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.

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.

If I were to google you right now, what would I find? What impressions would I form after viewing your professional history, your social media presence (or lack thereof), and your photos? Would I want to do business with you? Hire you? Befriend you?

Wakeup call, people … you’re being watched. It’s time to take control of your personal brand.

Say what?

Whether or not you identify it as such, you have a personal brand. Branding used to be reserved for businesses, but with the mushrooming social media landscape and the growing gig economy, the time has come to embrace personal branding.

A personal brand is how you present yourself to the world. It’s what you want people to know — who you are, what you think, what you stand for, and what makes you unique. Oftentimes, it’s the first impression someone will make of you.

So … yeah, it’s important. A strong personal brand establishes you as a thought leader in your industry, promotes your company (and your career), differentiates you from those who share your space, and allows you to build trust with those who seek you out.

Know thyself

Developing your personal brand starts with taking an objective look in the mirror. How would you describe yourself personally? Professionally? How would others describe you? Identify a handful of adjectives that feel like spirit words and make them your litmus test for everything you publish, post, share, comment on, and participate in. 

Find your niche. Solidify what sets you apart. And then run with it. It won’t happen overnight. It requires communicating your mission to your audience, in a genuine way, consistently and for the long-term.

Speaking practically

• Focus your branding. Share only what rings true. Posting just for the sake of posting is just noise.
• Deliver value to your audience. Make sure what you’re sharing is relevant to those you are talking to.
• Put the “social” in social media. Interact on the platforms where you live. Comment when you have something to say. Like when something rings true to you. Start a conversation.
• Share yourself with your audience. Give them a glimpse into your life and your soul. People want to know what makes you tick.
• Don’t live and die by your numbers. Having a gaggle of followers is fantastic, but are they your people? Are they engaging with you and furthering your brand?
• Lastly, and most importantly, make sure the on-line version of you matches the in-person version of you. Nobody likes a stepford wife. Don’t get caught up in what you think you should be – be authentic. 

If you’re not sure how to get there, give us a ring. We can help you hone your personal brand and show you how to rock it!

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.

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.

To go along with our 8th Anniversary, which we are celebrating this month, here are eight marketing trends that are fast-becoming marketing must-haves. Are you taking every opportunity to build your audience?

1. Personalization

Personalization can take on many flavors. It can be as simple as including your customer’s first name in the salutation of an email. Or, a company can be very intentional about their website and lay out an easy-to-follow trail of digital breadcrumbs.

You don’t need to turn your supply chain inside out but do think about how you reach your customer at every touch point and ask, is this made for them?

2. AI

Speaking of personalization, Artificial Intelligence is going to make even more personalization options available. In fact, it already is – Amazon is a perfect example. When a customer logs into their Amazon account, the landing page is customized for them based on their past purchases and viewing history.

3. Live Streaming

Even in our hyper-connected world, people still long for connection. I think this partly explains the popularity of live streaming (also called live video). Conducting live streams with comments enabled can go a long way in building a relationship with your audience.

4. Visual Search

Human beings are visual by nature. So, it makes sense for people to want to search visually as well as with words. And the technology to do so is getting better and better.

Pinterest is a powerful example of this trend. For an interesting account of their pursuit of visual search technology (it all starts with an avocado, because of course it does), click here.

5. Voice Search

As we have talked about on this blog before, voice search is fast becoming a part of consumers’ everyday lives. Forty-one percent of adults use a voice- activated personal assistant at least once a day. Optimizing your website for voice search will become increasingly important.

6. Purpose & Emotion

The adage “people buy with their emotions and assign reasons to their actions later” is true. Nike, Tesla, Facebook. For better or worse, these companies have showed their purpose through their actions over the years. And customers have reacted.

What emotions do your customers associate with your company? What is your company’s purpose?

7. Experiential Commerce

Much has been made of the retail apocalypse. But, as TechCrunch argues, retail might not be experiencing The End so much as an inflection point.

Many wildly successful e-commerce businesses have opened physical stores in recent years – Amazon, Warby Parker, Casper, Glossier. It’s all about creating a seamless experience where a business can court a customer little by little. Retail stores are showrooms and experiences unto themselves, where customers can try before they buy.

8. Content marketing

Consider this: 47% of buyers viewed 3-5 pieces of content before engaging with a sales rep.

Content marketing isn’t going anywhere. The media market is fragmented, everyone is their own publisher. Now is the time for companies to build their own audience.

