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Target Audience
It may be the greatest program in the world, but if your target
audience doesn't know about it, your promotion was aimed where it did no good.
Defining your target audience can ensure that your promotional efforts are aimed at the right people and validate
where the stories are being published.
Target Audience (def): Our surveys, phone calls from potential attendees and one on one conversations have
indicated several sources of participation.
- Scouts and Scouters from Catholic sponsored units
- Scouts and Scouters where there is a loyal Catholic Committee member, award counselor or parish priest who
has supported the program
- Scouts from families where 1 parent (divorced, separated, etc) is Catholic and they are raising
their son Catholic
- Other Christian denominations (varied from 10-18% when our event was "in town")
If we did not use an Exit Survey, we would not have found out some clues to increase our participation. Since
there were no other Christian Scouting retreats, we received dozens of phone calls from other denominations.
We welcomed their participation and explained that any questions would be according to Roman Catholic
theology.
Note: During 12 years of our cub scout event, no questions of theology
have ever been raised. Scouts of Cub Scout age just don't get that deep into theology. Although participants
from other denominations participated in our retreat, received patches, and left after our awards ceremony,
no one ever knew and it has never been an issue. If they attend Catholic Mass, we ask that they respect the
eucharist and our diocesan chaplain asks them to fold their hands for a blessing if they come up
during communion.
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Competitive Advantage
Our Scouts and Scouters are voting on what they would rather
do when they bypass our program for another.
Competition (def): Our competition is any condition or
activity that would distract our Scouts or Scouters from participating in Catholic Scouting.
We will illustrate our competitive advantage through an actual example which has been very
successful for us. We list the competitive situations here and will illustrate how to overcome
these seemingly insurmountable advantages when you view our Special Offer.
| Sports, Other Scouting, etc |
Catholic Retreat |
| 3 hour window |
whole weekend or whole day |
| short distance |
100 miles away |
| low cost (over length of season) |
weekend cost (competitive??) |
another Scouting event where
entire unit can attend
Eg. Score-O, Family Camp, etc. |
Scouts who are subgroup of your unit |
| Public School Event |
required attendance |
| Catholic School Event |
required attendance |
| Unit Sponsor Event |
required attendance |
| Human Nature ... easiest thing to do |
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| custom event patch |
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Promotional Tools (Communications)
Our mission is to successfully promote our event to
both Scouts and Scouters in a way that will inspire them to attend. There is one intangible that
we try not to forget ... we position all our media releases to "newcomers"
so we make it easier for someone to attend or find out more information.
How do we find out if the following media works? Is the effort you put into your communications
effective? Use Exit surveys at major events to find out. Although several of these below may not be
considered communications tools, they are integral to promoting our event and measuring the result. We
consider any tool that measures our effectiveness, generates attendance, or support for our event,
a promotional tool. Please click the following link for samples and explanations for how we
use Promotional Tools.
Tools
- Exit Surveys
- Website
- Radio
- Email Contacts
- US Mail
- District Meetings
- Registration Application
- Promotional CD or Powerpoint File
- Patch Portrait
- Photo Shoot
Innovative Ideas
If there is one benefit from the aftermath of 9/11, its
the widespread acceptance of "thinking outside the box" and openness to new ways of positioning
programs. Marketing the same program differently can revitalize interest.
Look at other successful programs inside and outside of Scouting and imitate their methods. However, you have
to have a way of measuring a new way of promoting your program or you cannot make informed evaluations.
- Draft Your Staff - A new program was announced and we were concerned about having enough Staff. A Scouter
who transferred from Los Angeles brought a unique idea - Draft Staff. Our Registration Applications stated
that any Scouter may be asked to assist. While Scouter Jay Krail was asking Scouters to help on staff
the day of the retreat, our Scouts were being formed into groups and practicing songs. The 45 minutes
it took for Jay to conduct Facilitator Training was equal to the time it took to organize and practice
songs with the cubs.
- Photo Shoot (See Promotional Tools section)
- Event Video (See Promotional Tools section)
- Promotional Giveaways (See Special Offer section)
We propose several other "innovative ideas" to inspire participation within the Special Offer section.
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Remove Obstacles
If you remove obstacles by Scouts or Scouters for
their attendance to your event, then you can "make the sale" on why they should attend.
I posed the following question to our Catholic Scouters ...
