Six Marketing Trends for Nonprofits
How do you feel about cultivating donors through Google Glass? Would you solicit volunteers using a smart implant? At this month’s Marketing Matters program, Jim Dayton, vice president of marketing and communications at Camp Fire, discussed trends in marketing and their impact on nonprofit communications.
Trend 1: Omnichannel Marketing
Traditional marketing is dead. Gone are the days of disbursing generic messages to the general public by one media outlet. Jim encourages nonprofits to meet constituents where they are, and that means using multiple interactive media channels. Your nonprofit may be active on Facebook and Twitter, but are you also on Instagram and Vine?
Trend 2: Mobile is no longer just “mobile”
Mobile internet usage has overtaken desktop internet usage. Constituents aren’t just using their smart phones when they on the go. Donors and volunteers are constantly attached to IPhones, Blackberries and Droids whether traveling, in the office or at home. Unlike desktop computers, smartphones are always on and consistently used. Nonprofits need to recognize that the mobile device is now a direct representation of the constituent. Making sure your website is mobile friendly is key.
Trend 3: Individualized Marketing
Due to companies like Apple, technology is becoming more and more individualized. This trend presents a challenge for nonprofit marketers, who need to make sure that their messages are as personalized as possible to their constituents. Applications like Facebook Ads and Google AdWords are an affordable opportunity for organizations to customize their message to donors and volunteers.
Trend 4: Online Content is Key
While many technology trends are popping up left and right, our most natural response as consumers is still to “Google” everything. Jim explains that it’s important for nonprofit organizations’ websites to have the most relevant and up to date information in order to show up in Google searches. Investing in Search Engine Optimization efforts is a wise choice when developing website content.
Trend 5: Cyborg Marketing
While nonprofit organizations have a little more time before cyborg marketing becomes mainstream, Jim stresses the importance of innovation and change. Constituents are already using smartphones and a limited number of people use Google Glass or “wearables.” The next big information trend in technology could be smart tattoos and even smart implants. These devices are already in development and some are used in the medical field; why not marketing? The idea behind this technology is to remove the marketing platform altogether and market directly to constituents. Are you ready?
Trend 6: Get Visual
So what marketing trend can your nonprofit jump on today? Before you schedule a meeting with your executive director to discuss a budget for cyborg marketing, focus on increasing your visual content. According to Jim’s sources, 90% of information transmitted to the brain is visual, and visuals are processed 60,000 times faster in the brain than text. Posts with videos attract 3 times more inbound links than plain text posts, and Pinterest generates more referral traffic for businesses than Google+, YouTube and LinkedIn combined.
Marketing Matters is a monthly series for all nonprofit professionals on marketing and communications, social media and technology.
SAVE THE DATE
Extreme Makeover: Website Edition Finale
June 10 at 8:00 a.m.
Join us for the long awaited finale of the Extreme Makeover: Website Edition contest! As the winning nonprofits and their respective creative agency partners share their experience, learn tools and strategy you can apply to your own organization’s website for greater impact.
Last Fall, Nonprofit Connect launched the Extreme Makeover: Website Edition contest to connect nonprofits in need of new websites with creative agencies willing to help.
Nineteen area nonprofits submitted videos showing why they deserved a new website, and Feed Northland Kids and Glory House were selected. Fervor Marketing Concepts and Brockton Creative Group generously offered their services to create fully responsive and mobile friendly websites that would help the nonprofit partners tell their story and advance their mission.
Six months later, the teams are ready to reveal their new websites and share their experience! Mike Farag from Fervor Marketing Concepts and Tim McCoy from Brockton Creative Group and their nonprofit partners will discuss the before and after look of their websites, and offer tips they learned while overhauling their websites and rethinking their marketing strategy.
