Let’s be honest, I don’t recall a time when my social media pages were not flooded with advertisements of various products or calls to action in the face of a spectrum of social causes. Heck, I don’t even remember the last time I preferred to physically go shopping. Yeah…Covid-19 did a number on us, alright. But digital marketing is not only of high importance to businesses and organizations; nonprofits are now expected to join the race.
Digital marketing for NGOs?!
You’d think that nonprofits would be the one group exempt from this digital craze. After all, they are the only ones who don’t live to sell us a product or service (I mean, hello? The name speaks for itself).
Yeah, I sense your confusion. But let’s rewind a bit.
What is Digital Marketing?
Digital marketing is best defined as the promotion of brands, using various forms of digital communication and digital channels, to reach out and connect with potential customers. These promotional messaging campaigns can pop up as paid social ads, email marketing, blogs, online videos, display ads, search engine marketing, or social media posts. Consider it an advancement from traditional marketing that relies on magazine and television ads, billboards, or direct mail. Subsequently, a smart digital marketing strategy can help you bring in potential customers, build a personal brand identity, and advertise products.
So, where do NGOs fit into all of this? Is it really time for them to join the race?
Absolutely! Here’s why!
Digital Marketing and NGOs
It is non-negotiable that the nonprofit landscape has drastically changed in the past few years. Relying on traditional methods to engage and raise money is long gone and not nearly enough anymore.
“So, you are telling us there will be no more phone calls from random numbers (slightly giving us anxiety) or on-ground dashing fundraisers to help the cause?”
Well…not exactly.
We all know that fundraising plays a key role for nonprofits to thrive. However, Covid-19 related restrictions have severely limited any opportunity for engagement, and paved the way for new exciting digital resources to emerge.
They need stakeholders through the door; but with Covid, and lately gas prices going through the roof, a virtual door will do the trick.
On that note, nonprofit marketing is mainly concerned with two types of interchangeable promotional purposes: fundraising and message-focused. A fundraising campaign aims at collecting donations from people who support your organization and its mission. On the other hand, a message-focused campaign aims at raising awareness and encouraging the public to express interest and carry on the charitable initiative through volunteering or behavioral changes. But it is not only about bringing people in, digital marketing helps spread the organization’s message, and have its mission build a global reach. In addition, digital marketing enhances customer engagement, brand awareness, and ROI. An intelligent strategy helps utilize multiple cost-effective digital tools for effective targeting and market authority; and is tailored to attract the right kind of people to the right place by best reflecting the organization’s needs. For example, creating a website for your organization can serve as a central point for supporters to engage with your mission, vision, and calls to action. If well crafted, and with the help of search engine optimization, you will allow your audience to keep track of latest news and recent developments. This will also offer new engagement opportunities translated through social media pages links, newsletter sign-ups, and volunteer and donation forms.
But how is it all done?
Glad you asked! (Even if you didn’t, I am going to tell you anyways)
There are a whole bunch of tools you can leverage to grow your social media presence and website traffic such as: paid advertisements (PPC), search engine optimization (SEO), search engine advertisement (SEA), social media, marketing, blogs, email marketing, backlinks, retargeting, and…. Well, I will leave the Leoceros team to fill you in on the rest! After all that has been said, the new cost-effective marketing strategies emerging from the depth of the digital world present themselves as an ideal option for non-profit organizations focusing on social causes rather then financial gain.
The world is on fast sprint, can you say you are keeping up?
