Breakout 5A: The AMMMO Approach to Strategic Communications

By Alexia Penna, Quotes member

In this session, Jack Levine focuses on the AMMMO approach. Through knowing your audiences, messages, how to utilize the right messengers, and methods, you will reach your desired outcomes. You are the voice behind your company, products, and ideas. In order to get those “decision makers” to buy into your products and ideas you need to “build a bridge” between the two.

It all starts with your audience. You can’t afford to reach the general public. You will be way more effective if you target your audience. When it comes to donating money, you are better off targeting those over the age of 50 who have the means and are more willing to donate. In other words, college students should not be your target audience to try and get donations for your company.

Another important step to getting your desired outcome is your message. You have to make your message relatable to your audience as well as impactful. Different generations can watch the same commercial and if you are not the targeted audience, you will not understand what the message is saying

When it comes to getting your message across, you are more than likely to be heard if it is coming from the right messenger. If you’re a non-profit company, trying to get people to donate, you can't speak to the subject you are representing. It‘s just not that effective. Taking classes on a particular subject and receiving a degree in that subject doesn’t necessarily make you an expert. You should utilize those who are actually experiencing the situation. For example, you should let a foster child tell his or her story if you want credibility. Let them share the hard times as well as those who have positively impacted them. If the social worker speaks on his or her behalf, they will lack credibility.

The way you express your message should depend on the situation. Of course, face to face interaction is better than a phone call. Utilize all the media that you have available as well as the social networks to distribute your messages effectively.

Your outcome should be positively related to how well you execute each of the letters in AMMMO. Non-profit is all about doing the right thing towards the community. But if you are doing the right thing and not communicating it to the public, you are not maximizing your full potential as an organization.