800-273-8255” the Suicide Prevention hotline with a story about suicide ideation and asking for the help they need
6. Normalize Issues
Over the years there are many issues that are being normalized to lift stigma. When discussions are brought to the surface that many face in our society they begin to breakdown and remove the shame and stigma surrounding them. More than ever before examples of this happening now more than ever before;
Mental health
Pronouns (she/her | him/his | they/them)
Gender Identity – education of what it is and is not
This was a privilege to work on this campaign. The women in Iran are rising up and protesting all the country and the world. This campaign is meant to build awareness of the fight for freedom of women, including those that identify as women.
Ask yourself “What would I like to evoke in my next campaign?” Consider pulling in inspiration from past campaigns that have been effective, perhaps you have a personal experience with them yourself, look into campaigns that align with your brand or have some similar audiences. I personally like working with Pinterest to pull in inspiration.
Do you need help building awareness with marketing? Contact Transcend Ideas to learn how we can help you build awareness around your messaging!
Are you looking to have a more efficient workflow? Well, so are we! Having a one-stop shop like Canva is a lifesaver. We have all been there; there are many photos, videos, logos, and colors to work from. Canva allows you to craft the kind of professionalism that you want to see throughout your marketing. Canva saves the day again! Here is another geek-out over how great Canva is. Yeah, we are sold.
Canva has AI technology to help you get things done efficiently. Follow along and see what it has in store, and consider utilizing it or at least giving it a spin and seeing if it suits your business.
Navigate to Canva AI apps mentioned in this article by visiting Canva.com(duh), choose a Template or a Project, click into Apps (grid icon), and search for the following Apps below that may help your business.
Top 8 Canva AI Apps
1. Bulk Create
Bulk Create has its own blog post here we’ve written on previously because of how much we love it. Generate dozens of social media posts within minutes with the power of ChatGPT and Canva AI and Canva templates.
2. Text to image
Allows users to generate photos/components with just text to use on canva templates. The different filter styles create a drastically different image, cartoon styles/emo/minimalistic, and more.)
3. Magic Eraser
Operates just like the Magic Lasso tool to erase in Photoshop – This is within the image editor to help remove a distracting element. Select this tool within a template, edit the photo, and select Magic Eraser from the options.
4. Magic Edit
Replace a specific element on an image with something new. This only works on actual images, not branded material. Select your image. Right-click, set an image as the background. Click edit photo. Click Magic Edit (Beta). Select your brush size, and brush over what item you’d like to replace in the image, type what to replace the item with. Choose the AI-generated options it comes up with.
5. Magic Design
Magic Design is currently in the Beta version, but still available for use. Users can access it from the main templates search on Canva. Upload a photo and tell it a prompt for the template style you need. It will generate a list of potential templates you can use with your content. (The placement will be slightly off, you can click into the template and make adjustments on the one you choose. Like uploading a palm tree picture and saying I need a set of minimalistic templates with ocean color palettes, etc.)
6. Magic Write
This AI tool to come up with content quickly for social posts, etc. with a simple prompt.
7. Translate
Canva app, Translate your content to another language. This is a great option for quick short form writing when you need to generate items both in Spanish and English for a classroom, government agency, and more.
Chrome Extensions using Canva AI Apps
Canva Automate Maker
Similar to Bulk Create, Canva Automate Maker is great for print-on-demand products found on e-commerce sites like Amazon, Shopify, Redbubble, etc.
We hope this article helps you to get inspired and explore some of the AI capabilities that are available on Canva. Do you have a marketing project that you’d like to utilize Canva AI Apps on? Transcend Ideas would love to help you work through the strategy to figure out what would best suit the needs of your business size and audience to reach the goals of your small business.Contact our team today!
Non-profits ignite transformation in our communities. From championing and overcoming food insecurity and poverty to resolving inequality, protecting women’s and minority rights, to creating endless innovative solutions to help curtail these and other social problems that isolate our communities and us from each other. How does storytelling play a pivotal piece in the puzzle of social issues?
