We know a thing or two when it comes to digital marketing tips for charities. Whether you’re a nonprofit just starting out or an established charity looking to drive donations, digital marketing is a must-have in today’s digital era.
From email marketing campaigns and social media presence to your website and paid advertisements, digital marketing can help to significantly increase the visibility of your charity, raise awareness and enable you to meet your goals – that is when used effectively!
We’ve put together 5 top digital marketing tips for nonprofits looking to use digital marketing to raise awareness for their cause, garner support and further their impact. This blog is simply a whistle-stop tour of must-know digital marketing tips – if you’re looking to get stuck in, take a look at our ultimate guide to digital marketing for charities packed full of insights and guidance to help you achieve big.
Tip #1: Define your charity’s digital marketing goals
Before you get stuck in with any digital marketing activity, you need to first define your goals. Think of it like this: if you set off on a journey with no clear direction, you’ll use an awful lot of fuel and time to ultimately reach an unwanted location. On the other hand, if you set a clear destination (aka your goals), you can map out the most efficient route to get there and use it as a reference point to ensure you’re staying on track.
So, in essence, goals provide direction and ensure everyone within your charity is working to achieve the same thing. And when everyone’s on the same page, things will run a lot smoother and you’ll see much greater success. It’s a win-win.
When it comes to defining your charity’s digital marketing goals, you need to consider the bigger picture. How does this feed into your overarching strategy? Are your goals aligned with your broader mission, vision and values? You also need to ensure your goals are both realistic and measurable – if not, how will you evaluate the effectiveness of your digital marketing efforts?
#Tip 2: Know your target audience
In a similar vein, understanding your audience is key before starting out with your charity’s digital marketing. You need to arm yourself with a best friend level of knowledge. For example, knowing the types of content they like and the platforms they favour will help to inform your content marketing strategy and allow you to prioritise the most effective channels for your audience and goals.
As a charity, you’ll likely want to target different audiences across different platforms, for example, you may segment your audience into donors, sponsors, etc and then define further categories within each segment. By segmenting your audience, you can tailor your marketing to each group – but what does this mean for your charity? Increased engagement, better relationships and an audience ready to take action when required. Relevance is key in marketing. The more your audience can relate to your content, the more likely they will be to take action and remember your cause.
#Tip 3: Make your charity’s site mobile friendly
Your website is one of only 2 digital marketing channels your charity has complete ownership of (the other being email). It’s the window into your nonprofit and often the first port of call for new and existing donors, supporters and beneficiaries. A place for people to learn more about your cause, why your nonprofit exists, make donations and explore your latest news and fundraising events. It’s a hub of information and an essential channel for any charity looking to grow with digital marketing in 2022.
Did you know around 70% of all online traffic comes from mobile devices? A number only set to increase in coming years. So if your charity’s website isn’t yet optimised for mobile, now is the time to fix it! If you want to learn more about mobile UX, check out our ultimate guide, but for now, here are three quick tips to get you heading in the right direction:
- Test your site across different devices: They will all have different screen sizes and may use different browsers, so it’s worth accessing your site using as many different devices as possible.
- Consider readability: Mobile screens are a lot smaller than desktops, so consider things, such as font size, colours and spacing.
- Usability: Avoid placing elements too close together, keep navigation clear and accessible and ensure touch targets are of sufficient size.
#4 Prioritise email marketing
One of the oldest channels in digital marketing and certainly one of the most effective. For charities in particular, email marketing brings a clear benefit in terms of cost i.e. it’s free. This means, you can build relationships and drive your goals without spending a penny, leaving you to invest your budget where it matters most.
Another key benefit of email marketing is its highly personal nature. It allows you to have ‘one-to-one’ contact with your supporters at the click of a button. Whilst you know the same email is being sent to a mass audience, your supporters will receive an email directly to their inbox, address to them, from you (to expand on this, see our tips on personalisation and automation in our ultimate guide to email marketing). And with more personal communication, comes greater trust and more of a drive to take action.
Other key benefits of email marketing for charities include:
- Gather invaluable feedback
- Encourage donations
- Drive traffic to your site
- Re engage your audience
- Promote fundraising events to relevant audiences
- Track results easily
For inspiration and tips for getting started with email marketing for your charity, be sure to check out our email marketing for nonprofits article.
#5 Review everything
When it comes to digital marketing for charities, the numbers mean everything. For you to truly gauge the success of your nonprofit’s digital marketing strategy, you need to regularly review your performance against your goals.
Set key metrics to monitor for each channel and ensure they are relevant to your broader goals. If something isn’t working, find out why. You can then either change your approach or try something new. Ultimately, this is all about results, so if something isn’t delivering, swap it out for something that will drive donations and enable you to reach your goals.
Digital marketing is a broad subject area, and each strategy will vary greatly from charity to charity. If you are looking to devise a watertight digital marketing strategy for your nonprofit, get in touch to organise a free consultation. In the meantime, be sure to check out our case studies to see how we have helped charities succeed with digital marketing.
