Nonprofits work hard for little money and recognition. With few resources, you’re doing the best you can. But don’t think for a second that just because your organization is a nonprofit that you can’t have great marketing.

Remember, nonprofit is a tax status, not a case for support. Being a nonprofit alone is not a reason for anyone to give. Nonprofits must tell the public about the good they are doing and how people can help.

Here are 5 common nonprofit marketing mistakes and how to fix them:

Mistake #1: Not Participating in Social Media

The point of social media is to be social. Too many nonprofits post only about themselves, follow only a few accounts, do not respond to comments, and ask without giving in return.

This is the equivalent of meeting someone at a party who only talks about themselves, talks your ear off for 20 minutes, and then asks for $50.

Don’t be that guy.

Here is a good rule of thumb to remember when it comes to social content:

• A third of your social content should promote your organization, converts readers and generates donations.
• Devote a third of your social content to sharing ideas and stories from thought leaders in your industry or like-minded organizations.
• A third of your social content should be fun stuff to show that there are human beings behind your social media handles.

Mistake #2: Forgetting Who Your Audience Is

Too often, organizations market to themselves. They only consider what appeals to them and not their supporters. Step outside of your perspective and think long and hard about your audience.

Are your supporters older, younger, parents, young professionals? Are they more likely to respond to digital appeals or direct mail? What do they care about the most – saving time, professional development, kids, the environment, education, social issues? Put yourself in your supporters’ shoes.

Mistake #3: Brand Inconsistency

A consistent brand is a strong brand. Brand consistency builds trust and increases loyalty.

Stretched logos, incorrect brand colors, spelling errors, pixelated photos – if they happen once or twice, it’s a simple mistake. If they happen all the time, it makes your organization look homespun at best, or unprofessional worst. And that can erode trust.

Mistake #4: Too Much Text

As they say, a picture is worth a thousand words. And a thousand words alone is, well, not something anyone wants to read.

Your supporters lead busy lives. Take a closer look at your content and figure out where you can tighten your copy.

Mistake #5: Boring Photography

Scott Kirkwood, former editor-in-chief at the National Parks Conservation Association magazine, put it best in a HOW Magazine article:

“…if you helped the nearest national park receive money for a new building, don’t show a photo of that building – it’s a building. Think about how that building will change the life of a visitor. Will the park be able to offer more bird-watching programs as a result? Great. Show a photo of a bird.”

Don’t think that just because your organization is a nonprofit that you can’t afford great photography. The latest smart phones can take great pictures and with a few tutorials, you could be well on your way to taking great photos.

Show photos of the people, animals, environments, etc. helped by your programs.

Show, don’t tell.

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You’re trying to do good on a shoestring budget and a skeleton staff. We get it. Its understandable if this seems overwhelming. Great marketing is a constantly moving target that poses a challenge for many organizations.

If you want to talk about your organization’s marketing challenges, give us a call.

We love a challenge.

Blogs. Social media. Video. White papers. Infographics. All these things, and more, are content and can be used in content marketing. But what is the point of generating all this content?

The point is this: in an increasingly fractured media landscape, building an audience and a community around your company is one of the few ways to directly reach consumers. By giving them something of value, they will give you some of their attention.

Content marketing is about building trust. If consumers trust your company, they will be more likely to buy from your company.

Today’s consumer is used to doing their own research before they buy. According to a 2016 Demand Gen Report, 47% of buyers view 3-5 pieces of content before engaging with a sales rep. Wouldn’t you rather have one of those pieces of content be from you?

The Marketing Funnel is Changing Shape

The marketing funnel isn’t so much a funnel anymore as a flywheel. This Forbes article excerpt explains it best:

A change in mindset and a library of high-quality content will replace this traditional funnel with something more sustainable (and effective). The funnel is becoming more of an ongoing cycle that prioritizes continuous engagement over transactional relationships. This increased focus on nurturing, especially post-sale, makes customers more likely to stay with you or buy again — and more likely to give recommendations to friends and colleagues.

With content, you can transition your brand from vendor to partner. To be honest, someone else in your space can almost always come in and undercut you on price. But when you continuously engage your clients, build lasting trust, and form genuine partnerships, you’ll have much greater staying power.

