The way a charity markets itself has changed a lot since the widespread adoption of digital marketing across the not-for-profit sector. Charities that used to rely on newspaper adverts, local radio attention, and flyers and pamphlets are now caught up in the world of SEO, social media marketing, and more to get their message and aims across. For charity organisers who are not used to this way of doing things, digital marketing can feel confused and frustrated as they feel their voices are being lost online.
To successfully market a charity, you need to be able to wrap your head around the basics of digital marketing. This is because this avenue has the most potential to help your charity reach and engage with the most people and raise awareness of your cause. With that being said, here’s what you need to know about charity marketing in the 2020s.
Agencies
The most sensible thing to do, as a charity looking to improve its marketing, is to partner with a digital agency. This is because marketing a charity takes time. Unless your organisation has the resources to fund a dedicated staff member to focus solely on this endeavour, it will take away a lot of attention from the important parts of the charity. Furthermore, agencies are experts at digital marketing, so partnering with them will ensure that you can have the best digital marketing possible. Attempting to do the marketing in-house might lead to things going wrong or outdated and ineffective tactics being implemented, meaning that using an agency is the safest option for a charity to market itself online. Agencies like Eleven Marketing are experts in modern marketing methods that are responsive and accessible to all. These tactics help your charity speak to new audiences that you might not be able to reach on your own. Marketing agencies will ultimately be more on-pace with change in the industry than your own team.
Google My Business
For charities that still want to go it alone with their marketing, it’s vital that they get the basics correct. One of the essential things that a charity needs to do to help it be seen online is to create a Google My Business page. Doing this creates a listing of your non-profit, sharing important information about your charity, such as its physical address, contact details, and even pictures. This makes the charity more searchable and will even help it appear on maps when users search the local area that the charity is in. To further increase your presence, be sure to list your charity on digital directories to strengthen your brand and make your charity more authoritative online.
Website
For people to trust a charity, it needs to have a website. In the same way that people wouldn’t want to do business with a company that doesn’t have an official site – as it suggests that the business isn’t very professional or even potentially fraudulent – the same can be said with a charity.
Thankfully, it’s easy to build a website for a charity on various services such as Wix or WordPress that can provide a template and make you look professional.
A website should have all your important information, details on your upcoming events and fundraisers, and potentially even a blog to help encourage traffic to the website. To ensure your charity doesn’t fall by the wayside, be sure to learn the fundamentals of building a great website to start ranking and attract custom.
Marketing is a slippery fish, constantly changing and evolving as trends and fashions change on the internet. Keep ahead of this change by following the tips outlined in this short guide to ensure that your charity is being marketed correctly.
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