Complex problems require a lot of resources and a lot of brainpower to overcome. How is it possible to create enough of a wave of excitement to generate action from viewers or your community? How do you pierce someone emotionally to the point where they feel they have to support your brand by volunteering or donating to your cause?
Storytelling. The power of the underdog and the tale-as-old-as-time triumph of the Cinderella story is what motivates viewers to send money your way. If they connect with your brand emotionally – you could have a recurring donor long-term. If you can replicate this type of reaction on a large scale, you could have the funding to make a difference with your organization.
Here are a Few Tips for Effective Storytelling with your Non-profit
Build a community
Building a community that everyone relates to requires empathy, curiosity, research, and patience. Take the time to lean into what the true goals of your nonprofit are and find a consistent way to share this message in a way that will rally others to join your cause.
Start a Conversation
Why should people be passionate about your organization? What is the problem? Can you back up your position with statistics and numbers? These are all questions you have to approach as you look at your non-profit marketing plan. Take to social media and introduce people to the social problem your non-profit is approaching and ask them their thoughts. Conversations get people curious. Starting a conversation in an interesting and creative way is a great way to get peak engagement.
Stay Curious and Strengthen Your Non-profit Messaging
Gather the Stories and Impact of Your Organization on a Blog
Gathering resources, funding, and volunteers is no small task. A great way to maintain a consistent stream of content that reaches the public and aligns with your brand values is to create blog content. Your blog can empower viewers to stand up and take action with you. How do you write in a way that moves people? Blogging is a powerful way to bring new eyes to your website and introduce your mission consistently. Google website crawlers are constantly looking over your site for new content that can be indexed. Do you have the chops to cut through with a message that resonates?
Hit their Pain Points
Make me feel something. That’s what every internet and social media user is looking for in less than 10 seconds. How do you relate to and make someone feel involved with your mission so quickly?
Polish your Writing Tone
Find ways to use messaging in a succinct way that hits on the base instincts of self-preservation and security, creating connections, generating social change, and harnessing creativity. Utilizing these types of call-to-action messages will be most effective in getting the engagement and attention you need.
Tell the Truth
Nothing makes an impact quite like a true story. Whether it be a testimonial from someone who benefitted from your organization or a harrowing story that encourages viewers to stand up and take action. Always protect the privacy of those you receive stories from and be mindful of how to use their stories to enlist help and create an impact with your non-profits.
According to Non-profit Source, non-profits that effectively use storytelling in their fundraising efforts have a donor retention rate of 45% compared to 27% for organizations that do not focus on storytelling. Storytelling fosters a stronger emotional connection with donors and encourages them to stay committed to the cause.
Effective and powerful storytelling, additionally, brings increased donor retention, higher fundraising success, greater engagement on social media, enhanced volunteer participation, improved email response rates, building trust and transparency, humanizing the organization, and more.
Non-Profit Tech for Good Resources
Non-Profit Tech for Good is one of our favorite resources for learning about the best tools for non-profits. These help make a big difference with their webinar series. These tools and organization tips allow your non-profit message to penetrate through the distracting messages of other organizations. These same organizations are vying for the time, attention, and money of other potential donors.
Non-profit messaging appeals to the compassionate nature of our communities. Taking the time to dig deep and harness the message you want to send out to the community will come back to your nonprofit in leaps and bounds. We hope we’ve shared some ideas on how you can make some small adjustments to your nonprofit to make a big impact in attracting others to your cause.
Transcend Ideas is passionate about supporting our local non-profits. Let’s get coffee and discuss how we can promote your mission in an effective and engaging way!
This is a geek out blog post about Canva. If you haven’t guessed, I love the platform and what they provide businesses. Their platform continues to amaze me and what you can do with it. How may I count the ways.. I love you, Canva!
