How to (fail to) motivate your audience to take action

An article worth reading when considering an ad campaign:

1. Be concrete and specific. Abstraction is deadly.

2. Feature an individual, rather than a group or, far worse, daunting statistics.

3. Avoid a negative image, for instance a starving child.

4. Write to a single person, not the many you hope to motivate to act.

5. Reach out to the heart first, head second.

6. Emphasise a clear, easy-to-do call to action.

7. Start at the end and work backwards. 

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Nancy E Schwartz is president of Nancy Schwartz & Company and helps nonprofits succeed through effective marketing.