Ep 77: Psychology of Inspiring Action: The Role of Audience and Influence

EPISODE 77

Harnessing Influence for Good Causes

 
 
 

In this podcast episode, we delve into the intriguing concept of what motivates individuals to take action. We start by acknowledging the critical role of the audience, but as we soon discover, there's more to it than meets the eye.

The essence of influence is explored as an endorsement of a mission. We highlight the importance of having the right audience and the right influencers, which can set off a massive snowball effect of change and success.

We then take a fascinating turn by examining the unexpected rise of the Stanley Cup craze. At first glance, it's just an insulated cup, but is it really that simple? People were so eager to get their hands on this $40 cup that it was reselling on eBay for over $2,000, leaving us puzzled by the phenomenon.

What triggered this incredible transformation? Stanley's annual sales skyrocketed from $75 million to a staggering $750 million in 2023. The key factor was a shift in their target audience from a workhorse thermos to a lifestyle accessory for busy moms on the go.

But audience alone isn't the whole story. The colossal revenue spike was driven by the potent force of influence. Two influencers played a pivotal role in changing the game for Stanley, demonstrating the tremendous impact of an endorsement from a trusted source, whether it's a blogger, a wellness leader, a coach, a mentor, or even a celebrity. These endorsements can translate into millions.

So, while spending over $2,000 on a cup might seem extravagant, the underlying strategy is accessible to you. It's about embracing the power of digital ambassadors and influencers, who could become your most influential digital Social Street Team. The key lies in taking that crucial first step toward harnessing the power of influence for your mission

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TRANSCRIPT:

Christina 00:02

Welcome to the Purpose and Profit Club podcast for nonprofit leaders, mission-driven creatives and social entrepreneurs. Get ready to stop dreaming and start doing. Here, ideas become action. We prioritize purpose and profit. You ready, let's go.

00:20

You all know I love a nice coffee and you'll often find me drinking it in my. What is it? It's kind of like a C-fo me blue-green insulated mug, but what it is not is a $40 or $50 Stanley mug, and it's just something I found at Target that I liked the size of. I have no idea what the brand is and it was probably under $20, probably $10. And I'm laughing because, if you're like me, you can't avoid seeing the phenomenon that is the Stanley Cup right now. So if you haven't seen it, I will catch you up really, really quick. They have an insulated thermos that keep your liquids hot, and I feel like it's just one of those foundational brands that's been out there and no one's really thought of, and we've really seen lifestyle bloggers in particular sporting their cups. And then we see jokes and tech talks about how big the Stanley mug is. It's now. It's just, it's enormous. I don't know. It would hold like 40 ounces or something, and it's got this handle and it comes in all different colors and what is really interesting and why I want to talk about not only the rise of this cup and its success, but I want to talk about really anything that has this fever pitch moment in retail, in our world, in our conversations.

01:53

Like it's popping into my head because we just ended the holidays and I feel a little less like, less so lately, but I know every holiday season I'm sure toy manufacturers would tell me has like the big toy of the season and I remember like many, many years ago when it was the Tickle Me Elmo. I don't know who remembers that, but it was. It was like the Tickle Me Elmo was the toy to get and everybody was just like you couldn't find one and everybody wanted one and that was it and it was just like a little Elmo doll. I guess that you know giggled. And the other image I have in my mind is the Black Friday sale. Shoppers are really the release of the Apple iPhone, like anytime they release iPhone, the newest version, the line outside the Apple store of people waiting just to upgrade their phone. They already have an iPhone, they already have one that's less than a year old oftentimes and they're like I want the latest, greatest, best thing.

 So what is it that creates that phenomenon in people? What is it that creates the? I'm literally willing to sleep outside in the dead of winter to make sure that I get one, because I know supplies are limited at this store, and that's what happened with the Stanley Cup recently. So I guess they had a collaboration with Starbucks which I didn't even know was coming. I didn't know what's happening. I didn't know anything about. Okay, I did find out about it when I saw the videos online that showed people sleeping outside of Target and being the first to get this. It's kind of like a hot pink insulated cup with their collaboration from Starbucks this dad and this daughter. This is the video that I watched. They were like we're just going to do this for fun and we're sleeping outside of this Target and it's 30 degrees outside and we have a ceiling cup.

03:43

And then what happened after that? It wasn't just like the craze that happened. Then people reselling them on eBay for over $2,000. Now this is something that, to me, is already sort of a higher price point, more of a luxury price point, for what it is right. So $40, $50, $60 now is a lot for a single bug and now people are willing to pay $2,000 for it.

