rethinking online marketing: using inbound marketing to grow your fundraising
DESCRIPTION
A fundamental decision nonprofit marketers must make when developing a marketing communications strategy is whether to push, pull or both. A push strategy relies on outbound marketing and means you are going to interrupt people and buy (advertising), beg (media and public relations) or bug (email marketing, direct mail, telemarketing) them for attention. A pull strategy relies on inbound marketing and means you are going to try and earn people's attention by developing great content and amplifying that content with social marketing and making it easy to find out about your cause through search engine optimization.TRANSCRIPT
NO BOUNDARIES
Rethinking
Online Marketing
Presented by:
Jono Smith October 24, 2010
#Convio10
3
© 2010 Event 360 & Convio, Inc.
Session Objective & Outcome
• SESSION OBJECTIVE:
– Strengthen your effectiveness in online marketing
• SESSION OUTCOME:
– A few good ideas to test when you get back to the office
• SESSION AGENDA:
– Inbound & content marketing defined
– Inbound & content marketing in 5 steps
– Content marketing examples
• INTENDED AUDIENCE:
– Beginner to intermediate
4
© 2010 Event 360 & Convio, Inc.
Who‘s here?
Executive Management
Unit Directors/Managers
Staff
5
© 2010 Event 360 & Convio, Inc.
Inbound, Outbound, or both?
Outbound: Interrupt
• Buy: Advertising
• Beg: Public Relations
• Bug: Telemarketing,
Direct Mail
Inbound: Earn
• Develop great content
(podcasts, white papers,
webinars)
• Amplify content with social
media (blogging & RSS
syndication)
• SEO (Make it easier for
people to find our content
6
© 2010 Event 360 & Convio, Inc.
Downturn Strategy: Maximize Net Revenue
Before you spend another dollar on your existing online
marketing programs, I would ask three questions:
1. Does it increase donations?
2. Does it boost net revenue?
3. Does it protect an existing revenue stream?
Some nonprofits don't measure net, they measure gross. And so
they may be thinking they're producing a lot of money, but
they're actually losing money.
7
© 2010 Event 360 & Convio, Inc.
So how do I become an
inbound marketer?
Time out. First things first.
10-Point Website Check-Up
1. Is your URL guessable?
2. Do your publish your URL on every
communication, both online and offline?
3. Do you use website design strategically?
4. Do you provide relevant content that tells your story through
words, pictures, videos, or podcasts?
5. Can you collect email addresses on every page of your website?
6. Do you use social, email & search marketing to drive traffic back
to your website?
7. Is your Donate Now button above the fold?
8. Is your donation page optimized?
9. Can people find your website in search engines?
10. Do you have your social icons on every page of your website?
Why is this important?
• Usability is the ‗donation killer‘
• Turn-off factors:
– 20% of people can‘t find where to donate
– 40% don‘t donate because of poor design, cluttered
pages and unintuitive layouts.
– 40% can‘t find the information they need or find the
website content unclear.
10
© 2010 Event 360 & Convio, Inc.
Why is this important?
• On average, over 45% of
online giving is during December.
• In December, nearly half of the donations for the
month are in the last 6 days, when each day
Convio is processing more than $1 million in
donations.
• Average donation is 40% higher in December
11
© 2010 Event 360 & Convio, Inc.
So how do I become an
inbound marketer?
Marketing needs to become a
content creation engine.
12
© 2010 Event 360 & Convio, Inc.
Content Marketing Strategy
• Inbound Marketing is a subset of Content Marketing
• Content marketing is the art of understanding exactly
what your target audience wants to know about your
mission and delivering it to them in a relevant and
compelling way to grow our business.
– Develop great content
– Make the content easy to find
– Provide opportunities for engagement
– Capture prospects, cultivate prospects & convert prospects
13
© 2010 Event 360 & Convio, Inc.
Measure Everything
Website
Grade
Indexed
Pages
Monthly
Unique
Visitors
Inbound
Links
Susan G. Komen 99 3,010 201,281 180,230
National Breast
Cancer Foundation
98 20,100 38,097 51,161
Data from website.grader.com and compete.com
14
© 2010 Event 360 & Convio, Inc.
