At Animal Charity Evaluators (ACE), we’re all the time on the lookout for methods to extend our impression in fulfilling our aim of serving to extra folks assist animals. One of many methods we’re doing that is by increasing our attain to new audiences. In 2024, we launched a two-month advertising marketing campaign aimed toward participating an viewers we name “New Animal Protectors.” This viewers consists of people that have compassion for animals and already donate to animal safety efforts, however solely help animal causes they really feel near (e.g., shelters and sanctuaries). This doesn’t imply they don’t care about farmed animals, however they’re but to really feel related to and impressed to help them.
Our goal with this viewers is to lift extra funds for exceptionally profitable efforts to scale back the quantity and severity of uncared for animals’ struggling. To considerably improve help for this work, we have to attraction to folks outdoors of the animal advocacy motion who won’t be prepared to alter their buying and consuming behaviors however are prepared to financially help higher welfare requirements and the battle in opposition to animal cruelty.
For this marketing campaign, we determined to initially deal with farmed animals to keep away from overwhelming this new viewers with the sheer scale of each farmed and wild animal struggling. Earlier than launching, we ran a market analysis survey to raised perceive how New Animal Protectors view farmed animals and decided the perfect methods to attach with them. On this publish, we’ll share some key insights from the survey, how we used the outcomes to form our marketing campaign, and insights we’ve had alongside the best way.
Strategies
We designed a complete survey utilizing Qualtrics and distributed it through Prolific. The survey comprised 38 questions, structured into distinct sections to discover key features of participant demographics, engagement with animal charities, and the effectiveness of varied communication methods. A complete of 82 respondents accomplished the survey.
Viewers
The demographics of the audience had been as follows:
- Gender: Inclusive of all genders
- Age: Primarily between 45 and 65+
- Location: Primarily based within the U.Ok., U.S., and Western Europe
- Schooling: Open to people of all instructional backgrounds
- Family Earnings: No restrictions on earnings stage, permitting for a broad vary of economic views.
- Giving Conduct: All contributors had donated to an animal charity inside the previous yr (to make sure they had been keen on supporting animal welfare).
Survey Construction
The survey was divided into the next sections:
- Part A: Demographics – Collected fundamental participant info, together with age, location, schooling, and family earnings.
- Part B: Farmed Animal Charity – Assessed contributors’ consciousness, attitudes, and help for farmed animal charities.
- Part C: Communication Channels – Recognized most well-liked platforms and strategies for receiving details about causes they care about.
- Part D: Incentives – Examined what varieties of incentives affect engagement with causes they care about.
- Part E: Social Media Adverts (Textual content) – Evaluated responses to completely different messages in social media ads.
- Part F: Social Media Adverts (Pictures) – Measured reactions to visible content material utilized in farmed animal charity ads.
- Part G: Farmed Animal Charity (Comply with-up) – Gathered additional insights on contributors’ perceptions and potential behavioral modifications after publicity to the survey content material.
Key Limitations for New Animal Protectors
By means of qualitative evaluation, we recognized a number of boundaries that could be stopping New Animal Protectors from supporting charities that work to guard farmed animals. These are as follows:
- Considerations about how donations are spent: Many respondents needed to make sure that their donations are used as meant, that’s, going on to help animals moderately than operational bills.
- Belief and popularity: A big variety of respondents expressed wariness of charities they don’t know properly.
- Influence on animals: Respondents had been keen to grasp precisely how their help will assist animals. They need to see tangible proof of the distinction they’re making.
- Notion of duty: Some respondents imagine that the duty for shielding farmed animals lies with farmers or the federal government, not them.
- Considerations about vegan activism: Some respondents voiced discomfort with being related to vegan activism or being instructed to not eat meat and dairy.
The place to Attain New Animal Protectors
What we discovered
Our quantitative evaluation make clear the place New Animal Protectors spend their time on-line and the way greatest to achieve them. Charities’ web sites (42.78%) are the highest sources of knowledge, adopted by social media (31.85%), and newsletters (10.19%). Essentially the most generally used social media platform for this viewers is Fb (37.23%), adopted by YouTube (19.71%), Instagram (16.79%), X (10.95%), Reddit (9.49%), TikTok (3.65%), and Threads (2.19%).
What we did
Primarily based on this info, our marketing campaign targeted closely on digital platforms, strongly emphasizing social media promoting with photographs. Sooner or later, we need to focus a marketing campaign on video outreach by means of digital channels, one thing we didn’t do that time as it’s time and resource-intensive. We had initially deliberate to focus on New Animal Protectors by means of podcasts. Nonetheless, podcasts ranked decrease than anticipated as a supply of knowledge, so we shifted our focus away from that platform for this viewers.
