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What elements are necessary to implement a successful awareness campaign?

Awareness campaigns are often the first step to introduce your audience to a new service, staff member, program or facility. Unfortunately, awareness campaigns have been used as a stand-in when more substantial marketing, branding, credibility or trafficking campaigns may be needed.

By definition, awareness campaigns are designed to build familiarity and create top-of-mind brand affiliation. Do not count on an awareness campaign to do more than it is designed to do. It is not the best method to convey complex messages, emotional appeals, branding messages, lists of services, building credibility or traffic. Awareness campaigns should leave your audience with a simple name and affiliation that can be recalled when they need it. The very succinct message or name should have a sustainable ring that stays with your audience – “Remember X when you need it.”

A progressive, modern awareness campaign has:

Support from top management. Leadership must walk the walk, talk the talk and reinforce the message constantly.
Measurement/metric thresholds that can be repeated with exacting accuracy before the campaign, three months, six months, one year and several years later to account for trending and awareness campaign investments.
A simple name, icon or message. If you have more than three words for your audience to remember, your statistical chance of unaided recall is significantly diminished.
Longevity. Your awareness message needs to be an essential element in future marketing, branding or communication campaigns. It doesn’t have to dominate future campaigns, but it must be present.
A viral appeal. The best awareness campaigns are repeatable by your audience. If you don’t use your audience to springboard your message, you’ve missed out on a million-dollar opportunity. They spread the word.
Natural integration ability. In our modern world of communication, your message has to be not only compatible with social media, existing web messaging as well as traditional modes of message delivery, but also include incentive for your message advocates to persuade them to incorporate the message into their own social communications.
Easy access to more information. Don’t forget to include a “go to” element – a site, microsite, phone number, etc.
Unaided recall. If your audience can’t remember it, you’ve wasted your time and money. There is no such thing as an awareness message being short or too frequent.