Unlike brands that use commercial campaigns to promote their product or service for the purpose of profit, public campaigns deal with social issues that aim to meet the specific needs of society and bring about a necessary change in the interests of a wider or specific group of citizens. What public and commercial campaigns have in common is that they have their target audience, which needs to be reached through thoughtful communication. In order for the main message to stand out clearly in the sea of information that citizens are bombarded with every day, it is necessary to choose the right approach when creating and marketing content.
The topics of social campaigns can be quite complex and it is very important to adapt the content to the audience in a simple and comprehensible language. There are various ways and tools that can be used to market content in a simple and creative way that will reach the target group. Just some of them are infographics, animations, podcasts and short video materials like Instagram Reel or TikTok. There are countless possibilities, you just need to think outside the box and listen, analyse performance and adapt to your audience. What is crucial is to pay attention to how we create messages and content if we are dealing with particularly sensitive issues and target groups, and in such cases, it is necessary to include experts who will assess whether such communication is appropriate.
Bad news is increasingly filling the pages of portals and social networks and the fact is that we live in an era of doomscrolling – the phenomenon of consuming bad news. Several political bodies have used the appeal of fear in their campaigns, which calls into question the ethics of communication towards the audience. Such campaigns, in addition to causing anxiety and concern, also encourage the resistance of society as the other extreme. Optimism is something we all need in these times, and it is very important that public campaigns focus not only on raising awareness of problems, but also on positive changes and solutions. In order for the campaign not to give the impression of empty promises, it is desirable to communicate concrete facts and actions that a certain initiative undertakes, which will ultimately prevent the spread of negative comments and misinformation.
One of the most effective tools that public campaigns can use when communicating are influencers and famous people from public life. Although at first it may seem that the same rules apply to both commercial and public campaigns, some principles differ.
It is important to be aware that when we hire an influencer for a specific campaign, we are actually targeting his audience, so it is necessary to find the right person who believes and shares the same or similar interests and values of the initiative to be promoted. Influencers are not political figures and content that is not in line with their usual communication should not be expected from them. Their communication is mostly informal and it is perfectly fine for them to communicate the values of the campaign in their own way that resonates with their personal views and audience. When choosing influential people, in addition to the potential reach they can achieve through their channels and how much the audience reacts to their content, it is necessary to pay attention to their previous exposure to political and social topics and whether there is anything that could negatively affect the credibility of the campaign.
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