The Oldest Content Marketer on the Block

Content marketing has been around for as long as there has been, well, content. One of the earliest, and in my opinion, one of the best content marketing examples is The Furrow magazine produced by John Deere.

What started out as an advertorial-driven publication turned into a beloved resource for generations of farmers. Today, The Furrow is a story-telling vehicle, with great photography and advice on how farmers can run their businesses.

And, there’s not much actual mention of John Deere. The Furrow is happy to be a trusted source for farmers, and in exchange, farmers let John Deere into their homes.

Fun With Fireworks

You don’t have to be the flashiest company on the block to use content marketing. Case-in-point, high-end cooler company Yeti. From the beginning, Yeti forged their own marketing path.

In addition to targeting “prosumers” with sponsored programming on hunting and fishing television stations, Yeti created a series of short video clips that put their product to the test. They pitted their coolers against a professional wrestler, a slingshot, and even fireworks.

Content marketing is usually educational. But it can be fun, too.

Canva is another great example of content marketing that takes care of the customer rather than pushing them through a funnel. Canva is a graphic design app that also publishes helpful content through their Design School blog and social media. They are a resource for their customers and earn their trust.

I used Canva when I was working in a job where I did not have access to Adobe products (the industry standard when it comes to graphic design.) I also tried out different software alternatives. Truthfully, if the Canva software didn’t work as well as it does, I might have gone with one of their competitors. But, Canva works well and it’s a great resource. So, I went with them.

Yes, eventually I moved on to Adobe products. But it certainly wasn’t because of price (graphic designers often call it the “Adobe Tax”). For a long time, I relied on Canva for graphic design basics and how-to information. And now, I tell anyone and everyone who needs graphic design software cheaply to try out Canva. I am no longer their customer, but I am an advocate for them.

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Content marketing is a slow roll. It’s like leaving a bread crumb trail for consumers to follow. Spread those bread crumbs around, make them irresistible. Everyone wants to be remembered, so tell your story.

Personalized marketing is all about connecting the dots – data and content – based on consumers interests and preferences. Data collection and analysis allows for strategic deployment of individualized content to target audiences. “Customers have more choice than ever before, so we have to ensure we’re meeting their needs in real time, on-demand and personally relevant ways, both online and offline,” Mark Sciortino, VP of brand marketing strategy and planning, Walgreens, relayed in 2018.

Here are three benefits to utilizing personalized marketing:

Improved Customer Experience

Knowing their sensitive information is protected makes customers more comfortable with providing personal information. In return, they should receive more personalized experiences upon subsequent visits.

Increased Brand Loyalty

When consumers provide information and data, they expect to be treated as unique individuals with specific preferences. Dedicate time and resources to implement successful personalized marketing strategies. The result will be a competitive advantage in both brand loyalty and customer satisfaction.

Inflated ROI

If your automation technology is on point, you can easily identify individual customer preferences. Capitalize on it with customized content across channels online and offline. This will result in more sales opportunities. Coca-Cola’s Share a Coke campaign used common first names to attract millennials. That personalized campaign was the first time in years Coca-Cola grew their sales.

Personalized marketing campaigns require you to connect the three “C’s” of content with the three “C’s” of customization. You must know – and connect with – your audience. To know them is to love them by generating content personalized to them.

Collection

To create personalized marketing, you have to know what matters to your target. That starts with collecting data about them which is relevant to your brand. Real-time collection and analysis of data allows you to consistently evolve your marketing strategies to customers’ ever-changing behaviors. For example, if you are marketing a restaurant, your data collection would include location, demographic, and transactional data.

Creation

For your data collection to be beneficial, you have to utilize the collected information to create relevant content. Data collection allows you to create targeted and customized email marketing, social media marketing, video messages (one reason automated technology is key), and individualized product recommendations. In fact, 2015 research showed that personalized email campaigns received 29 percent higher email open rates and 41 percent higher click-through rates than ordinary emails.

Connection

Connection is built through authentic interactions. Personalized marketing allows you to connect individually and in community with your audience. You can show your human side (social media engagement or working reply-to email addresses). It also allows you to capitalize on consumers FOMO (fear of missing out) by showing how many people may be looking at the same product, how many of an item remain in stock or how long an item may remain on sale.

