A beginner's guide to marketing for charities
Want to get your charity or organisation recognised, but not sure where to begin?
We know many third sector companies are feeling the pressure at the moment and we want to help in any way we can. We have written a short article to lay out the basics when it comes to establishing your messaging, creating a strategy and placing your content in front of your target audience!
Begin with the end in mind - goals goals goals!
Before you begin, it helps to establish some goals. What would you like to achieve? When would you like to achieve that by?
Some new potential goals you could set are:
1) Increase the amount of followers you have on a particular social media platform
2) Increase engagement with your posts online
3) Have 10 new donors within the next 6 months
4) Increase overall awareness of the charity
Once you've got some in place, every next step you take from here will work on achieving those goals.
Know your audience
Along with your goals, think about who you would like to target, how old are they? What is their line of work? What are their interests or what is their lifestyle like?
Envisioning a persona can be helpful when creating character profiles, case studies like these can help understand who your audiences are or could be, and what would be the best way to market towards them based on their behaviour or needs.
From this information, and using analytics, you can then start to create content ideas and begin to narrow down your marketing strategy.
Create some social media platforms
Social media is essential to get recognised online, did you know over 51% of users check Facebook every day, that's over 1.4 billion people, and 63% of Instagram users engage with content regularly? Those are people who all have the potential help your business or become donors.
But, you might find not all of them would be necessary for the goals or audience you want to connect with. Not all platforms are for everyone, and that's okay!
For example, keep in mind that 67% of Instagram users at between the ages of 18-29 and Twitter is largely made up of male users. So if your key target audience are women over the age of 40, these may not be your most essential routes to market your content.
Find out what analytics suggest about the different platforms, the demographics etc, and decide which ones might be most effective for your cause.
Keep your eye on analytics
Understanding analytics is vital when it comes to measuring the success of your marketing campaign, helping to optimise the strategy and make necessary adjustments when needed.
Make sure to link up your chosen platforms with well-recognised systems like Google Analytics or Hootsuite. These will provide you with regular data which will provide insights on how your audience are engaging with your content.
To achieve even higher rates in engagement with your content, try adding a 'Call to Action' at the end of your posts, suggesting how you'd like your audience to respond.
Be consistent with your content
When it comes to engaging and attracting supporters, keeping your content consistent such as frequency, information and tone of voice is essential. Whether you decide to post once or three times a week, try your best to keep it the same every week, your engagement is bound to go up when your followers know what to expect from you right from the start.
Make sure everything you are putting out provides a sense of value to your audience. Think about what will get them on board with your messaging! What would encourage and motivate them to take action? Are they aware of the impact their support could have?
Once you have some answers to these questions, incorporate them into the design of your content to help get those messages across.
You also might want to take a minute to think about what style of writing you want to use, is it formal, friendly or funny? What type of content do you want to put out, photos, blogs, videos? A mix of all three? Use your analytics to help guide you through what your audience are best responding to and continue to broaden your materials.
A few last tips before you go!
Facebook is a great platform if you are going to be posting about your charity and fundraising opportunities, many other organisations also use Facebook so it is a good chance to get connected and help each other out. There are also charity focused groups where communities of people can come together to share their ideas or issues, connecting with these pages and interacting with the posts can also help to spread awareness of your charity and get some recognition.
At Minted Box, not only do we provide sustainable and flexible websites within your budget, we're also the steam power behind Ema, a platform providing digital fundraising tools for charities. We can offer off-the-shelf or bespoke visual templates with sturdy integrations that comply fully with GDPR/PECR regulations.
If you're a charity who needs a brand new website or a fun, interactive space for your donors to come and give, we are here to help. Let's make the most of your online presence and maximise those donations coming in, year round!
Get in touch with our friendly team or visit our charities page.