2019 will be all about a better customer experience with personalization, automation and AI-powered technology, so you need to be sure you are producing custom content to engage your targeted audience. Whether you’re considering incorporating these trends or you’ve already implemented and are evolving your use of them, we are here to help you incorporate them into your marketing plan.

As the leader of your brand, it is up to you to determine the vision for your business, you are also the business leader. You are mission-control to successfully making that vision materialize. Be responsible for recognizing – and deciding how best to overcome – the barriers to your brand’s success.

One of the most powerful (and responsible) things you can do as a business leader is to get out of your own way.

The business leader and/or business owner holds a tremendous amount of power. You can be your brand’s greatest asset and its biggest backer. Critical to your mission, however, is not to become a barrier yourself.

During a conversation with a business owner and CEO of a $50M+ company, the CEO relayed that his largest client could not implement the programs offered to them because the necessary departments were not communicating with each other.

To overcome this hurdle, the CEO stepped in to facilitate meetings and interactions between his client’s departments. However, he was not getting paid for that time and taking on that role took him away from his own responsibilities.

When asked to provide my advice to this dilemma, my answer was simple: Don’t attend the meetings. If he did not attend the meetings, others would be forced to take on rightful ownership of their responsibilities, freeing the CEO to focus on his own responsibilities.

Here are four things to consider as a business leader in order to get (or stay!) out of your own way:

1. Build boundaries and bridges. Don’t put yourself in situations to be the point person when it is not your role. If you consistently play a role not meant for you lines become blurry and you increase your risk of burnout. You also risk not having the time and/or resources you need to be successful. Build a good team – in-house and/or through outsourcing. Then take a step back and let them fulfill their own roles.
2. Do it, delegate it or delete it. Does your to-do list continue to have the same thing on it week after week? Yes? Figure out why. If it is something that requires YOUR attention, do it. If it needs to get done but someone can or should complete it, delegate it. Maybe circumstances make completing a task unrealistic, undesirable or unnecessary – then, delete it. Procrastination is a barrier to productivity and to creativity.
3. Find your joy. Focus on the good contributions. Perhaps you work with a client who is abrasive. Understanding that he or she has a difficult job can help you avoid taking things personally. Look at the good things you are doing in your own role and the positive things the company is doing. If you focus only on the negative or get upset over the same things on a weekly basis, you prevent yourself from seeing the positives of your own – and others’ – contributions.
4. Celebrate success and forget failure. Failure is a necessary part of the process. Expect it. Embrace it. Learn from it. As a leader, failure should be empowering. Don’t let it get you down. Stop and acknowledge when you overcome it.
   

If you can get out of your own way, you may be your brand’s greatest asset. We have built a strong team and could be a powerful ally. Give us a call.

This month, we celebrate – ourselves! We are turning 8 this year, and to celebrate, we thought it would be fitting to look back at 8 important marketing moments from the past 8 years.

2011: Kick Start Something Great

Kickstarter came into its own in 2011. It took 16 months to attract 200,000 backers. In 2011, it took 3 months to attract the same number of backers. Unencumbered by “death by committee,” fledgling entrepreneurs were able to create a proof of concept via the magic of crowd funding. Video turned out to be a big key any successful Kickstarter project, foreshadowing the importance of video marketing to come.

2012: NSFW: Dollar Shave Club

Speaking of video, a humble contender in a commodified market dominated by a handful of legacy companies, Dollar Shave Club marketed themselves with a tongue-in-cheek video that spread like wildfire on social media.

The results speak for themselves: in its first three years, the company took a 1% market share and by summer 2016, Dollar Shave Club cornered 5% of the market. At the same time, Gillette’s market share dropped from 71% to 59%.

2013: Dunk in the Dark

Oreo stole the show during Super Bowl XLVII. When the lights went out during game, Oreo tweeted:

Their tweet was retweeted more than 16,000 times. Highlighting the importance of nimbleness and consistency, Oreo’s response shows that legacy brands can master social media too.

2014: Ice Bucket Challenge

Capitalizing on user-generated content is difficult, but when done right, it can be an influential marketing tactic. Case-in-point: The Ice Bucket Challenge. A powerful combination of social media, a good cause, ice water, and friend shaming, the Ice Bucket Challenge proved that yes, you can raise money through social media.

