How do you make your message stand out in the digital age? The Fortune 1000 companies have (mostly) figured out how to do this by leveraging some basic digital marketing tactics. Fortunately, you don’t have to be a big company to implement them. In this blog post, we’ll explore 5 of the top ways your nonprofit can market like the pros. Let’s dive right in!
1. Measure your marketing
In my experience, most nonprofits do a poor job of measuring the performance of their marketing. The good news is that getting started with measuring doesn’t have to be incredibly difficult.
You can begin by conducting an A/B test, which refers to comparing two slightly different pieces of marketing content (such as two versions of a web page or email message) and measuring how they perform compared to one another. You could also conduct a split test, which is the same as an A/B test, except the two pieces use completely different designs.
Plugging in Google Analytics into your website is helpful when conducting these tests for many reasons, chief among them being that it gives you information regarding your audience, such as traffic numbers and sources.
Next, make any changes to your marketing efforts based on your measurement numbers.
Finally, iterate (or repeat) the test you’ve conducted, measure your results, and repeat the cycle until you feel comfortable with what you have made.
2. Plan your marketing initiatives
I’ve seen a lot of nonprofits who approach communications and marketing without goals, metrics, or plans in place. Don’t do this. Planning your approach to marketing is imperative if you want to spend your money and time wisely.
Set goals and hold yourself accountable. Create a schedule for yourself and stick to it as much as possible. Be disciplined in your approach. You’ll more than gain back whatever time you spent planning in the long run.
3. Know your audience
Many of the Fortune 1000 companies spend billions of dollars knowing their audiences. Even as a small- or medium-sized nonprofit, you should spend some time thinking about this. If you have good relationships with your donors and volunteers, you are already doing this in a major way. Building solid relationships with people who believe in your mission is perhaps the most important part of knowing your audience.
Another way to get to know your audience is by reaching out to people who aren’t familiar with your nonprofit, but who have the potential to become small donors or volunteers. Again, this is something you may already be doing, and if so, keep it up.
4. Build a team
A big problem I see in small- and medium-sized nonprofits is the executive director getting sidetracked with communications and marketing. It is his or her job to fundraise rather than being the sole marketer and promoter of the organization. That’s why you need to build a marketing team of people you trust—whether it’s one employee or several. You might also consider using contractors to help with this.
5. Use what you have more effectively without budgeting more money
Today, you have more free (or inexpensive) options than ever when it comes to effectively marketing your message.You’ll need to, however, use your marketing funds strategically. Unfortunately, there isn’t a set course for marketing—you’ll have to figure out what your customers respond to and provide that in the most effective way. It may be a process of trial and error, but as marketing expert Seth Godin says, “The cost of being wrong is less than the cost of doing nothing.”