Digital Marketing & Your Non Profit

Digital Marketing &

Your Non ProfitJanuary 20, 2011

Georgianne Brown Co Founder & Managing Partner Big Couch Media Group 

 Agenda

• Big Couch Media Group• Optimize Your Website • Google for Non Profits • Local Directories• Social Media • Email Marketing • Tracking and Analysis • Resources • Summary• Q&A

Big Couch Media Group • South Florida based digital strategy agency.

• Principles former senior digital executive leadership in publicly traded and large organizations in travel, financial services, health / wellness, and online retail.

 • The BCMG team has extensive experience in assisting

emerging growth organizations develop, implement, and optimize results oriented digital strategies.  

• Strategic Consulting• Interactive Development & Design • Interactive Marketing • Social Media • Mobile

Optimize Your Website • Most of your savvy target constituents will go to your website to gather information,

verify credibility, build trust as well as use a tool to interact with you (contact, transact, etc.) – Make it easy!– Professional look and feel

– Simple and intuitive navigation – Comprehensive overview – your mission, history, programs, news, board, staff,

contact information • Answer the key questions from constituents about your organization – build trust.

– Consider providing ability to accept secure donations online (if applicable)

• Pay Pal

• Google Checkout

• Acceptiva • Click & Pledge

• eTransfer

• Mobile donations via – mGive – Other features and functionality – event registrations and payments , i.e

Eventbrite, Chipin

 Google for Non Profits

• Google has many tools to assist non profits reach a wider audience: • Google Adwords • Google Grants • YouTube • Google Sites• Google Places

• Information @ www.google.com/nonprofits

• Monthly newsletter available

 Google Adwords

• Google AdWords only reaches people who are interested in your organization’s information and services.

• When a Google user searches on keywords related to your organization, your ad will appears next to relevant Google search results under the Sponsored Links sections.

Example: Search & Result

 Google Grants

• Google Grants is an in-kind donation program awarding free AdWords advertising to select charitable organizations.

• Google supports various types of organizations in the areas such as science and technology, education, global public health, the environment, youth advocacy, and the arts.

• Organizations apply on line - Information @ www.google.com/grants

 YouTube • YouTube is the largest online video community boasting over 60 billion videos

watched each month.

• YouTube has a specific program tailored to non profits.

• Consider creating a YouTube channel and leverage video as a powerful tool to communicate your organizations mission and message.

• YouTube’s Non Profit Program Benefits include:

• Premium branding capabilities and increased uploading capacity • Option to drive fundraising through Google Checkout “Donate” button• Listing on the non profit channels and the non profit video pages • Ability to add a “call to action” overlay within your videos• Posting a video opportunity on the YouTube Video Volunteers platform to

find potential users to create your video

• Monthly YouTube Non Profit Group newsletter

• Information @ www.youtube.com/nonprofits

 Google Sites

• For organizations on very limited budgets, Google Sites, is an easy and very basic way to create a simple website.

• Sites are created using off the shelf templates and includes basic content features, i.e. navigation and global footers.

• There are also several other free website building tools such as Yola, etc.

• Information @ www.google.com/sites

 Google Places • Google Places is the mechanism for you to

optimize your organization listing within Google and be found.

• Ensure you claim or list your organization and optimize content.

• Encourage members to add reviews.

• Premium placements available with• Google Tags • Google Boost

• Information @ www.places.google.com/business

 Local Directories • Like Google Places, there are several other major national

and local directories that you should ensure you have claimed your organization and optimized the content.

• National directories:

• YellowPages.com • Yahoo Local • MerchantCircle.com

• Local directories:

• BocaGuide.com • BocaRaton.com – The Bites Network

 Social Media

• What is Social Media?• The Social Media Landscape• Why is Social Media Important? • Getting Started Considerations• Niche Social Media • Other Social Media

What is Social Media?

  "Online content created by people using highly scalable publishing technologies."

- Wikipedia.com

The Social Media Landscape

Device Agnostic

Why is Social Media Important? • Bringing Your Organization Where Your Constituents are

Gatheringo More than 500 million users of Facebooko LinkedIn - over 80 million members in over 200 countries 

• Brand Reputation Management o It is now very easy to see what people are saying about

your organization and quickly respond  • SEO (search engine optimization)

o Google LOVES social media • Cost Effective Platform to Connect and Engage with

Constituents • It’s not a passing “fad”.

