How are your 2018 nonprofit marketing plans shaping up so far? If you’re anything like me, you probably view each New Year as an opportunity to learn and improve from the prior year in ALL areas – including your marketing strategy. Last year I implemented a couple of new ideas into my own marketing mix. Some things worked well, and I plan to continue using them in 2018. However others didn’t quite pan out the way I’d hoped, so I left those behind. My motto: Fail fast and learn from it.
Over the last five years, you’ve likely read (perhaps literally) hundreds of blog posts and articles extolling the many virtues of content marketing—each one praising its potential to help you raise your brand visibility, build awareness for your cause, develop trusting relationships with your community, increase your thought leadership, and boost your fundraising efforts.
In the spirit of the holiday season, we decided to ask our clients and nonprofit marketing peers to share what’s on their marketing wish list for 2016. Here are the top responses we received.
Powerful storytelling is the lifeblood of a nonprofit’s fundraising campaign success. Without a great story to share, it is virtually impossible to effectively draw an emotional connection between prospective donors and your cause.
Today’s marketers understand that blogging is one of the most effective tools for generating website traffic which can be converted into new leads for their business—and nonprofits are no exception. Content Marketing Institute’s 2015 research states that 58 percent of nonprofit marketers used blogging as a content marketing tactic in 2014—up from 47 percent in 2013.
A strong social media presence can help you meet your goals in multiple areas including brand awareness, audience engagement, fundraising, cause advocacy, lead acquisition, donor loyalty, and retention. According to Content Marketing Institute’s 2015 Nonprofit Content Marketing Report, 93 percent of nonprofit marketers are using social media as part of their overall content marketing strategy.
At its core, an effective content strategy allows you to tell your brand story, educate your audience, and offer solutions to their pain points. That strategy is then executed by creating content, selecting keywords, optimizing web pages, and building links around the terms your audience is searching for online.