Ok, you have committed to Twitter…
So what are you going to Tweet about?
15
© 2010 Event 360 & Convio, Inc.
Get Into the Content Mindset
• Make emails into blog
posts
• Turn forum posts into
blog posts
• Shoot videos at events
• Interview supporters for
your blog
• Do podcasts with your
program & executive staff
• Share lessons you learn
16
© 2010 Event 360 & Convio, Inc.
Content Marketing Strategy There are four components to a content marketing strategy:
1. A relevant issue of interest to your target audience
– i.e., breast cancer, microfinance, conservation, etc.
2. A strong point of view
– We are the only nonprofit advocating for a better way to create neighborhoods nationwide by promoting conservation subdivisions
3. Research that supports the point of view
– Conservation subdivisions preserve 50% - 70% or more of the buildable land, plus unbuildable wetlands, steep slopes and floodplains.
4. Case examples that validate the issue
– The same number of homes can be built as allowed in conventional "cookie-cutter" subdivisions.
17
© 2010 Event 360 & Convio, Inc.
Here’s the problem.
It is not enough simply to
identify a global or regional
issue that your constituents
are facing and develop
content that explains it.
18
© 2010 Event 360 & Convio, Inc.
What Makes You Different?
• You need to take a strong point of view on why it is an
issue, what is going to happen, and how to deal with the
ramifications.
• Your point of view should be differentiated from
competitors' views, original, and hopefully counter-
intuitive.
• Your online value proposition represents the
principal means by which to differentiate yourselves
against the online competition.
19
© 2010 Event 360 & Convio, Inc.
Crafting Your Online Value Proposition
• Mission Statement: Our mission describes what we do. It is factual, not aspirational—we can substantiate it every day.
– Our mission is to empower people to work their way out of chronic poverty, transforming their lives, their children’s futures and their communities.
• Vision Statement: Our vision describes our ultimate goal.
– Our vision is a world in which all people have the opportunity to provide for their families and build a fulfilling life.
• Value Statement: Our value proposition is an internal expression of our most compelling differentiator.
– We are the only nonprofit providing lending, savings, insurance and training to emerging entrepreneurs in more than 20 countries who want to work their way out of chronic poverty.
20
© 2010 Event 360 & Convio, Inc.
What makes you the only?
• Complete this sentence:
– My nonprofit is the only ________ that __________.
• For example:
– Malaria No More is the only nonprofit applying business methods to the malaria fight.
– LandChoices is the only Michigan land protection organization creating nature neighborhoods.
– Baltimore Furniture is the only furniture dealership that sells sustainably manufactured furniture.
21
© 2010 Event 360 & Convio, Inc.
What‘s your ―onliness?‖
• If you can‘t say why your nonprofit is both different and
compelling in a few words, don‘t fix your statement... fix
your nonprofit.
• Once you‘ve defined your nonprofit‘s onliness, you‘ve
got a decisional filter for all your online marketing
decisions.
• By checking back against your onliness statement, you
can quickly see whether any new marketing campaign or
initiative will help or hurt, focus or unfocus, different or
me-too.
NO BOUNDARIES
Content & Inbound Marketing
in 5 Steps
23
© 2010 Event 360 & Convio, Inc.
#1 The Goal
Focus on a single focused goal to provide direction,
motivation, and operational guidance A focused goal
comprises five elements:
24
© 2010 Event 360 & Convio, Inc.
#1 The Goal
Align Content Marketing with your 2011 Strategic Plan
1. Examine your 2011 goals
2. Pick one where content
marketing can have an impact
3. Focus on content & relationships,
not tactics & technology
4. Adopt Google‘s mantra:
―Fail fast, fail smart.‖
25
© 2010 Event 360 & Convio, Inc.