 Let's just go on a sidebar and say great example the next time you say to yourself or you hear a colleague say that the economy isn't good, people don't have money, everything is doom, everything's bad, no one, everyone is broke. Next time you hear any of that, I really want you to think about putting a Stanley cup in their hand and think about all the people those things sold out immediately, they sold out in minutes across the country who are willing to spend $40 on it, and then all the people who are willing to spend hundreds or thousands of dollars to get the resold ones. So how can that be true if everyone is broke? Let's get some of those Stanley Cup buyers in your world supporting your mission. Let's talk about what makes someone spring into action that passionately over a cup, over anything, over a toy, over anything and over, maybe, sometimes, an organization to support.

05:10

So Instagram marketer came across my feed and it kind of got my, sparked my attention, and we've seen a lot of marketers now talk about this phenomenon of the Stanley Cup and she was saying well, it's a really good lesson in the importance of knowing your audience, because Stanley went from just being this sort of like you know unassuming brand to being this lifestyle brand that was catered towards, particularly with the cups catered towards moms, like the mom on the go cup. Now they've got cool colors, now they are targeting that audience. And I thought to myself, yes, and you're totally missing it. That's not it, because you can say we've got an amazing product, christina, we've got an amazing service, we've got an amazing thing, and we know exactly who our target market for it is. It's these moms. This is where they live, this is what they do, this is their income. And you may still come to me and say it's not working Right. They're not converting right, they're not buying, they're not showing up. Same thing for your nonprofit. We know exactly who our ideal supporter or donor or client is and they're not coming. We're talking to him, we're marketing to him, but they're not converting. And so audience is a part of it, but it is not all of it.

 What was the massive tipping point? Was it for their revenue spike? Was this? It was the power of influence. Yes, you need to be targeting the right audience. So if they were targeting children, that would be the wrong audience. If they were targeting retired people living in the Midwest. That might not be the right audience. Right, they were targeting the right audience. Plus, they were coupling it with the power of influence.

07:00

Influence is really just an endorsement From somebody that you know, like and trust, saying this is good, check it out, you're gonna like one, get one. Right, and that's what happens with that happened with this brand. So to influencers literally change the game for Stanley and turned their business from a seventy five million dollar a year one to seven hundred and fifty million dollars a year. That's what Stanley did in twenty twenty three. Let's just again that kind of settle in. So to influencers went to first, started saying we love this cup, it's so great and you know we get I don't know what they said we get all the hydration we need for the day. It's awesome. And check it out, has this handle, whatever they did. And then Stanley said well, we're not gonna continue making this cup or to discontinue it. And they actually bagged them to continue it and that was really the snowball effect that started. And then they started releasing, I guess, custom colors and collaborations.

 Now, if you hop on Instagram or hop on tiktok, in a certain market, in a target audience that we're talking about. So many of them are influencing and endorsing just the single cup, or sometimes it'll be hair care or vitamins or a lipstick. I mean there's a million things that you've been influenced, that you've seen thought leaders endorse. Okay, you may be thinking, okay, but how does this translate for our mission? How does translate for your mission? Potentially is huge.

08:28

This is the missing piece. When you say we've got the right audience. We know her audiences. They need it, they like it, they love it. Once we get them in, you know it's great, it's great, but how do we get more of them? You need to use the power of influence. This is what I teach and amplify social impact. I have a masterclass, linked in the comments or in the show notes you can sign up for, that talks about ambassador programs. Sign up for that. You can learn a little bit more about that. But Essentially, the power of influence does two things really really well. It takes other people's audiences, so the audience of you know.

 Let's use a fictitious example. So let's say that Jodi is an influencer that you follow and she, you know, has really great recipes that she talks about. And if Jodi is somebody you already know, like and trust. You follow her, you like some of her content and she starts raving about a product, you are going to listen in a different way than if the product starts raving about its own product. You feel me. So Stanley Cup says our product is great, it's awesome, it's great, it's got, it's hot pink and it has a handle and it stays. Our beverages stay warm. You're like, okay, whatever. But if Jodi, somebody who you actually think is cool, who you have some loyalty you've been following her, her move, cross country or whatever she's been letting you in on and she says here's why I love this mug, you're going to listen and engage on that in a different way. So that's two things One, you get the endorsement with that and two, you're now presenting your offering in front of her audience. That's what a great endorsement and a great influencer partnership does.

