Why You Need An Updated Marketing Strategy

Can marketing help a nonprofit?

Every nonprofit knows the myriad of challenges that come with obtaining a grant from a major foundation. As competition tightens, even increasing one’s network of individual donors in order to appeal to larger foundations isn’t easy. In current nonprofit work, a fundraising strategic plan is only as good as its marketing strategy.

It's crucial to understand the role of modern marketing in securing funding. Harnessing this expertise as the competition tightens is crucial for nonprofits in order to support the organization’s members and its cause as a whole. The good news for non-profits is that marketing is one of the top careers among new graduates. The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics projects that advertising management jobs will grow by 6% over the next 7 years, and a big reason for this is the sheer size of the digital marketing industry. This is why modern marketing degrees focus on digital marketing skills, like social media engagement and data analytics, as it ensures that fresh graduates can easily adapt to an increasingly digitized marketing industry. And with students now much more conscious about the type of company they work for, non-profits can take advantage of this 6% growth to update their marketing strategy.

Still not convinced? Here’s how an updated marketing strategy can help.

Social media marketing has evolved

Digital was once seen as a mere alternative to tried-and-tested traditional marketing. However, recent studies suggest that digital marketing is not only accepted, but now the norm in the industry. This is because in the age of information, most people are online. Neglecting digital marketing means that a significant amount of the target market will be overlooked.

Nonprofits can take advantage of social media and their wide reach, as well as free options for boosting visibility. This helps attract new donors, and volunteers, while keeping existing donors engaged. The most popular social media channel continues to be Facebook, and while competition can be steep, a breakthrough is possible with the right strategy. This can include hashtags, sharing live events, placing the donation link on the top of a short article, and many more options for engaging the community.

Digital marketing maximizes reach

Beyond social media, there are other creative means to expand your nonprofit’s reach and engage in event marketing. Old but gold email marketing is one of them.

Nonprofit emails already saw a 5% increase in open rates in 2019. As more people go online, your organization can better develop successful email marketing strategies and add value for their readers by showing what you do and linking audiences via storytelling. If you prefer to keep it straightforward, a simple promotion in your email signature using an event image or a hyperlink helps too.

Amplify print and digital collaterals

Many would assume that an updated marketing strategy means leaving print behind for digital platforms. However, successful strategies are often a combination of both.

Consider how 98% of people check their physical mail. Nonprofits can easily include QR codes that link to your event on every print collateral, which will entice audiences to scan and find out what's going on. A blended campaign using physical and digital marketing makes use of both their strengths, and could enable your organization to stand out in a crowded advertising space.

More grants and donations

Updating your marketing strategy in the digital sphere also means exhausting peer-to-peer fundraising opportunities such as Facebook Fundraising, which spreads your event across different circles for a small price, or even Google Ad Grants outside of social media.

With Google Ad Grants, your organization can access up to $10,000 per month in search ads and more during specific calls. Up to $200 million was provided to nonprofits fighting the coronavirus pandemic, with a total of $1 billion allotted to those promoting vaccines for Covid-19 and fighting against racial injustice. All nonprofits have to do is register in order to access these benefits for free.

Moving forward, it's important that nonprofits step up their game and focus on how to best expand their range and engage the crowd in a competitive space. Modern marketing can seem intimidating, but once you get the hang of it, it's sure to guarantee transformative benefits for the nonprofit sector in the years to come.

Article was written by Rebecca Jules

Exclusively for LindaHandley.com