Four Steps to Brand Success for Social Good

By Jennifer Gregoire
Fact: Organizations that market themselves well are stronger, smarter and significantly more effective at accomplishing their goals.

After 18 years of working with social good and corporate organizations, I have seen first-hand the impact that investing in strategic marketing and branding can have on an organization’s success and that of its mission.

Ultimately, the value of marketing creates a powerful trickle-down effect, helping you communicate with your most important audiences: sponsors, donors, staff and volunteers. Crystalizing messaging about what is most important and unique to your organization could help land major supporters. Similarly, by publicizing your work and celebrating your successes, an organization will ultimately achieve greater awareness among competitors and target audiences—all affecting the bottom line.

Committing resources and rigor to the overall process can make all the difference in the world for your organization and its cause. Below are four steps for creating a successful brand and marketing plan that will take your organization to new heights:

1. 

   Define your unique value proposition (UVP). Identify your organization’s UVP by auditing its history, opportunities and challenges. Many organizations have an inimitable resource that sets them apart and defines who they are. Whether that is a signature event, program series or distinct tool, your key differentiator plays an important role in your marketing plan and business operations. Find a way to balance your UVP without it overpowering the rest of your organization’s assets, and that will help enhance your brand.  For example, Orbis has become much more than just a “hospital with wings.” We feature the Orbis Flying Eye Hospital, a fully equipped mobile teaching hospital, alongside our other assets, as a truly unique asset of our organization.

2. Develop your brand essence. A brand is more than just a new logo: it is the voice an organization uses to tell its stories. By more clearly articulating your assets and target audiences, you will hone what makes your organization special and create your brand essence. This essence will be reflected in your mission statement, website, positioning statement, logo and tagline.

3. Bring the brand to life. Once you have established a new brand essence, a strategic marketing plan will create a roadmap to bring these elements to life. Utilize the PESO model, which includes paid, earned, social and owned media to market your efforts, highlighting solutions and results to engage with key audiences. The goal is to create a dialogue between your organization, its target audiences and important influencers through a variety of channels—whether advertising, publicity, social media or content.

4. Create a culture that values marketing. As you work hard to create a new brand and marketing campaign, make sure your employees are educated on the benefits of successful marketing and that you have internal engagement—your organization should lead by example. The next step is to be recognized for your brand achievements. For social good organizations, third-party credibility can help win new sponsors, donors and life-long supporters. In addition to public relations, receiving awards validates and endorses not only the mission, but the organization itself. Awards that tout your organization are just as important as those related to your mission, because winning awards positions your company as a thought leader and go-to-model for success.

Marketing, branding and communications are important for any organization, but for a social good organization they can be a game-changer. Regardless of where you are tracking in your marketing trajectory, having a strong marketing plan will help take your organization and its mission to new heights.

Jennifer Gregoire is chief marketing officer at Orbis International, a nonprofit organization that works to prevent and treat blindness.