As with any marketing campaign, there are challenges to achieving these goals. In personalized marketing, the two main challenges to overcome are:

• Consistency. Consumers are interacting with brands across a number of channels, including email, social, mobile, etc. Each interaction with your brand must be consistent at every touch point.

• Time and Resources. To collect the right data, companies must utilize the right technology. Analysis of the data to create relevant content on a constant, evolving basis across multiple channels is key. This takes a significant number of hours and a significant chunk of manpower and monetary resources.

We would love to be a consistent resource to help you connect all the dots on your brand’s personalized marketing campaign.

Sometimes I think we get so caught up in the latest, biggest, tech-iest thing – augmented reality!Slack! artificial intelligence! – that we forget to look at tested tactics that may not be as shiny and new, but they are effective. Ladies and gentlemen, I am talking about email marketing.

I can feel the collective “ugh” in the room.

Email is spammy. I get too many emails every day. Email is so… 1995.

Well, the ‘90s are back. And email marketing is still here – for good reason.

Email is a Huge Part of Our Day

According to an Adobe survey, consumers overall are checking their personal email an average of 2.5 hours per day and they are checking their work email an average of 3.1 hours per day. Half of all respondents said that when it comes to receiving offers from marketers, they prefer being contacted via email.

Even respondents born in the ‘90s spent a staggering amount of time in their inboxes – 18-24-year-olds spent 5.8 hours of their day checking their email.

Why do we use email so much? Adobe had a few ideas: “Why is email so ingrained in our lives? One reason may be that it’s so manageable—we can sort, file, filter, and generally get things done. It’s also a known, safe quantity. We’re familiar with how to make email work for us, and we feel confident about the privacy of our data.”

Email is Owned Land

A strong mix of marketing channels is important to any marketing plan – social media, paid media, direct mail, etc. – but email is one of the few channels that can be considered “owned land.”

FaceBook could fall of the face of the earth tomorrow, but you still have your email list.

Emails are Customizable

Email segmentation gives businesses the opportunity to tailor their message to their customer – whether that’s segmenting by demographics or by a trigger, such as recent website activity or a recent purchase.

Segmented emails perform much better than non-segmented emails. When compared to their non-segmented counterparts, segmented emails have a higher open rate (14.31%) and unique open rate (10.64%). They also have a lower bounce rate (4.65%) and unsubscribe rate (9.37%).

Emails are…. Intelligent?

Remember when I mentioned AI earlier in this post? In the future, artificial intelligence could help make your email marketing be even more effective. Machine learning could take a lot of the guesswork and time out of A/B testing, personalizing content, timing emails, and finding new audience segments.

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It’s safe to say, email is here to stay. Which is a great thing – emails are customizable, they are data a company owns, and are a big part of consumers’ everyday lives.

Now, if you will excuse me, I have to go check my email.

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How effective was your last email campaign? Did you segment your email list? If so, how?

Over the weekend, a friend sent me some screenshots from the Instagram account of an event we are both familiar with. “HAVE YOU SEEN THESE???” she said. The series of posts featured a scantily clad woman and her friends promoting the event. Slightly confounded by the choice, I took a quick visit to her Instagram page. She had a gaggle of followers, but no real connection to the audience or the event itself, and unfortunately, it didn’t play well.

The idea of using a social media influencer was not a bad one. Influencer marketing is on the rise – Google alone saw a 325% increase in “influencer marketing” searches last year. It’s based on the practice of using influencers in your niche to create and distribute relevant content and share it in an authentic way. It can be a fantastic way to find and reach your people.

However, influencer marketing is a wasted exercise (and investment!) if you aren’t using the right influencers. And while it’s tempting to use metrics like number of followers as a measure of influence, it’s important to take a closer, more comprehensive look at a potential ambassador before you ask them to promote your brand.

Fit

How relevant is the influencer to what you do? How aligned is their content with your messaging? The best partnerships are natural fits – their audience must believe that the endorsement is genuine and your audience must be able to relate to them.

Engagement

Is the influencer engaging with their followers in a meaningful way? Or are their pages just a collection of selfies? If people aren’t commenting and interacting with the person, keep looking. Your audience will get bored with someone who is just skin deep.