What are the obstacles to our Scouts, Scouters or family members attending our event?
When we had written everything down that we could think of, we began brainstorming for solutions over
the next several weeks.
- Weather Plan - take away this concern by explaining the event is "rain or shine" but we do have an
indoor facility as a back up. Newcomers are our greatest potential source for increasing attendance
so we cater to their needs by letting them know. Remember, the entire troop may not attend and we
are not a part of their "comfort zone" when it comes to reliability of troop and/or council events.
- Research Conflicts - Since our "target audience" is made up of Catholic sponsored troops, we research
conflicts that each unit might have when it comes to supporting their sponsor. An example, Crew 304, Troop 7,
Troop 434, and Troop 32 all support their church "Community Fests" during the fall season when our retreat
is being held. If you schedule on a weekend where 2 or 3 of these units may support a sponsor, then you
will lose their participation.
- Location - secure camp and facilities needed. We have created a budget, secured a camp, and buildings
onsite 10 months in advance. Its easy to move to another weekend if a conflict arises and avoids having
a problem if the council schedules that weekend before us.
- Budget - We found that securing an initial date and location allows us to gear up for a promotion
and have the materials created in advance.
- Secure Diocesan Chaplain - We start looking at available dates about 10 months in advance. We ask for
all his available dates and then research other conflicts with units.
- Upgrade Program - just by advertising what our program has that others do not have, you communicate
the appearance of an upgrade.
- Additional Removal of Obstacles - See Special Offer page for our response to everyday obstacles
Synergy of Efforts
Take advantage of every opportunity within every
diocesan subcommittee to harness the power of marketing our program.
- Retreat feeds the Awards, Awards feed the Retreat. We found, through our retreat exit surveys, that parents
would like their Scouts to work on Awards. We also found that newcomer parents and Scouters noticed our displays
at Awards Ceremonies, asked questions about our activities and either signed up for the retreat at the Awards
Ceremony or placed the event on their unit calendar. Retreat displays and Diocesan Awards Sunday displays are
simple to create and setup.
- Awards Ceremony Program - provide major event dates and contact information. You know they're going to
keep this momento because they're son's name is in it.
- Bishops Dinner - provide CCS annual calendar and website address
- Diocesan Website - We found that there were a number of obvious tie-ins for Catholic Scouting on the
diocesan website. The diocesan calendar should have dates and links to our CCS website for that specific event,
volunteer solicitation should include Scouting, Bishops Dinner, etc. Ensure links are correct on a biannual basis.
- Any Article - list the website and a phrase "please visit our website for information on future events. Contact
______ ________ for any questions." It may not make it in the article but you have the opportunity to get it in
Religious Program
Our program has great value but is it well defined
We began a new Catholic Scouting program within our council. We knew that we had to define what our
program was in order to generate interest from veteran Scouters as well as newcomers. It takes a great
leap of faith for someone to drive 100 miles to an event, have little idea of what the program will be,
stay all weekend and not know anyone before arrival. If this same Scout or Scouter had to choose between
a soccer match for 3 hours with friends at a local field and a Scouting event they were not sold on,
which would they choose? We are up against heavy competition and need to create a unique image that
significantly overcomes our competition and inspires participation.
- Ask potential attendees what their vision of a Scout Retreat is ... Was it what you thought?
- Entertain pieces of programs that also appeal to our target audience. Eg. Our diocesan youth retreats
draw hundreds of youth and they are inspired by many of the sessions. Can we take some of these sessions and turn
them into a Scouting context?
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Special Offer
If you don't already have this program, it can double
or triple your participation using all the principles outlined in this marketing website
Our Inaugural Package contains ...
- Website valued at approximately $1,000. Graphics, hosting, space used by images, documents and domain.
- Scripts - 5 year cycle of scripts flexible enough for local program ideas but structured enough to
provide guidelines
- 7 Patch Cross - an instant hit with Scouts, Scouters and parents
- Application - use as official record for council as well as marketing tool by CCS
- Survey - verifies our program, marketing effectiveness and generates volunteers
- Timetable - how we incorporate innovation a little at a time
- Budget - verify funds, secure location and know your expenses will be reimbursed
- Promotional Release - tool on application that benefits many areas of marketing
- Articles and Pictures - don't reinvent what's already been done.
Please click here to visit our ...
Special Offer website
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