The Pentera Blog
Is Your Marketing Tugging at the Right Heartstrings?
Your planned-giving marketing materials can be wonderful educational and motivational tools. They can provide potential donors with important tax updates, target specific audiences by life stage, and reflect your unique mission. But are your materials tugging at the right heartstrings?
It's important to customize your materials 100% by using your own photos and edits so that they truly resonate with your readers. But your planned-giving newsletters and postcards should be more than just eye-catching, written for an educated audience, and mission-based. They should also be tailored to reflect the realities of the readers' daily lives and speak to what they care about most.
Some 76% of the U.S. population who are over age 50 are grandparents. And what do grandparents love more than anything else? Their grandchildren! Focusing on this special relationship (which is a significant part of your donors' identity) will bring your materials to life.
You will want to include photos of grandparents with grandchildren in your print materials and also on your planned-giving Web site to visually represent the role your donors hold so dear. You will also want to use articles that mention not heirs but grandchildren to paint a picture that resonates with your readers.
Ultimately, by stepping into the shoes of your potential donors and exploring what they love and cherish, you will do more than tug at their heartstrings. You will inspire them to take action and leave a legacy with your organization–a legacy that will make their family, loved ones, and grandchildren proud.
Here are some tips from my presentation, "7 Secrets to Integrated Marketing Success":
- Do not use the word "senior" in marketing
- Do not use the word "retired" until after 75 years
- Do use the word "grandparent"
- Definitely use the word "grandchildren"
- Speak to the values they will pass on to children and grandchildren by making a gift
For more valuable planned giving marketing ideas, contact Pentera at info@pentera.com, 317-875-0910 x251, or visit our Web site at www.pentera.com.
