ABCs of Mission-Driven Marketing: U-Z

ABCs of Mission-Driven Marketing: U-Z

February 18, 2020

Welcome back to our final installment of The ABCs of Mission Driven* Marketing. We hope you enjoyed the education!

Still have questions? Drop us a line and we’ll be more than happy to serve as your friendly marketing and communications translation team!

*For the purposes of this blog, we use the terms mission-driven organization, social enterprise and nonprofit organization interchangeably. There are important structural differences between them, but all are characterized by a commitment to social good.

User-Generated Content (UGC)

User-generated content is exactly what its name implies: online content generated by users! UGC can be text, video, images or audio and can be utilized across various media and initiatives. UGC tends to be more popular on social media channels, so we work with clients often to encourage customers, fans and followers to create their own content and tag our clients’ pages in the content. We can later repurpose or share this content on their social media channels and showcase that we are engaging in a two-way relationship with customers, fans, followers, etc.

Viral Video

Charlie Bit My Finger. Leave Britney Alone. The Ice Bucket Challenge. What do these all have in common other than being iconic moments in pop culture? They’re viral videos! While we would be elated if each and every one of the posts or videos we created for clients went “viral,” know that virality doesn’t always mean results or goals are being achieved. In fact, most marketers will roll their eyes if you ask how to make something go “viral.”

Wire Service

Ever heard a PR professional mention “the wire?” If so, they’re referencing wire services where press releases can be posted (for a not-so-small fee) and then distributed to various local, regional, national and trade outlets. While decades ago, most media members found their sources thanks to subscriptions to various wire services, we now rarely find that media reaches out to us in response to press releases posted on a wire service. Rather, utilizing a service like BusinessWire, PRNewsWire, etc. can be a fantastic way to quickly bolster search results and improve SEO value.

UX

You are most likely to run into this term when working with designers or developers. UX stands for user experience and represents exactly that. UX designers and/or developers are focused on ensuring that the end user (or customer or donor) has a seamless or great experience across your digital platforms and collateral.

Is your website easy to use? Does it captivate users’ attention and make clear where and how they can find information, sign up/buy/donate? This is solid UX. Alternatively, have you ever utilized an app or website and found that you were constantly being rerouted to new forms or pages? You were likely frustrated and that’s because the UX was sloppy.

YouTube

Did you know that YouTube is the second largest search engine just behind Google?! This shouldn’t come as a major surprise considering video is becoming increasingly popular and consumers’ attention spans are shrinking by the minute.

While YouTube is technically a video creation and viewing platform, it is and can be an effective tool for businesses or individuals who have great stories, advice, tips/instructions or messages to share. This is especially true now that Google scans and indexes based on imagery and not just copy. If you aren’t on YouTube, it may be time to consider making the jump!

Gen Z

Following the once famous millennials, and born from Gen X’ers, Gen Z constitutes those born between the mid- to late-90s and 2010s. Gen Z is the most ethnically and racially diverse generation to date and, as you’ve likely noticed, the most socially and technologically savvy, as well. Given that this generation grew up with cell phones and social media networks in their back pockets, how we engage with and market to them will and should look different!

Hungry for more? Check out the rest of our Brain Food blog posts here.