#1 The Goal
• Listen to your community
• Help your constituents connect with each other
• Influence event participation
• Build thought leadership
• Improve constituent relationships
• Improve recruiting
• Improve search engine rankings
• Influence fundraising
• Increase media coverage
26
© 2010 Event 360 & Convio, Inc.
#1 The Goal
Finish the sentence:
―We will know our inbound marketing efforts are worth
further investment if…‖
• Facebook fans become donors.
• Twitter followers become volunteers.
• LinkedIn followers become event participants.
• Blog readers share our content.
27
© 2010 Event 360 & Convio, Inc.
#2 Research Your Audience
Think of donors like readers.
What do they need to know to
be happy and successful?
What are their pain points?
28
© 2010 Event 360 & Convio, Inc.
#2 Research Your Audience
29
© 2010 Event 360 & Convio, Inc.
#2 Research Your Audience
30
© 2010 Event 360 & Convio, Inc.
#2 Research Your Audience Demographics
e.g. Where are moms online?
Psychographics
e.g. Who are moms influenced by?
Source: ―Digital Mom,‖ RazorFish and CafeMom, 2009
http://digitalmom.razorfish.com/publication/?m=4248&l=1
31
© 2010 Event 360 & Convio, Inc.
#3 Understand the Value
What‘s the value of a fan or follower?
32
© 2010 Event 360 & Convio, Inc.
#3 Understand the Value
•Page Impressions, Visits, Unique Visitors
•Time Spent, Pages per visitor
•Emails opened, click-throughs
•Videos viewed, audio plays
Engagement & Reach
•Number of Mentions, Posts, Comments
•Recommendations
•Mentions-per-user
•Send This To A Friend
•Inbound links
Word of Mouth
•Offline media mentions
•Online media mentions
Earned Media
•Higher search results
•Greater search results “share”
•3rd party results
•Customer/stakeholder feedback
•Product sampling
Research
Search Visibility
33
© 2010 Event 360 & Convio, Inc.
#4 Choose the Tactics
―We should blog & Tweet!‖
1. Are you listening to your online community?
2. Do you have something unique to say?
3. Are you willing and able to say it?
4. Are you willing to be challenged and criticized?
5. Are you willing and able to dedicate the resources to succeed?
34
© 2010 Event 360 & Convio, Inc.
#5 Develop a Content Calendar
• Every good publication has an editorial calendar.
• The calendar-planning exercise generates a wealth of ideas.
• Since some of the content we offer as marketers is ―evergreen‖ (i.e., the topics will be as relevant next year as they are today), there‘s no reason not to have a plan for content.
NO BOUNDARIES
How Content & Inbound Marketing Strategies
Fueled the Growth of Fundraising123.org
Case Study
36
© 2010 Event 360 & Convio, Inc.
Case Study
Fundraising123.org
• The mission of the
Network for Good
Learning Center is
simple: to provide
nonprofits with free
access to the best
available online
fundraising and nonprofit
marketing training and
resources.
37
© 2010 Event 360 & Convio, Inc.
Humanistic We started by researching our audience and developing personas
• Offline Ozzie: Ozzie is deputy director for a small, child services nonprofit that has a one-page web site that doesn‘t really work, and his organization has done so little effective online marketing that existing efforts have not yielded any real results.
• Technophobic Tina: Tina works for a small- to medium-sized nonprofit that is eager to raise money online, and she‘s in charge of doing that as a development officer or marketing director. But she‘s totally intimidated by technology.
• Overthinking Alex: Alex is executive director of a smallish nonprofit that has a modest web site, but he‘s got big dreams. He‘s ready to get a donation processing tool and an email tool.
• Corner-cutting Candace: Candace is an accidental techie at a small- to medium-sized nonprofit with a web site with big potential. She is somewhat tech-savvy but also overwhelmed.
• Savvy Samantha: Samantha is a web developer working full time at a medium-sized nonprofit that is growing fast. She‘s quite pleased with the system she‘s created – she has Basic or maybe even Custom DonateNow, Constant Contact for emailing donors, and an Excel list of donors.
38
© 2010 Event 360 & Convio, Inc.
