Non-profits are often underfunded and need to be creative with their marketing strategies. Digital Marketing is an affordable way to reach a large audience, but which type of digital marketing should they use? This blog post looks at the pros and cons of different types of digital marketing for non-profits organizations so you can decide what’s best for your organization!
The following is a list of Digital Marketing Methods:
- Social Media
- Email marketing campaigns
- Digital advertising on websites
- Search engine optimization (SEO) to improve organic search rankings and drive traffic through the website.
These are all great ways to increase your reach, but how do you know which one will help you achieve your goals? This blog post looks at each type of digital marketing in detail so that you can determine what Digital Marketing methods are right for your non-profit!
Social Media
We all know what social media is, but which platforms should our company use? What kinds of things should we post on a regular basis? How can we make the most of our time on social networking sites? Shawn likes to describe social media as comparable to poker: it takes minutes to learn, but an eternity to master.
Digital marketing through social media is very affordable, but you need to develop a strategy for success. Digital Marketing can be used with all types of non-profit organizations, whether it’s the American Cancer Society, Canadian Mental Health or an environmental organization like Greenpeace!
- Pros:
Social media is an affordable way to reach a wide audience.
The more people who like, follow or share your organization’s social media posts increases the likelihood that they will see your content in their feed!
- Cons:
Not all audiences are on social media platforms. For example, LinkedIn has no presence for non-profits and if you’re trying to target teens with Instagram only half of them use it (compared to 90%+ of adults). Make sure you research which Digital Marketing for non-profits methods work best for your specific demographic! If most of your targets aren’t using Facebook consider other Digital Marketing Methods instead. Remember to always check out the latest statistics before choosing Digital marketing channels
Email Campaigns
Sending emails out about upcoming events and encouraging donors/volunteers to sign up are great ways to engage your audience in Digital Marketing campaigns. Email is also one of the cheapest forms of digital marketing because most email providers charge per number of subscribers rather than how many people open them (unlike pay-per-click ads). Emails still work best when they’re relevant and targeted – just throwing something out there won’t bring results!
Digital Advertising
Advertising is paid ads that will show up in the Google search results when users are looking for something specific.
There is a lot of confusion around Google Ads. Google Ads are a form of digital advertising, search engine marketing, or PPC (pay-per-click). However, they are very different from Search Engine Optimization. As discussed above, SEO is about getting more organic traffic by optimizing your website so Google will show it to users searching for the keywords you want to be found for.
- Pros:
Digital Advertising lets fundraisers get creative with landing pages that convert visitors into donors (like this example from WWF). It also makes Digital Marketing affordable since organizations don’t pay per number of clicks like other Digital marketing for non-profitsmethods. On average ads cost $0.75 – $30 depending on how much competition there is for keywords related to your organization (how many people are trying to advertise these terms) and which platform you use (Google Adwords, Facebook Ads, etc.).
- Cons:
Digital advertising is only effective if you know your audience and where they’re spending their time online. It’s also a crowded market! If there are lots of non-profits trying to advertise on the same website then Digital Marketing for non-profits becomes expensive very quickly. Search Engine Optimization (SEO)
Search Engine Optimization
Optimizing and developing new content for your website is an excellent approach to attract fresh visitors and convert more of them into contributors or volunteers. Prioritizing informative, up-to-date, and easy-to-read material will not only guarantee a pleasant online experience for people visiting your site, but it will also help you attract new visitors.
- Pros:
SEO makes Digital Marketing more effective since it’s about getting the non-profit to rank higher in Google when someone searches for keywords related to their mission. SEO can be much cheaper than other Digital marketing for non-profits methods, but you have to do good research and spend time creating high-quality content!
- Cons:
It takes a lot of work – especially if no one on your team is trained or experienced with SEO. You also need clear objectives that are measurable so that SEO’s know what they’re trying to accomplish (i.e., get more website visitors) and how (increase traffic by 20% using paid search ads). Also make sure everyone understands which key performance indicators (KPIs) Digital marketers should be paying attention to (i.e., traffic, bounce rate, number of visitors who sign up for your monthly newsletter).
Conclusion
Digital Advertising on Websites Digital advertising is not as targeted or personalized as SEO, but it can be a great way to increase awareness about your organization with a bigger audience. Digital ads are relatively cheap and if you pick the right website for placement, they could even generate some revenue!
Search Engine Optimization (SEO) Search engine optimization has long-term benefits because Google tends to favor websites that have more relevant content in its index. The better optimized your site is for search engines, the higher it will rank when someone searches for keywords related to what you do – bringing new visitors pouring into your website every day! However, optimizing an entire website takes time and effort so this tactic works best if you’re just starting out or need immediate results due.