SVG Magic in Branding Your Business
DeLacy Tea Company – SVG rosehips
Let’s begin with SVGs, which stands for: Scalable Vector Graphics. This handy-dandy format allows for your vector files to be colorized before your eyes. That’s right. Exactly how you can pull an element from Canva and change out a color to your liking? I recently designed something for Mariel’s DeLacy Tea Company. Delacy Tea Company wanted to utilize the rosehips element on different tea labels. Each label needing to be a different color, so making a couple of elements she can then colorize in Canva was huge! An important tip for Illustrator/vector designers: make sure the vector is completely closed so the element can be colorized effectively in Canva. For this sample of their rosehips (right), I had the lines in the leaves transparent and not white so that the rosy color or any color of their choosing can stand out on a contrasting background.
There are some smaller businesses that need to be able to “play” with their logo and with this versatility it allows for a business owner to take it upon themselves to make necessary changes on their own.
From now on, when I package my client’s graphics and hand them over, SVGs will be on that checklist of elements that are an absolute must. Exporting elements for your clients that can be the most useful allows them to move freely in their brand without constraints. All too often clients have shared stories where they are left hopeless with ownership over their own logo files, domain names, hosting for their website, access to their social media platforms, etc. All forthcoming topics I will happily share in our blog.
Some Canva templates provided for marketing campaigns:
Happy Holidays from JH Fire/EMSPeople Spread Love Old Bill’s Fun Run (Insta Square)TCWP Spray Days (Email Newsletter header)People Spread Love Old Bill’s Fun Run (Insta Square)
Bravo goes back to Canva, an Australia-women owned business. Canva has revolutionized graphic design for so many ambitious dreamers. Now design is accessible to anyone that wants to build a business with the help of their design platform. I couldn’t be more excited to recommend them to anyone who works in design or wants to dabble in it.
Canva Custom Template Offerings
$837.00Original price was: $837.00.$669.60Current price is: $669.60.
I knew Empathy was a trait that helped better more relationships in all aspects of life. I’ve seen the difference it makes in mine. When the pandemic hit in 2020-21 I felt disconnection and I needed a periodic check-in with my team. A “how are you?” rather than diving right into work stuff became critical. I personally wanted my colleagues to care about me as I cared for them and their well-being.
Forbes recognizes the positive impact of empathy on innovation and retention. Studies show that empathetic leaders create engaged and productive teams. By considering others’ thoughts and feelings, leaders can connect on a deeper level, foster trust, and inspire empathy in return. This leads to a more compassionate and successful work environment.
“Leaders don’t have to be experts in mental health in order to demonstrate they care and are paying attention. It’s enough to check in, ask questions and take cues from the employee about how much they want to share.”
Stress is a pervasive state and data suggests it is an affect by the pandemic and the ways our lives have been turned upside down.*
Empathy by the Numbers
42% of people have experienced a decline in mental health
67% of people are experiencing increases in stress while 57% have increased anxiety, and 54% are emotionally exhausted, 53% of people are sad, 50% are irritable, 28% are having trouble concentrating, 20% are taking longer to finish tasks, 15% are having trouble thinking and 20% are challenging to juggle their responsibilities
61% of employees reported with empathy leaders were able to be innovative, compared to 13% of employees with less empathic leaders
76% of people who experienced empathy from their leaders reported they were engaged, compared to 32% who experienced less empathy
57% of white women and 62% of women of color said they were unlikely to think of leaving their companies when they felt their life circumstances were respected and valued by their companies
As a leader in the community I know how important it is to engage in empathy. From the receiving end it feels good to be seen and heard. On a Board of Directors we engage in similar behavior with a check-in before we begin to discuss anything on the agenda. If any of us are feeling low or drained, the camera doesn’t need to be on when we meet virtually and if they need to leave early we honor that with understanding and compassion for one another.
I’m a cheerleader for empathy marketing. When we engage with our audience in a way that they need and want, you are likely to be more engaged with us.
It’s clear that empathy should be a trait intertwined with leadership. It starts with caring about your team, and your community.
Cognitive empathy – Consider someone elses’ thoughts (“If I were in his/her position, what would I be thinking right now?”)