Actionable, Clear & Happy • Vision: To make our customers, partners, and partner‘s
customers wildly successful, fundraising and marketing superheroes.
• Micro goals:
– Capture email addresses and grow our house list
– Gain top 25 placement for our target keywords
– Drive traffic back to the main website
– Build deeper relationships with influencers
• Marco goals:
– Creating awareness of the need to facilitate online giving, building trust in the brand, and generating revenue through new subscriptions.
39
© 2010 Event 360 & Convio, Inc.
Testable
• Ran a four month test
40
© 2010 Event 360 & Convio, Inc.
Lessons Learned
• Avoid the measurement for measurement‘s sake
challenge – know in advance what you‘re measuring and
why.
• Creating a fact-based, predictive culture requires a
willingness to experiment
• Carry out pilots and small-scale experiments before
committing the big bucks
41
© 2010 Event 360 & Convio, Inc.
42
© 2010 Event 360 & Convio, Inc.
Results
Fundraising123.org (2008-2010)
• 471,000 AUVs
• 1.6 million page views
• 3 mins avg time on site
• 2.1 avg page views
• 21,000 inbound links
• Google Page Rank: 7/10
• Grew house list from 30,000 to 150,000
43
© 2010 Event 360 & Convio, Inc.
Results
Fundraising123.org (2008-2010)
• Traffic Sources:
– 46% Referring Sites
• 1) Blog
• 2) Facebook
• 3) Twitter
• 4) StumbleUpon
• 5) Email Marketing
– 29% Direct
– 23% Search Engines
NO BOUNDARIES
How Twitter generated more than 11,000
website visits and exposure to more than 1.2
million Twitter users for the Atlanta affiliate of
Susan G. Komen for the Cure
Tweets for a Cause
45
© 2010 Event 360 & Convio, Inc.
Campaign Overview • Goal:
– Generate awareness, registrations and donations for Komen Atlanta and its upcoming annual Race for the Cure
• Strategy:
– Engage active Atlanta Twitter users to spread the message ―8 Ways Your Mom, Wife, Sister May Have Breast Cancer‖
• Tactics:
– Landing page with strong call-to-action
– Komen Atlanta notified their individual Twitter followers about the upcoming initiative.
– A modest PR push targeting local Atlanta media, along with national breast cancer and charity bloggers complemented the program launch.
46
© 2010 Event 360 & Convio, Inc.
What worked?
• Simple message
• Clear call-to-action
• Strong landing page execution
47
© 2010 Event 360 & Convio, Inc.
48
© 2010 Event 360 & Convio, Inc.
Measurement Within 24 hours, TFAC significantly increased awareness for Komen Atlanta and its mission as measured by the following engagement metrics:
• More than 300 retweets of the message ―8 Ways Your Mom, Wife, Sister May Have Breast Cancer‖
• 5,000 total link clicks to the educational landing page including 2,900 link clicks in the first 20 minutes after the initial tweet
• Exposure of Komen Atlanta to 1.2 million twitter users
• 11,000 visits to the Komen Atlanta Web site
• Mentions of Komen Atlanta by targeted power-twitters including @mashable
• Editorial coverage of Komen Atlanta and TFAC‘s collaboration on CNBC.com, BreakingTweets.com and other media outlets
49
© 2010 Event 360 & Convio, Inc.
Three Final Thoughts…
50
© 2010 Event 360 & Convio, Inc.
There is no silver-bullet
marketing tactic. In reality,
you need a combination of
on- and off-line channels
to create awareness and
drive fundraising.
51
© 2010 Event 360 & Convio, Inc.
Everyone should stop
doing inbound marketing
until they know what they
want to do with inbound
marketing.
52
© 2010 Event 360 & Convio, Inc.
What if your supporters
spread your content to
prospective supporters for
you - essentially becoming
your marketing arm?
53
© 2010 Event 360 & Convio, Inc.
Contact Information
Jono Smith
Event 360, Inc.
Washington, DC
773.247.5360 x130
www.event360.com