Yankton Benedictines
February 2020
The Sisters don’t want their community of unique spiritual seekers kept a secret.
Nestled the expansive landscape of South Dakota, a community of women have been living their best lives since 1889, when their Swedish sisters “relocated to the bluffs of the Missouri River in Yankton.”
The Sisters of the Sacred Heart Monastery have been perfecting the craft of living a life immersed in spirituality and they have a lot to offer the right young woman seeking to be closer to—and in service of—God.
The kinship that comes part and parcel with being a “Yankton Benedictine” is a truly gratifying and wonderful life.
These women truly live according to their beliefs, in harmony with one another and the world around them. Their order is composed of a group of unwaveringly committed people united in passion and purpose making the world a better place. It is a model for those seeking a more peaceful and enlightened existence.
Too bad too few people know about it.
ISO Women 18-25 who hear the Call and CAN’T NOT answer. We know you’re out there.
Geopolitical and social forces have sequestered the “Life of a Sister” to the back burner of secular consciousness. If you don’t dress in habit, carry a stern demeanor, and pace the classroom in disapproval a la Hollywood depictions, people don’t really know you’re a thing.
And that’s a shame, because every day this group of devout women work to deepen their relationship with God, inspired by the philosophies of St. Benedict that focus on living in community with one another and assuming a vocation of spiritual enrichment.
Gone are the days of nuns in Catholic schools (secular teachers were introduced in the 1960s, reducing the visibility the Sisters had enjoyed in Catholic family life since the very first nun. Population trends toward smaller family size means that well-meaning aunts/uncles/grandparents/priests/friends stop suggesting “the life” and start pressuring, instead, for grandkids. Add a steady decrease in the traditional church experience for many American families, and it’s fair to say that nuns have become less of a staple and more of a curiosity.
Doing nothing about this problem of a general lack of awareness and little visibility despite all of the wonderful opportunities open to the right kind of women would be the least Benedictine thing ever.
Rather than fading into quiet obscurity these sage do-ers/problemsolvers put their forward-thinking heads together and decided to tackle this mountain by approaching it like …
… a Big, Bad, Branding Problem.
The Sisters understood that the disconnect between their wonderful programs and a steady supply of the just-right young woman was [capital-M]arketing.
The ”miss” was in the messaging. Although their marketing mix had many activities, consistent output, and an interested audience, the overall effort just wasn’t making an impact on the decision-making mind of a future nun (or an influencer thereof).
It was time to go deep on brand, culture, and true purpose; to figure out just who ‘our’ people are, what they’re all about, and how we can build a connection; to define who “we” are, and just what we deliver; to shine the light on what makes us different and uniquely “for” the just right kind of woman and her support network. (Learn more about the Power of Positioning to Build Brand.)
- What do they want? Make a call to action to a younger generation to be inspired by a spiritual life and make the Sacred Heart Monastery a forever home.
- Got goals? Get the words, tools, and action plan to transform the way they have been “doing” marketing. Provide the Committees with the thought leadership and professional perspective to get hyper focused on the best way to market their programs and make effective outreach.
Enter Rebecca. That’s me.
In a pre-COVID world, I could fly to South Dakota and live with the Sisters (and like a Sister) for a few days, immersing myself in the culture. It was 2019, and so I did.
It was an Anthropologist/Culture Maven’s dream come true. Greeted by a lovely lady (my soon-to-be new best friend Sister Bonita) dripping with hospitality and well wishes, the brandventure began in earnest.
Soon after being installed in my room for the next two nights, I met with a large cross section of Sisters, representing various committee leadership, vocations, and ages. Together, we transcribed the core of what the Yankton Benedictines are all about: community, spirituality, and high-performance as a human being.
As a group, we
- Identified the unique personal brand each sister brought to the table and pinpointed commonalities and uniquenesses.
- Plotted out target markets and audiences on a bullseye — and came to agreement on the center of that bullseye and developed a list of needs and pain points for each target market.
- Came to a consensus about who we are as an organization and as a community, clarified our programs, products, and services… as well as the intangible stuff we “deliver.”
- Achieved a 100% unanimous vote on our differentiator, what sets the Yankton Benedictines apart from other such communities, and why that’s great news to the right people.
For the next three days I had the honor and privilege to participate in all walks of “the life,” including prayer, mealtime, and culture. I spent most of my time meeting with a mid-sized cross section of Sisters, representing various committee leadership, vocations, and ages. Together, we unpacked what is in the hearts and minds of our target market and identified the kind of messaging that would appeal to each pain point along their journey to the Sisterhood.
As a group we,
- Dove deep into the psychopsychology of the just right “future Sister” and identified key marketing materials that can help usher them along to the next stage of “buy-in” and created a cross-section of alternative course of action that might appeal to the just right “future Sister;” made a plan to address with materials and messaging.
- Plotted out a content strategy based on storytelling, cultural competency, and seeking spirituality; identified “Market Desires,” core human emotions that come into play for our just right “future Sister.”
- Unpack “Monastic Life” and all the beauty therein and got comfortable talking about their programs in ways “lay” people can understand.
- Met with Volunteer, Vocation, and PR / Oblates / Peace Center committees for in-depth “Ask the Expert” sessions to review current marketing / outreach tactics and brainstorm new ways to think about their role on the committee, the purpose of the committee, and the people it serves
- Identified potential partners and allies to help bolster bandwidth, outreach, and effectiveness and brainstormed new marketing tactics that didn’t require more resources or bandwidth. Unpacked ways in which the various committees were in competition and / or redundant and came up with a solid action plan for reorganizing committee structure to foster a more thriving ecosystem.
Show me the Deliverables!
What were the results of this fine work? Well, take a look-see for yourself.
👉 Email me to see Marketing Magic for Brand, Massaging, and Content Strategy
👀 Roll-out session with the Sisters on ZOOM
Laundry List
- 2.5 day workshop and meeting notes
- Grows & Glows, recommendations from a marketing Pro
- 6-Month Marketing Plan and Content Creation Framework
- Brand Overview / Brand Promises / Reasons to Believe
- Positioning Statement
- Narrative: “Customer” Personas and The “Customer Journey”
- Digital Pics & Video for Social Media
Exit through the gift shop.
We’re focused on finding wonderful people to contribute to the community and try the sisterhood on for size through our Volunteer Program. We’re growing interest in the Spiritual Retreats at the Peace Center. And more importantly, we’re planting a flag in the center of modern life, a place for people who want to add their story to the 1500 year history of Gospel living in the light of St. Benedict.
“You are something very special. It was such a treat to have you here with us for a few days. I pray that Kourtney is able to implement some of what you worked out with us.”
