It is almost a cliché to say that we work within tight budgets. Budget constraints and budget reductions are no longer a short term situation, it is now the new reality within which we work and try to achieve measurable results. Tactics that can expand those tight dollars are worth their weight in gold. Here is one for your consideration. 

Accessing a grassroots network can extend the reach of most any advertising campaign. The grassroots network can often reach pockets of the market left unearthed by research and traditional advertising vehicles. (And of course, you will gain exposure for your message far beyond the actual dollars you spend.) 

Sometimes this network is “hidden in plain sight”.  Look around your community.  Are there people who live and work there who, if engaged in your campaign, could help carry the message for you, at no cost to you? If included in the campaign, would they convey your message to their networks, business associates, clientele, friends and family? Would this be valuable to you and would it infiltrate those pockets of the market that you may not be reaching? If you answer yes to these questions, the following case study may give you some ideas on how to proceed.

Case in point:
Anna Jaques Hospital needed to promote its new digital mammography system. The target audience was a cross-section of women in 17 cities and towns within the hospital service territory. Research showed that in some areas of the service territory, only 40% of women had a baseline mammogram.  And, the hospital did not have hundreds of thousands of dollars to spend on the campaign.

Idea: What is the most common excuse for not having a mammogram? Time. Women say they have no time. The “Take 20” campaign was born to illustrate that in the time it takes you to do many daily tasks, you could be having a mammogram (about 20 minutes).

Implementation: Enter local women business owners.  They were approached and asked to participate in the campaign promoting the importance of mammography, and at the same time, their businesses. Photography was key. It was clean, personal, powerful. The print campaign ran twice, October and February.

Results:
• 18 business owners in 3 towns participated
• The Newburyport business owners lined their store windows in pink for one week and posted copies of their ads in their windows
• Store owners sent 2000 e-mails to their clientele, with their ads and the hospital website link embedded
• Store owners posted their ads in their blogs and on their websites
• 1,000 clicked through to the hospital website
• Readers downloaded copies of the ads, posted on the hospital website, for six months
• Area restaurants developed specialty pink drinks
• Tea shops placed sandwich boards on the sidewalks promoting mammography
• Front page, color photo newspaper coverage
• Board members, community leaders e-mailed the hospital praising the power of the campaign. 
• The hospital tripled mammography volume

The hospital was flooded with personal testimonials:
“I have cancer in my family, and I didn’t want to have a mammogram because I was afraid of what would they would find.  I put it off for a year and a half. Your campaign really made me think, and I came in and had a mammogram. It was clear!  Thank you”

Grassroots networks are powerful extensions of your advertising budgets and your community outreach efforts.  Just remember they are living breathing things with long tentacles and even longer memories, so use them with respect. 

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