2015 – Move Over Millennials

Generation Z, people born in 1995 or after, were starting to enter the workforce and marketers took notice. This generation is the first generation to be considered true digital natives, having not known a world without the internet. They also make no distinction between digital and IRL.

2016 – Gotta Catch ‘em All

Pokemon Go launches and suddenly people were venturing outside again, if only to catch adorable, digital creatures. The game marked one of the first times that augment reality was used on a mass consumer scale, ushering in even more ways for marketers to reach people where they are.

2018 – Hot Off the Presses

Proving once again, that great marketing isn’t always about the latest, greatest tech, street wear brand Supreme teamed up with the New York Post. The New York Post printed its entire newstand run in a full wraparound cover with the Supreme logo. By 10:30 that morning, copies were selling on eBay for $12 and on the resale fashion site Grailed for $10.

We don’t know what tomorrow may hold, but we are excited for what the future may bring. Here’s to 8 more rockin’ years.

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 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.

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.

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

I’m a mother to three kids firmly in the grip of teenage angst, so I frequently find myself talking to them about the importance of authenticity. Recently my youngest child said, “You keep using that word. But what does it mean EXACTLY?”

And that got me thinking. Authenticity IS a buzzy word, used frequently in many different contexts, which makes it easy for the concept to feel trendy and hazy. So since I’m a word girl, I consulted my dictionary to give me the word’s purest form:

authentic

adjective

not false or copied; genuine; real

Not false or copied. Genuine. Real. That’s pure gold, isn’t it? Authenticity is a buzzword for good reason.

We talk to clients all the time about authenticity in their branding and marketing. As the Chief Rocker would say, “It all begins with the brand.” And she is SO right! If the brand doesn’t feel real and natural, your audience won’t:

1. Know you.
2. Like you.
3. Trust you.

Authenticity is the new brand standard. The most authentic brands in the world are also the top brands, period.

So how do you build an authentic brand? Answer these questions:

Does your brand have conviction?

Your brand must stand for a specific promise, and everyone within your organization must believe that it’s important.

Does your brand have consistency?

Your brand must deliver on its promise at every touch point, every time. Your outreach efforts should be undertaken regularly and on schedule.

Does your brand have connection?

Your brand must be relevant and persuasive to your target audience, or your message is falling on deaf ears. Establishing an emotional connection with your people is key.

If the answer to these three questions isn’t a resounding YES, give us a call. We can show you how to rock your brand authentically!

Digital marketing continues to win this marketing season as digital marketing spending continues to rise. This is not new. In 2016, eMarketer.com projected digital spend would exceed television by as much as 36% by 2020. 

According to WebStrategies, the following are earning their spots on marketing budget rosters:

• Email marketing – Email marketing continues to be the best player to generate ROI.
• Social media marketing – A solid first-round pick. In that category, Facebook continues to hold the top spot and Instagram comes in 2nd.
• Search and display marketing – Search and display marketing still earns the largest share of digital marketing budgets. In 2018, 78% of those surveyed indicated a plan to increase their Google Ads budget. Online display (banner ads, online video, etc.) takes the second share.
• Live events – This is another competitor making a comeback. Two thirds of marketers plan to increase spending on live events in 2019. This is not a surprise as the digital world faces fierce competition and privacy challenges.
• Video Marketing – The MVP for growth in digital marketing budgets goes to online video. Investment in this category is expected to more than double 2016 numbers by 2021.

With the rise of Facebook Live, live events and video are teaming up (think megachurches with pastors appearing on screens, political candidates announcing intentions via live video and the use of video as part of the in-home sales trend in the beauty and cosmetic categories).

Regardless of your industry, here are 4 tips for video marketing:

1. Mind your audience. Take care to advertise to your target, not yourself.
2. Don’t complain just for the sake of complaining. You can sell your brand without negativity.
3. Keep it short and simple. The clock starts running as soon as your audience clicks on your link. Don’t fumble around. Have a solid plan and stick to it.
4. Be clear in your play-calling. You are the quarterback for your brand. Run or pass, assist your audience by clearly telling them what you want them to do and how they can do it.

To score with any marketing campaign begin with the end in mind to increase your opportunity for success. There are still significant advantages to veteran players such as traditional media (now referred to as “offline”) in terms of building awareness, extending reach and driving your brand message.

It is important to find the right balance between online vs. offline spending. That ratio will vary from brand to brand. Let us be your marketing coach and manager. We can help you find that balance and manage that content.