Reach

Reach is certainly a valid consideration, so take a look at traffic and followers. But ask yourself who they are reaching. Is it your target audience? Reach is irrelevant if the influencer isn’t reaching the right people.

Authenticity

Influencers must be viewed as authentic and genuine. Is this person partnered with too many sponsors? If so, they will not appear trustworthy.

When chosen thoughtfully, an Influencer partnership is one of the best ways to build your brand online and raise awareness among your target audience. Need some help choosing the right influencer? We can help!

 

 

 

This time of year, the stakes are high in the charitable giving arena, making nonprofit marketing more important than ever. Roughly 30% of all nonprofit giving happens during the last month of the year, from #GivingTuesday (the Tuesday after Thanksgiving) through December 31.

Donors are feeling generous, so the time is now to launch a compelling marketing campaign to support your annual appeal. The competition for donation dollars is real, so keep these things top of mind to ensure you don’t get lost in the noise:

Keep Your Messaging on Point

Messaging should be compelling and concise. What will inspire donors to give to your nonprofit over another? Your messaging should be clear and speak to your audience in a resonant, emotional way in a voice that supports your mission and is undeniably yours.

Make Sure Your Website is Ready for Prime Time

This is likely your biggest campaign of the year – your website should be ready to receive visitors. Make sure your website is compelling, current and eye-catching, and that your campaign is highlighted on your homepage with a clear call to action. Your donation page should be front and center – make it easy for people to give!

The Time is Now for Email Marketing

An optimized website only works if you’re driving traffic to it, so create some well written emails that will resonate with donors and drive people to your site. Consider using storytelling in your campaign – it’s a powerful way to arouse emotion and inspire action. A good narrative brings people together, evokes emotion, and creates empathy. Fundraising is a very human-centered enterprise, and when our emotions are tapped, we are much more likely to act.

Support Your Campaign with Social Media

Nonprofits are all competing for dollars, and social media will be abuzz. You can’t afford not to be telling your story there. Every platform has a different voice and demographic, so tailor your messaging to each channel. Establish a monthly social media calendar to ensure all your touchpoints are covered, and encourage sharing by your stakeholders and friends.

Don’t Forget to Say Thank You

Recognize your donors and their gifts quickly. Leave them with something that makes them feel undeniably good about supporting your organization.

It’s go time for Nonprofit Marketing! Are you ready to rumble? If not, come see us!

Any good marketing plan wouldn’t be complete without the inclusion of some event marketing as part of the mix. Hosting an event allows you to reach people personally, build a relationship, and increase brand loyalty.

I love a good analogy, and I liken running an event to conducting a symphony. A symphony needs a strong conductor to unify performers, set the tempo, and control the pacing of the music. It needs a strong and diverse instrumental ensemble to provide a beautiful, multi-layered performance. And it needs a captivating musical score that sets the tone and crescendos in spectacular fashion.

Planning and executing a successful event lies in these details:

Crystallize Your Vision

Start by “scoring” your event. Identify your audience, define your message, and determine the experience you want to provide. Having a clear vision is important, because all the smaller event details and decisions will flow from it.

Logistics Follow

Your “score” will inform your logistical decisions. Choose a venue, food, music, entertainment, format and feel in keeping with your vision. Stay true to the experience you want to provide and these decisions will flow easily.

Choose Your Partners Wisely

Ensure the professional  partners you choose to assist you are on board with your vision. Your caterer, photographer, videographer, etc. should be well versed in what your plans and expectations are for the event.

Plan and Train

Plan everything, down to the minute. Have a schedule and a timetable. Ensure that your “orchestra” understands their roles from beginning to end. Identify your transition times, your presentation times, time spent ramping up and time spent winding down. It’s all important. Extremely important.

We love planning and executing events for our clients. Most recently, it has been our privilege to partner with Practice Ministries in order to “Set the Table” for the future success. We look forward to delivering an exceptional experience to their attendees bright and early on Thursday morning!

Do you need some help planning an event? Come see us on the Porch!

Voice-search is increasingly becoming a way people find information online:

• Forty-one percent of adults use a voice- activated personal assistant at least once a day.
• Fifty percent of all searches will be voice searches by 2020.
• One-third of smartphone owners use their voice-activated personal assistants regularly.
• More than 35 million Americans use a smart speaker at least once a month.
• Moreover, the global market for smart speakers is expected to grow to $2 billion by 2020.

