Early 2016, software company Abila asked over 1,000 donors who have made at least one nonprofit donation in the past 12 months about how content marketing plays in their decision to donate. 72% reported that poor content would prevent them from donating to a cause, and another 33% said vague content would also stop them from donating. In the nonprofit world, digital marketing matters, and how you are crafting your content matters even more.
Here are some things that nonprofits need to avoid when it comes to using content marketing for brand awareness and soliciting donations.
- Not Using Social Media the Right Way: Employing strategies such as email campaigns and paper brochures just don’t work anymore because your audience is found on social networks such as Facebook and Twitter. Create specific content for each social channel, because what works for LinkedIn doesn’t necessarily work on Facebook. Also, be sure you take advantage of ads on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and Instagram. It offers your nonprofit a great way to target a specific audience, an audience that will receive and act upon your message. One thing to keep in mind is to use social media to tell your nonprofit’s story and how you help, not beg to for money. That is a great way to turn off an audience.
- Muddled Messaging: Content produced must be clear in what value a nonprofit brings to helping to solve a problem. If the content created does not evoke emotion, it will never motivate a donor to act. All the content your nonprofit creates needs to be transparent. Explain exactly what your value proposition is, what your objective is, and how you want to achieve those objections. You need to guide your reader to understand the problem you wish to solve and how their donation will help reach your goal. If the problem you wish to help solve and the way your nonprofit addresses it is not clear in your content, donors will take their money to another nonprofit who does.
- Ineffective SEO: It is imperative your content features relevant keywords that your donors are actually looking for. You need your content to help donors find you, and employing a strategic keyword approach can actually do that. But be aware of the annoying keyword placement game. Donors see right through desperate efforts in placing keywords just for SEO purposes.
- Not Spreading the Love: So, what should the heart of your content be? Stories of your nonprofit helping real people and highlighting the positive affect your organization has in a community. Pull at heartstrings of your readers so that they feel inspired and motivated to help your cause. And be sure that at the end of all content, you have a call to action, letting your reader know what to do next, such as “Click here to become a part positive change” or “Call us at 555-5555 to find out how you can help.” And this call to action doesn’t have to always be to solicit a donation. You can also have a potential donor provide their information to stay on top of the efforts your nonprofit is making.
Your donors are online, waiting to be inspired. You just have to know how to reach them the right way and using content marketing is just the way to do so. If your nonprofit needs help implementing a sound content marketing strategy, On Target is here to help. We have helped many nonprofits in the Central Florida area spread their message and receive the help they need to make a real difference in the community. Call us at 866-998-6886, or contact us online, and we will be more than happy to help.
Thank you for reading,
Jen
