TANKED! Online campaigns that should have performed…but didn’t Madeline Stanionis, M+R Ben Simon, Greenpeace Thursday, August 1, 2013 Bridge Conference
Tanked! And that's a good thing.
Nov 11, 2014
Campaigns that should have performed well, but didn't, and pointers on how to build an internal culture accepting of failure.
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TANKED! Online campaigns that should have performed…but didn’t Madeline Stanionis, M+R Ben Simon, Greenpeace Thursday, August 1, 2013 Bridge Conference
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Ben
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Madeline
Been around. Donordigital, Watershed, M+R
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Tanking is hard.
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Most organizations are really bad at admitting
failure…
…including mine!
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1. The one where…
…We fell in love with our super cute, meaningful, catchy campaign. But donors…didn’t.
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It went like this…
• Great client • Timely project • Receptive audience • Utterly delightful theme
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And…
• Typical open rate • Few clicks • Few gifts • Why?
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Too silly ?
Maybe it’s a program you can sign your kids up for?
Are these people too happy and healthy?
Maybe people don’t believe this ?
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So…
• Dialed back the cute (WEEP) • Amped up the seriousness
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It still tanked
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And what’d we learn?
• High concept…didn’t seem to matter
• Education about hunger is still needed
• Their fundraising is largely holiday-oriented. Should we bother any other time?
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2. The one where…
…We launched a great big important initiative, and people didn’t want to fund it.
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Sounds great, right?
Who wouldn’t want to support that?
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Attempt #1: Straightforward
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Not so much. Why?
• Narrative and Buy-In Around Webmaker Weren’t There Yet
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So, let’s change it up. • Everyone loves kids, right?
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Well, Again, not so much.
WHAT HAPPENED?!
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The video didn’t do it.
• No emotional pull. • No immediacy to the ask.
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So, we tried something Else: • Long-term, political theory of change.
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Basic idea:
• Webmaker Success -->
• A future where those in power knows how the Web works -->
• A future where something like SOPA/PIPA is unimaginable.
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And it worked!
• But, we can’t quite use that every time.
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So, what’d we actually do?
• -Tried a bunch of different things (good!)
• -Didn't really think through what people's frames of mind would be (bad!)
• -Got carried away with video (bad!)
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And what’d we learn?
• -More work to do to build up a donations narrative around Webmaker
• -People don't immediately see it as worthy of support
• -But the case *can* be made
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3. The one where… …We thought it was entirely possible that lightning would strike twice.
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Some background
• Another warm and fuzzy client • A surprise hit • Aha! The key to success! • Let’s do it again!
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The first round
• Grew our client’s list by 15%! • Holy crap! • Picked up by other venues • Those kids…loved it …so we did it again…
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And…
• Tanked! Tankity, tankity, tanked. • Why?
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“Tattoo Day” …is, umm, not a holiday.
Fulfillment was, shall we say, a Giant Pain In The Ass.
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And what’d we learn? • It worked because it was a holiday.
• DUH.
• We let the gimmick get in the way
• Oh. We did it again the next Valentine’s Day. It
worked again.
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4. The one where…
…We jumped on the bandwagon.
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It went like this…
• Great client (I KNOW, RIGHT?) • The tools had finally arrived • Lots of enthusiasm. Demand, even!
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And…
• An enthusiastic core group responded! Yay! • About 60 pages created • They averaged about 2 gifts per page. • I KNOW. SAD FACE.
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And what’d we learn?
• Peer-to-peer doesn’t work for everyone. OBVS.
• Sometimes we shouldn’t listen to a couple noisy board members, eh?
• But…they still like having it. And that’s not a bad thing!
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5. The one where... …no one wanted to donate after getting a sticker.
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-Past experience was that after a sticker giveaway, it was normal to raise ~$1/signup from donations
-Enough to pay for the campaign, or a little more,
while also providing some engagement and fundraising
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So we did that, but with a twist:
you could get a sticker after taking a "quiz" to get a set of webmaker projects best suited to
your interests
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Campaign GOALS:
• 1) Engagement
• 2) List growth
• 3) Fundraising
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Results: • 1) Engagement! Lots more people tried out Webmaker
projects
• 2) List growth! There were more than 18,000 signups.
• 3) Fundraising? Not exactly.
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Results (Continued):
From more than 18,000 signups after the initial promotion, we raised only $2,000. So, we pulled the plug, and stopped promotion on other channels before it could go any further.
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What we did:
• -Designed a great campaign! Lots of engagement (good)
• -Assumed something would work based on past results from other organizations (bad)
• -Laid the groundwork internally for the fact that we couldn't predict the results (good)
• -Stopped it before it got too out of hand (also good)
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Why’d it tank? • -Broader issues at play
• -We still hadn't successfully woven a donations
narrative around Webmaker
• -Recipients didn't connect Webmaker as something needing their support
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What’d we learn?
• -Still had more work to do to build donations narrative
around Webmaker
• -Mozillians like free stuff, but it didn't make them want to give
• -Tactics that work for other organizations won't always work for us
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6. The one where...
…we let the cool tools screw everything up.
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6. AHEM. The oneS where...
…we let the cool tools screw everything up.
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What’d we learn?
• Start simple. Stay simple. Almost ALWAYS. – What’s the easiest way for my constituent to
participate?
• Don‘t let the salespeople sell you stuff. Except for when you do. – Research the orgs they’ve worked with. Call up the ones
who they didn’t tell you to call. – Show me the data!
• Try try try not to let “what other orgs are doing” send you down the rabbit hole.
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7. The one where...
…we thought the people cared.
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It went like this…
• Big, important and (really) terrific organization • International humanitarian crisis • Critical organizational issue • Passion, priority, story, meaningful way for
donors to help…etc!
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What’d we learn?
• If the news isn’t cooperating, it might not work.
• If the issue isn’t one we’ve talked about, it might be hard to generate concern.
• What’s critical on the inside may not be critical on the outside.
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In summary...
…five signs you should pull the plug on your campaign...
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1. It isn’t performing. 2. It is tanking. 3. No money. 4. No actions. 5. No money OR actions.
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Building a culture of failure in your organization
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Well... Maybe building a
culture *accepting*
of failure
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1) DON’T pretend to be the 0racle from on high
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2) Try lots of things!
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3) Establish metrics & benchmarks
At OFA, we watched the Donations : Unsubscriptions ration. If subject line tests were worse than 2:1 for donors, of 1:2 for non-donors, we wouldn’t send (under normal circumstances).
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4) Be open & transparent
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Go forth fellow losers! Be
proud!
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