Lead Magnet
What we discovered
To discover the way to greatest provide worth in return for asking folks to enroll to our e-mail listing, we requested contributors to think about seeing an advert from an animal charity and to fee how doubtless they’d be to enroll in our e-mail listing primarily based on completely different incentive provides. The choices had been:
- A free information with details about farmed animals and sensible tips about how they will help them.
- A free quiz to check their information and find out about farmed animals and have the solutions despatched to their e-mail tackle.
- A free information on how farmed animals are like our companion animals (e.g., similarities between pigs and canine).
The information with details about farmed animals obtained the very best curiosity, adopted by the information connecting farmed animals to our companion animals, whereas the quiz obtained the bottom curiosity.
What we did
Primarily based on these insights, we prioritized focusing the information with details about farmed animals. Nevertheless, recognizing the attraction of the similarities between farmed animals and companion animals, we additionally included a devoted part within the information to attract these parallels, with the goal of teaching folks about how related farmed animals are to companion animals.
Messaging That Resonates
What we discovered
The survey helped us establish the varieties of messages that resonate most with New Animal Protectors. Respondents acknowledged that the “inspiration/motivational” language would almost definitely encourage them to search out out extra info as a result of the message was perceived as uplifting and providing a constructive imaginative and prescient for the longer term. Some additionally acknowledged that the constructive language gave them a way of hope and objective. However, the “emotional” language was rated the bottom, with some contributors saying they felt it was emotionally manipulative.
Beneath are examples of the messages that we requested contributors to guage.
Inspirational/Motivational:
“Think about a world the place billions of farmed animals not endure. Your help has the facility to make that imaginative and prescient a actuality and provides so many animals the life they deserve. Get your free information on the way to assist them!”
Emotional:
“Our hearts are with the billions of farmed animals that suffer daily. When you too really feel outraged and deeply saddened by the therapy these animals endure, signal as much as be taught how one can assist them.”
What we did
Subsequently, the “inspirational/motivational” copy performed a central position in our marketing campaign. We needed to make sure that our messaging remained hopeful, empowering, and targeted on the constructive distinction that New Animal Protectors could make.
Unhappy vs. Impartial Pictures
What we discovered
Most survey respondents self-reported that they’d be extra doubtless to enroll in our free information on serving to farmed animals after they had been uncovered to unhappy photographs of farmed animals moderately than impartial ones. They famous that the photographs had been real looking however evoked unhappiness as properly. This emotional resonance appeared to encourage folks to take motion. That is fairly speculative, but it surely may very well be as a consequence of a stronger sense of empathy and urgency conveyed by means of the imagery. See the photographs we confirmed contributors under.
What we did
Following this perception, we included these findings into our first preliminary paid advert with extra detailed focusing on, utilizing each unhappy and impartial photographs of a pig. We ran the adverts for 10 days with a funds of $1000 USD and the adverts had been optimized for e-mail sign-ups. The outcomes aligned intently with our survey: Adverts that includes the unhappy pig had a decrease value per click on (CPC) of $0.99, vs $1.27 for the impartial pig picture. The unhappy picture additionally had a low value per acquisition (CPA), which was $2.39 per e-mail sign-up, in comparison with $3.79 for the impartial pig picture. By means of additional checks, we managed to decrease the CPA for the unhappy pig picture to $1.61 and we will probably be aiming to decrease this additional as we proceed to find out about this new viewers. This invaluable info formed our ongoing efforts to achieve and encourage New Animal Protectors.
Donating to a Charity That Works to Shield Farmed Animals
There was a rise in survey respondents’ self-reported chance to help our trigger after participating with our marketing campaign supplies, with a 28.6% improve for “very doubtless” and a 3% improve for “considerably doubtless.” Nevertheless, many respondents talked about that they want extra info earlier than deciding to take motion. That’s why, as a part of our marketing campaign, we developed a devoted touchdown web page and free information with detailed details about how New Animal Protectors will help farmed animals, and why their help is essential to assist scale back animal struggling.
Subsequent Steps: Constructing Relationships with New Animal Protectors
We’re excited to proceed refining our strategy primarily based on this analysis and to construct significant relationships with this new viewers. By growing their consciousness, addressing their considerations, and tailoring our messaging, we hope to encourage New Animal Protectors to donate to efficient animal advocacy organizations.
We sincerely respect everybody who took half in our survey. Your invaluable insights are serving to us form a extra hospitable world for all animals.
Keep Tuned! When you’re keen on studying extra about our marketing campaign or how one can assist animals, make sure to join our mailing listing and comply with us on social media for updates. We may also be sharing extra insights from additional testing we’ve accomplished since doing this survey. Lastly, in case you are a advertising knowledgeable and have insights that would improve our efficacy, I’d like to hear from you!
This weblog publish gives a dive into our market analysis findings and descriptions how we’re utilizing these insights to information our technique transferring ahead. We stay up for sharing extra updates as our marketing campaign progresses.
Assist our work to affect extra folks to provide successfully to assist animals. Donate immediately.
