Digital Marketing for Non-profits

In a perfect world, money and active volunteers would flow effortlessly towards non-profits and there would be no need to work at getting the word out about your worthy cause. But we live in the real world, and for your work to be successful, it’s imperative to develop a non-profit digital marketing strategy. More and more, you’ll be engaging with your supporters online, and that’s where you’re most likely to expand your audience as well.

Navigating the ins and outs of digital marketing can be challenging, but there are some components of the process you should focus on that will help your organization gain greater recognition, involvement and donations. Read on to learn more about them.

Inbound Marketing

Inbound marketing is a valuable digital marketing tool that uses online content to organically draw like-minded people to your website and non-profit cause. Your web content and social media posts are specially crafted to offer content designed to create awareness of your non-profit that attracts prospective supporters. Effective inbound marketing helps an audience find you, rather than you reaching out in search of an audience.

Content Marketing

Content marketing is an inbound marketing practice that focuses on written content and compelling images to attract an audience. As part of your digital marketing plan, it works best when you evocatively tell the story of your non-profit and its mission. People are drawn in by a gripping narrative, so use content elements like blogs, emails, newsletters and other communications to tell yours.

Make sure your blog is regularly updated, which increases the likelihood of having an ongoing flow of traffic to your site. Newsletters should be issued on a regular basis – not too many to overwhelm your mailing list, but enough to keep you on their minds. Always remember to include emotionally engaging images, which should never be underestimated as a non-profit digital marketing tool.

Social Media Marketing

A robust social media presence must be a key element of your non-profit digital marketing strategy. Facebook, Twitter, Snapchat, Instagram and other platforms easily enable you to keep your followers up to date on the very latest developments. What’s more, they’ll then do some of outreach work for you, by sharing your content with their own personal and professional networks.

Always keep in mind that social media content is viewed most often on hand-held devices, where impactful visuals are crucial to strong engagement. Enhance your messaging with images and videos. And remember too, that social media is a two-way conversation; when a supporter responds to something you’ve posted, reply or share their message. Take time in your digital marketing planning to create a specific strategy for social media, pay careful attention to elements like content, posting frequency and ways to increase engagements. The benefits will be just a click away.

Email Marketing

When it comes to digital marketing for non-profits, email marketing is a win-win: it helps you stay connected to your donors, and it’s a potent tool in reaching an even larger audience where you can develop relationships with potential new supporters. And there’s even more good news: email marketing is both efficient and inexpensive, which makes it especially valuable in your digital marketing operations.

An email marketing campaign can be directed to your entire subscriber base, which works best for generalized announcements, such as an office move or major organization accomplishment. To engage your followers more closely, deliver slightly different emails to smaller segments of your mailing list. That way you can tailor your messages to include specific information you know will be of interest to each group, which is bound to lead to better results.

CTAs

A strong call to action (CTA) will inspire an immediate response, most commonly in the form of a donation to a specific campaign or a call for volunteers for an event. A common CTA for non-profits is a “button” that links to a donation or enrollment form. For a CTA to be most effective, it should be specific: where will the funds from this donation be directed? What is the clear goal of this promotion? What do you hope to accomplish at a particular event?

Once someone pushes the CTA button, the completion process must be smooth and easy. The landing page should be easy to navigate with no distractions. It should also look good, amplifying the appeal of your cause with selective use of inviting images.

SEO

Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is a must-have element in your non-profit digital marketing strategy. Its objective is for your website to be easier for people to find on Google and other search engines. If you pay attention to SEO, your website can land higher on a user’s search list, which translates into more people clicking onto your page and being introduced to your organization.

This enhanced exposure is particularly important for non-profits, since a bigger audience leads to increased engagement and the potential for more supporters. Part of your digital marketing plan must be aimed at SEO, whether you have people focusing on it in-house or you work with outside consultants.

Growth-Driven Design

A painful reality of digital marketing for non-profits is that websites need to be redesigned on an ongoing basis for them to consistently operate most effectively. Adopting the concept of growth-driven design doesn’t mean that you have to toss out the website design you have now and start from scratch. Design and marketing actually go hand in hand in growth-driven design, which keeps a careful eye on factors like shorter launch times, real impact and ongoing improvement.

Growth-Driven design is an ongoing process, in contrast to traditional website design, which does everything at once and then remains fairly static until it’s time for an overall redesign. With growth-driven design, there’s no downtime for your non-profit digital marketing strategy; if one part of the site is being redesigned, other parts are still functioning and fundraising efforts are fully up to speed.

Get in touch with us at DuBose Web to find out how we can help with your non-profit digital marketing strategy. We’re a full-service digital marketing agency passionate about forming partnerships with community-focused organizations. We can’t wait to hear from you!