Ever wonder why sometimes it feels so hard to deliver a message to others? Let’s say you’re doing a campaign, and you felt that you have given your best for this project. You’ve researched the segmentation and other homework, but the data won’t seem to match. It just won’t click.

Well mates, turns out communication isn’t so simple after all. There has to be an appropriate method and approach for it to be successful. There has to be a strategy.

As stated by Simon Sibarani, Senior Manager at Ogilvy when being a speaker at Communication Department, BINUS University Webinar about “Communication Campaign”, it is a written statement that outlines what is it you want to achieve. And yes, you to be detailed.

There are dos and don’ts to be done here, but for now, let’s get down to the latter first. As Simon said it, 7 deadly sins of campaigning.

  1. Unclear Campaign Objective

When it’s down to what you want to achieve, you have to be specific. For example, you can’t have a campaign about Aids and leave it like that. Let’s be honest here. The segmentation we’re aiming for? No, they don’t care about us. Now this sin might be triggered by a problematic mindset, which is;

  1. Thinking that Your Audience Care So Much About you.

As stated before, our audience doesn’t care about us, and it is our duty to find something that would pique their interest. What do they care about? What truly matters to them?

  1. Being One-Size-Fits-All

Different segmentation requires different approaches. Period. The more detailed we can get to know our designated market, the better. Do a background check, which approach works better with which age group, gender, or even preference.

  1. Campaign Strategy = To-Do List

One of the most common mistakes is to think that your strategy only revolves around what your predecessor used. Yes, it works, but have you checked other methods that might have a bigger success? Approach differently instead of always repeating the routine. Who knows, it might be the next big hit.

  1. No Evidence + Empathy

Some cases might be a bit easier, but at other times, it might need more thorough research. Slapping in a topic-based only on your gut feeling or a mere unjustifiable statement just won’t do. We have to figure out what touched their heart.

  1. Sunk-Cost Fallacy

Plato once said that the only thing that can’t change, is to change itself. Things change, deal with it. Saving a sinking ship is not worth the effort, and thus, it’s a waste to try to recover a cost that has been incurred and cannot be recovered. If it doesn’t work, get up and move on.

  1. Trying to Change the World in One Swipe

Make reliable goalS. Yes, goalS. Because we want our goals to be in gazillion pieces. Break it into a smaller vision of progress you want to achieve. Remember, all stairs have steps. The higher it is, the more steps it has. Anything instant isn’t worth it, enjoy the process.

The point is, a communication campaign is down to several important aspects, such as getting a subject that matters to the audience, making sure that you are relaying the right message, or even trying new ideas you haven’t tried before. There’s nothing too weird to try under this blue sky.

Written by: Yonathan SJ.