10:07

So I want you to think about who are the endorsements, who are the influencers in our life, and they don't have to be like thought leaders and influencers and mom bloggers and, you know, coaches and celebrities Just people. Just people who are endorsing your mission, who are talking about the massive impact. And if you're like many organizations that come to me, you might be saying to yourself we don't have any and that's okay. Okay, the first step is understanding the difference, the nuance between putting out your own content, putting out your own stories, asking people to take action. That's one strategy, right, that's one marketing kind of tactic. The other side of it is who are the people who can do that in partnership with you, in collaboration with you? And I want you to think about that, I want you to think about a short list. Who are the people who would be, who are our raving fans, who we want to invite in to partner with us in some type of way?

 So let's kind of recap the lesson here. Let's recap some of the phenomenon of and this is the other piece of it I bet a week ago, 10 people that I'm closely connected to didn't know about the Stanley Cup. Meanwhile, they went from 75 million to 750 million over the past few years. Even just this last spike of craze of people sleeping outside of targets to get that Starbucks collaboration had such an impact. For me, what's even more interesting about that is, even when you've hit a threshold of visibility and a threshold of revenue, where things are increasing and things are getting better, you're actually so ready for another level up. You're so ready, you're just really getting started. So I could think about 10 people who hadn't heard about any of this probably my husband being one until last week, right, until this next layer of newsworthiness and visibility really came up to the surface.

12:16

And that is the power, too, of things compounding, and your endorsements and your influence, your partnerships, your collaborations are growing. So oftentimes the way I teach this is you start out with your beta group of partner, your influencers and ambassadors. I call this your social street team. You start out with them, okay, but then your beta group may have five people in it. Then we add five more. We got 10. And then we add five more, and then we add 10 more and it grows and grows, and grows. That is really a true snowball effect that not only increases your revenue, increases your visibility, increases your attraction, it increases your expert status in your brand equity too, in what it is you do. It increases all of that. So it really has this snowball effect where suddenly you're like we did this fundraiser for X, y and Z and we exceeded our goal. We raised Y, right, but over here we sort of saw a collateral positive effect of way more email subscribers or a huge influx of volunteer inquiries.

 Right and again, that's just because you had more eyeballs. You had more people saying I like this. You should too. This is awesome. This has made a difference. This matters. Take a look, right, just inviting more people in.

 What can you do? Let's talk about it this way what can you do this month to help use the power of influence, the power of endorsement for your organization? Let me give you this caveat that is really, really important, which is oftentimes organizations make the mistake of working with ambassadors and influencers who aren't aligned with their target audience. Okay, so if you are a hyper local organization and you partner with digital ambassadors and influencers to endorse your organization who are more nationally focused, it's going to be a disconnect, because the person in New York is going to wonder why these thought leaders are talking about this organization in Atlanta With me. They're going to go. This isn't for me, skip. Scroll next. So you really want to make sure that your street team has a natural alignment to your cause to not only your cause but your target audience. So go back, listen through, look at, go search the hashtag salicup. You'll see some of the craziness. In case you haven't seen it. It's pretty hilarious, but you'll see some of the craziness that has come through.

15:01

This powerful influencer marketing campaign has made the organization, has made the brand so much money and really is just getting started. So what did they do? Also, they listened to their customers. They saw a huge influx in this new audience. They listened to their customers, who clearly showed an interest. They didn't want just like neutral colors. They wanted bold pops of color. They started doing limited editions.

 This is some of the nimble, creative innovation that we see in the for-profit world that I really, really want you to say. How can we adapt this strategy to fit our organization? Because y'all can be creative, y'all can be nimble, y'all can do limited edition. One of my clients just did a limited edition, two of them merch drop, really successful. Okay, what are some limited edition things we could do just to drum up urgency right, to drum up some exclusivity and get people excited? That's your homework. Think about it. Who are we using? Who can we invite in to use the power of influence for good? Make sure you sign up for our upcoming webinar.

16:07

I am teaching a brand new method and I'm also opening doors to my brand new group coaching program. This is an advanced program for organizations who are really looking for motivation, accountability, mentorship to grow their visibility and their revenue. This year it's going to be such a game changer for nonprofits. It is called the purpose and profit club and I'm just so excited to open that up in the coming month-ish. So stay tuned for that. But if you're curious about taking the next step, send me a DM over at Splendid Consulting on Instagram or find me on LinkedIn and let's chat. I'll see you next time. Like what you're hearing and want to take this to the next level, I want to invite you to go to purposeandprofitclub to watch my free class In there. I will tell you the number one thing that's keeping your nonprofit or social impact business stuck, and what to do instead. Go to purposeandprofitclub.

You Get To Have Purpose And Profit. I’ll Show You How.

 
 
PodcastChristina Edwardspurpose and profit, marketing, entrepreneurship, purpose driven, nonprofit, social impact, mindset, productivityComment