Voice-Search at Work

And before you assume that consumers do all of their voice search in private, consider that in a recent study, 50 percent of respondents said that they use voice search in the office. That must make for great cubicle relations.

Interestingly, voice searches indicate a greater intent to buy. This could be a good time to review the SEO strategies you have implemented on your website.

Be Natural & Direct

 

Here’s how you can optimize your web copy for voice-search:

• What problems does your company help consumers solve? Write content that answers these questions.
• Once you’ve figured out the best terms and questions, look these up in Google.
• Pay attention to the answers that Google spotlights in the answer box at the top of the page.
• Can you answer these questions in a more direct way? The answers that show up in the Google Answer Box are the answers that get read out loud, increasing your odds of customer action.
• Be Natural. When people use a virtual assistant to search for something, they’ll usually use words like “who,” “what,” “when,” “were” etc. Are you answering these questions on your website?  If not, you might need to take another look at your copy.

Throwing another search factor into the marketing mix can seem daunting. But, by taking some small steps, you can incorporate some thoughtful strategies and optimize your website for voice-search.

Fall is a season full of new engagement and reconnection. There are new coworkers in our offices. Our children are reconnecting with friends at school. Also, its a good time to look at tactics and strategies to increase your marketing ROI. After all, it is the last quarter of 2018. Enter the power of email marketing.

Certainly, social media is important.  (We love connecting on Instagram and Facebook!) Yes, influencer marketing campaigns are on the rise. But, email marketing is still known for higher ROI percentages for new and repeat consumer engagement.

Why?  Email allows for a more “conversational tone.” As a result, email communication can create a genuine feel for the consumer. Remember, “a small list that wants exactly what you’re offering is better than a bigger list that isn’t committed.”

Here are some tips for successful email marketing communications:

Make it personal: Know your audience. Personalization goes beyond including users’ names. This is an expected practice and off-putting if not done.

Email marketing allows you to “create different journeys for different groups,” says Forbes contributor Seamas Egan in his article, Netflix Is Winning At Email Marketing. Use the power of personalization to your advantage.

Make it interactive. Egan suggests using GIFs to animate emails. This is a great way to create relevant and interactive content. Check out this collection of animated marketing emails for inspiration.

Make it quick and easy. The less effort and time required for interaction, the better. Make emails skim-friendly. As a result, readers can quickly find the call to action and the main purpose of the email.

Sometimes a single email triggers a response that reconnects us. But, sometimes a single email is all it takes to land new business.

When it comes to marketing plans, there are a plethora of opinions about how best to approach them. And who doesn’t love a good analogy to break down a complex topic? We certainly do.

Today marks back-to-school for many districts, including our beloved client, Faith Family Academy. Enjoy this day, parents and teachers! It’s always a good one! Commensurate with the beginning of school is the official end of summer travel. We rockers truly enjoy our summer adventures, and we love to share them on Instagram, so check us out if you are in need of a ‘lil travel inspiration!

Travel planning is a great analogy for marketing planning, so let’s GO!

Destinations = Goals

All brilliant marketing plans start with goals. A goal is a destination that you want to reach. If you were planning a trip you would naturally start with your destination. For the sake of illustration, let’s choose Vancouver.

Method of Transportation = Strategy

So you want to go to Vancouver, but how are you going to get there? This is your strategy. You can travel by train, plane, automobile, boat, motorcycle, or you can walk! Depending on where you’re travel is originating, some of these might be instantly ruled out (walking from Arlington to Vancouver … nobody has time for that!). For my family’s summer trip to Vancouver, our transportation strategy was to fly to Seattle and ride the train to Vancouver.

Packing List = Tactics

Up next, tactics. To execute our travel strategy, we needed to pack the following: plane tickets, rental car, train tickets, passports, lodging, sightseeing itinerary, tickets for attractions, and a suitcase packed with the proper seasonal attire. These are all considered tactical elements to make our Vancouver destination memorable.

Goals, Strategy, Tactics.

Apply this analogy to how you want to reach your target audience and you will achieve your marketing goals. Need help getting started? We would love to meet you on the Porch and get rockin’!