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.”

Email marketing has higher ROI percentages for new and repeat consumer engagement.

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’!