The Need for Digital Marketing For Nonprofit Organizations
No one can deny that nonprofits and for-profit organizations are different. They operate differently and have distinct goals and outcomes. But nonprofits also need to connect with an audience to achieve their goals. To do this, they have to develop a nonprofit digital marketing strategy.
Digital marketing for nonprofits lets you acquire new supporters and build relationships with existing donors. This increases your support base and helps you raise funds. A nonprofit digital strategy also means reaching the right people and creating a strong brand presence. With digital marketing, you can achieve success and make a greater impact.
This article explains all the reasons why nonprofits should get behind digital marketing. It also includes successful nonprofit online marketing campaigns to give real-world examples.
Why Is It Important to Invest in Digital Marketing for Nonprofits?
Digital marketing offers many benefits for nonprofits, but not many can see this. More than 50% of NGOs still don’t have a digital marketing strategy. They’re missing a lot of opportunities to grow their audience and fulfill their missions. To be more specific, having a digital system for nonprofits lets you:
1. Reach People Globally
What’s great about the online world is that you can connect to more people across the globe. Social media marketing is a powerful tool that can help you with this, but that’s not the only strategy to use. You can leverage SEO marketing so that more people can find your websites. And with engaging content, you can convert visitors into donors.
2. Connect With Audiences
Digital marketing for nonprofits lets you build stronger relationships with your supporters and donors. You also get to build a strong community of supporters.
Emotions are at the heart of any nonprofit’s goals. Social media platforms let you share your story and engage with your audience to emotionally connect with them. By doing so, your audience will more likely realize your cause and help you achieve it.
3. Build a Strong Network With Stakeholders
To succeed, nonprofit organizations need to use networking. You can do this at conferences, workshops, and other gatherings. Some of these events happen locally, where you can physically connect with stakeholders.
But ever since the pandemic, online gatherings have become popular, even for NGOs. Attending online conferences lets you interact with participants from all around the world. But a good NGO digital strategy allows you to build and maintain strong connections with them.
You can use email marketing to keep them up to date on any activities you are involved in. You can also use social media platforms to publish content or host events for stakeholders. This can be more cost-effective than managing a face-to-face event.
4. Raise Your Authority and Credibility
For-profits and nonprofits are similar in that both compete in their respective industries. You’re competing with a lot of other nonprofits for the same demographic. That’s why online marketing for nonprofits is getting more popular than ever.
But to rise above the noise, you need to have a strategy. At this stage, you should optimize your website and produce content that highlights what you do. Remember that people won’t support and donate to charities without investigating first. Your website is one of the first places they go for information.
4. Lessen Expenses
Traditional marketing is an effective way of putting your brand out into the world. While that is true, this can be expensive for organizations that have limited budgets, such as nonprofits. Fortunately, nonprofit digital marketing is more cost-effective and sometimes even free.
For example, it’s free to create a social media account on platforms like Facebook and Instagram. With this, you can implement your social media marketing strategy without paying for anything.
You can also find nonprofit online marketing services that are worth your money. Some specialize in specific services, while others offer different ones. Just make sure that they know how to market nonprofits and have experience doing so.
Digital marketing for nonprofit organizations and for-profit businesses may be similar in some ways. Both can include SEO, email marketing, and content marketing. But the goals and objectives for each strategy differ when you’re marketing a charity.
5. Track and Measure Impact
A good NGO digital strategy allows you to measure how successful your marketing efforts are. It’s not enough to see an increase in donations to say that your campaign is effective. There are a lot of factors unrelated to your marketing efforts that can cause people to donate to your cause.
Measuring your performance lets you identify which strategies are working and which are not. You’ll also get something to compare your future performance against.
There are a ton of tools for marketing analytics available online. Google Analytics, for example, allows you to see how well your website is functioning. You can track how many people visit the website, find out how long they stay and find out which content they engage with the most.
6. Adapt to Changing Times
Organizations, especially NGOs, must adapt to evolving audience habits. Nonprofits should adapt to be relevant, just like any other company. And your nonprofit digital strategy should take this into account.
Create a social media account if your target audience is there and share content that is relevant to them. Respond to comments, share, like, and retweet content to increase engagement. Doing these things will give you priceless insights into what your target audience wants and needs.
Examples of Successful Nonprofit Digital Marketing Campaigns
All these digital marketing benefits are not just in writing. There are a lot of nonprofit organizations that have witnessed how effective online marketing is for their cause.
1. American Lung Association
Lung diseases like asthma, emphysema, and lung cancer are the leading cause of death in the United States. That’s why the American Lung Association exists. Their main goal is to prevent lung diseases and promote lung health through research, education, and advocacy.
Their annual “Great American Smokeout” campaign brings awareness to the effects of smoking. To spread the word about their campaign, they used digital marketing to encourage smokers to quit. They created a Snapchat filter to target a younger audience and placed ads on social media channels. This encouraged smokers to take part in the campaign.
2. Amnesty International
Amnesty International works to fight for human rights and end global human rights abuses for good. It has been using digital marketing to spread its message and build its brand for many years now.
They have been very successful in leveraging the power of digital tools to spread awareness about human rights issues. These tools also help them fundraise for their cause. One of the highlights of Amnesty International’s digital marketing strategy is its use of social media.
3. The Nature Conservancy
The Nature Conservancy collaborates with several celebrities to fight for the preservation of ecologically significant lands. Some of their notable partnerships include those with Leonardo DiCaprio, Ellen DeGeneres, and Justin Bieber. The organization has been extremely successful in using these partnerships and celebrity supporters to drive awareness about their work.
Final Thoughts
Digital marketing does a lot of wonders for nonprofit organizations. You don’t need to rely on traditional marketing to engage supporters and solicit donations from potential donors. Investing in nonprofit digital marketing lets you:
- Reach a lot of supporters and donors
- Become an authoritative and credible figure
- Cut marketing expenses
- Evaluate your marketing campaigns
- Adapt to the needs and behaviors of your audience
A strong online presence guarantees that your nonprofit’s efforts have a stronger effect. It also puts you in a better position to advocate for the causes that are important to you and your supporters.
Read More:7 Essential Digital Marketing Tips for Small Businesses
