Effective Social Media and Email Campaigns | CaringBridge

The Design, Content and Delivery of Effective Email and Social Media Campaigns

Brownbag: September 10, 2014

Welcome and Agenda

12:00 Introductions

12:10 Where to start

12:20 Email

12:30 Social

12:40 Other channels and considerations

12:50 Questions

1:00 Adjourn

Introductions

• Your Name• Organization name and size• Do you work with vendors (e.g. email, fundraising,

design) or do all campaign work in-house?

Who do we have here today?

Where to Start?

• Goals• Theme• Design assets• Matching gifts• Feature story• Timeline

What to consider when planning your campaign

Where to Start?

• Set based on baselines from previous years• Monetary goals• Engagement goals• # of donations

Goals

Where to Start?

Theme

• Name• Tagline• Visuals

Where to Start?

Design Assets

Don’t use the same thing everywhereThink of assets as an extended family

Where to Start?

• Start early • We’ve been securing matching gift

pledges for holiday 2014 throughout the year from major donors

• Anonymous or named preference

Matching gifts

• Timing of when you will advertise the matching gift

Where to Start?

• Start early• Find a compelling story that

captures the heart of what your organization does

• Get good photos and video if possible

• Have your story “captured”/written early

Feature Story

Where to Start?

Timeline

Engagement

• 1-2 weeks• Homepage• Email• Social

Ask

• 4 weeks• Direct Mail• Homepage• Email• Social

Thank You

• 1 week• Email• Social

Engagement Phase

2 weeks of engagement: Share a message of gratitude

Campaign Phase

• Announce campaign goal, match

• Introduce feature family

• Build urgency – count down, not too late

• Back-to-back final emails

Thank You Phase

Post-campaign: Thank you to campaign donorsShare results of campaign, their impact

Benefits of Email

Why Email• Everyone has an email address• Most direct way to reach people who’ve said they

want to hear from you• Relatively inexpensive (fraction of a cent per email)• Measurable results• Email drives traffic and conversions• Immediate feedback on what works or doesn’t

Email Segmentation

Customize content and track performance by segments.

Loyal donors: Thank you for sharing the power of connection with so many people this year through your faithful giving.

Lapsed donors: You have shared the power of connection with so many people through your past support.

Email

Conclusion• Get started• Try out new features and segments over time• Have an idea? Test it• Align timing and messaging with your other

channels

SocialOverviewWhy use Social Media• Fragmentation of media landscape• Customers are now in control

• Joining conversations

• Awareness

Social Integration• Ensure social is a layer of your campaign and not a

separate effort

Social2013 Holiday Campaign

Social2014 Spring Campaign

SocialStrategyPlanning• Be a part of campaign planning

• Taglines• Theme should direct social copy• Follow email’s lead• Hashtags

Setting Expectations• Social is not an ATM

• 1,409,430 nonprofits in U.S. / 817,000<$100k in total revenue• Online giving rose 14% in 2013, but still accounts for less than

10% of total giving

Social

Conclusion• Set appropriate expectations

• CaringBridge focuses on awareness, while donations are bonus

• Be creative• Both in messaging and indirect asks• How do you stand out in the noise• Mix content for engagement and reach

• Leverage User Generated Content (UGC)

Other Channels and Considerations

• Use feature story• Utilize a matching gift• Quality photos• Test, test, test (package,

premiums, content, length) • Align with email if possible

Direct Mail

Other Channels and Considerations

• Coordinate with Email and Direct Mail• Identify key donors to follow-up who received an ask• Reference piece they just received, offer more

information, encourage a gift

OR• Use phone purely for thanking - great volunteer or

board task!

Phone

Other Channels and Considerations

• Engage or thank audience• Doesn’t have to be highly

produced• Can use on landing page,

in email, on donation thank you page

• Integrate into social media

Video

Other Channels and Considerations

• Make sure there is a campaign presence on your website.

• Homepage message with

clear call to donate

Website

Other Channels and Considerations

• Decide early what metrics to track and what your goals are • Dollars raised, # of gifts, hits to the

landing page, conversation rate on your donation form, etc.

• Schedule regular check-ins on the metrics • Daily or weekly• Try new tactics if you aren’t hitting

your goals.

Metrics

CaringBridge 2013 Holiday Campaign

Dec. 31, 2013: Our highest online giving day in CaringBridge history

Dec 30, 2013: The second highest online giving day in CaringBridge history

Met our $1 million fundraising goal

Results

Questions?

Thank you!For any follow-up question, please contact:

Social: Troy Daniels – tdaniels@caringbridge.org @_troydaniels

Design: Caryn Pagel – cpagel@caringbridge.org @carynrlp

Direct Mail/Fundraising: Susan Umlor – sumlor@caringbridge.org

Email: Michelle Van Engen – mvanengen@caringbridge.org @m_vanengen