Emotional empathy – Consider someone elses’ feelings (“Being in his/her position would make me feel ___”)
Empathy is the most important leadership skill because it enables leaders to connect with their team members on a deeper level. Strong leaders understand and share the feelings and perspectives of their employees. They can make more informed decisions and create a supportive work environment. By demonstrating empathy, leaders foster trust, enhance collaboration, and inspire loyalty among their team. Ultimately, this drives higher levels of productivity and success.
Short-form video dominates with the Gen Z crowd. From dance-off competitions to popular music covers, and now how users discover products and services. What’s the best way to step into this trend? Can it work for your small business? Short-form videos prove to work for marketing many businesses.
What is a Short-Form Video?
Short-form video is being used across a variety of platforms. It all began with TikTok and spread quickly to Instagram (Reels) and YouTube (Shorts). User-friendly with a low barrier to entry and engagement, short-form video showcases instant and short videos that give a snapshot into the creator’s life. This teen-savvy engagement opportunity may be the golden ticket for your small business ‘word of mouth’ promotion. Tap into your preferred audience and tell your story on this new platform. Small business owners can give potential customers a look behind the scenes at operations, a day in the life of product design or food creation, and interview customers that are raving about their products and why. The opportunities are endless to catch a user’s eye and potentially make a repeat customer.
Short-form provides a “short” between a 30 – 60 seconds in duration. With those parameters, you have to get creative and concise with what you are sharing. You’ve seen it, text overlaying the video/photos of step-by-step directions on how to make the best frittata, a trending dance move, or a quickened-paced story to tell a story, make a point, or share a laugh. It’s an entertaining way to capture your younger audience. Still, images are not always going to be cut to capture the younger demographic.
Short Form Video – Right for Your Business?
Short-Form Video and Small Business
Still skeptical about how short-form video could work for your business? According to USA Today, 81% of users use short-form video clips. This type of engaging content, utilized across all social media platforms, helps users discover new products and brands. This shows just one example of a short-form video being a marketing professional’s dream. This type of exposure is critical for small businesses that want to tap into and influence specific demographics that are looking for the content you have to offer.
With the onslaught of content available with short-form videos and reels on social media, find what items are providing the most hits in search results. By doing this, you can cater your marketing to those items. If you are targeting a certain age group, you can discover trending audio/music clips and tack them onto those trends to capture your audience. There is a low cost for starting ads on Instagram, Facebook, and Youtube, as well. They can be catered to your location, a perfect solution for the young crowd that constantly surfs the web looking for something new and interesting to try out.
Are Short-Form Videos Right For Your Business?
I always want to insert the skeptic into trends. Ask yourself: does short-form video suit my business? There are downsides to jumping in feet first with just about any new trend. Much of what short-form video drains time and energy from running your business. If you are small enough and curious about specific trends like this one, consider recruiting help in this department like a social media marketing expert.
Watch some videos that your competitors and allies are threading together. Observe for yourself if this is the platform/method for your business. Also, remember that followers and/or likes don’t equal sales/revenue stream. However, some of the most successful videos are informing, educating, and entertaining. Viral videos follow similar formulas to grab attention and evoke an emotional response that does spark more interest that generates more clicks, more followers, and more shares.
When using new techniques, you want to align with your messaging, stay consistent and sustain the activity. I say, stay curious, try it, and see if you like it and if it aligns with your vision for your business.
Conclusion
In summary, short-form videos can help small businesses increase engagement, promote their products or services, increase brand awareness, and create a connection with their customers.
Overall, the mystery behind the short-form video trend is starting to fade. This type of engagement is here to stay and continues to influence consumer behavior every day. Keep in mind those that will do business with you will come through trust they have in your expertise. Trust can be built in many ways and that doesn’t necessary mean short-form video but it sure draws more eyes to your content and that’s not a bad thing.
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Contact Transcend Ideas today to discuss how we can make short-form video work for you!
Heather Rodgers is the newest member to the Transcend Ideas team! She will offer support with her design and copywriting skills. She shares a little… Read more: Meet Heather Rodgers
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