Social Media Strategy

"Getting Started" – Considerations

 • LinkedIn • Facebook • Twitter   • Organization Blog • Niche Social Media

LinkedIn – Organization Profile

• Optimize your organization profile o Organization name o Organization description 

Keyword rich  o Address o Twitter integration o Link to blogo Job postings

LinkedIn - Personal  Profiles• Create a robust personal profile • Aggressively reach out to build

your network through past and present business associates, colleagues, and clients  

• Request recommendations • Join related groups  • Encourage your employees and

board members to do the same and attach themselves to the company profile  

• Engage with status updates• Event participation  • Slideshare Presentations• Link Twitter & Blog

Facebook

• Create an optimized Facebook Fan Page o Robust description o Contact information  o Photos o Videos

• Build Fan base o Employees o Members  o Related groups

• Engage in conversation o Regular updates – events, photos, news, PR, etc.  o Monitor and answer inquiries

• Consider targeted paid ad campaigns  

Facebook Places

• Facebook’s entrée to Location Based Services• Information and / or

entertainment available via mobile that leverages GPS

• Claim your business on Facebook Places

• Leverage Facebook Deals as appropriate

Facebook – Causes

• Facebook application that can be leveraged to engage in social fundraising  

Facebook “Like”

• Link your website to Facebook : • Facebook Connect – Single

sign on • “Like”

Twitter • Optimize Twitter page  • Build Followers  • Integrate Twitter as a

method for short and immediate messages:o Announcements o Events o Fundraising

Twitter Fundraising

Other Social Fundraising Sites

Organization Blog • Establish Blog

• Blog Platforms:• Blogger • TypePad • WordPress

• Tips for a successful blog:• Helpful content • Original content • Events • Lists • Updates

• Follow relevant topics or announcement through Google Alerts as a method for content building for blog.

• Link to other social media

Niche Social Networks • Other niche focused social networks have been introduced

specifically for the non profit sector. • Great channels to further expand your digital footprint.

• Jumo.com • VolunteerMatch.org

Other Social Media to Consider

• Other Location Based Services • Foursquare• Gowalla

• Mobile • mWeb • SMS services

Connect Your Social Media

• Link your social media, as they all work together. 

• Leverage aggregated services, i.e. OnlyWire, HootSuite to automate messages across social channels.

• Integrate company social media your website.

• Add your social media to your email signature.

Email Marketing • Email marketing continues to be one of the most effective

digital marketing channels. • Leverage as a way to communicate key organization

messages, events, etc. • Build an opt in email through your various points of contact

with your constituents – Website – Events – Telephone Contacts

• Tools for email communication, Constant Contact, Mail Chimp, Vertical Response

• Some ESP will offer for free to NPO’s

SEO (Search Engine Optimization)

• SEO is an important aspect of any digital marketing program and is comprised of two key components: – On page strategies which optimize the content and

pages on your site resulting in your organization displaying within the "organic" section of Google

– Off- page strategies will build valuable and relevant links back to your website. These relevant links indicate to the search engines your site is "important" or has "authority" and will result in significant increases in your search engine ranking, resulting in increased traffic to your site. 

Tracking and Analysis • Make sure you track and analyze all your

efforts, establish KPI’s (key performance indicators)

• Implement Google Analytics (free) to monitor:– Traffic & visitors to your website – What content are people most interested in – Conversion metrics (if applicable) i.e. donations

• Establish Google Alerts for your organization or key staff & board members to monitor online media mentions or activity.

Resources

Digital marketing is evolving and ever changing, therefore it is critical that you stay current.

• Daily Newsletters: o Mashable (trends)o eMarketer (statistics)

o Websites o DMNews o iMediaConnection

• Several good Digital & Social Media Groups on LinkedIn

Summary

• Embrace digital as a key strategy for your organization. • Lead by example within your organization. • Allocate resource (internal or outsource) directly responsible

for executing your digital marketing program.  • Integrate the concept internally - "casting a wider net". • Measure your results. • Stay educated. • Have FUN!

Georgianne Brown Co Founder & Managing Partner Big Couch Media Group 

www.linkedin.com/company/big-couch-media-groupTwitter:  @BigCouchMediaFacebook: www.facebook.com/bigcouchmediagroupBlog:  www.bigcouchmediagroup.com/blog

georgie@bigcouchmedia.com LinkedIn:   www.linkedin.com/in/georgiannebrown Twitter: @georgiannebrown