The Best Digital Channels for NGOs - Part 2

Note: #NGOMarketingSeries is a three-part series on how NPOs and NGOs can start leveraging modern marketing techniques to improve the efficacy of their social projects

Are you interested in catapulting your non-profit to the next level? In this second part of my #NGOMarketingSeries, I'll be sharing some best practices to amplify the marketing efforts of your organisation.

In the first guide, I unpacked the fundamentals of digital NGO marketing, including getting to the crux of the donors' needs, understanding your unique business objectives and understanding your audience's psychology to make a difference within the community that your brand serves.

In this guide, we'll unpack the importance of digital channels and how to choose the right digital channel for your non-profit.

Marrying online and offline efforts

Too often, I see disjointed marketing efforts, where there's little to no cohesion between digital and offline marketing efforts. A brand that doesn't data share between these two critical points is a brand that won't perform optimally.

For example, even if you have a dedicated PR agency for PR activities, community management sits in house, digital marketing sits with an agency, and offline efforts sit with programme invigilators.

All teams have to work as one single-engine. Different teams can be unified by focusing on one common goal- the business objective.

The value of digital, like most traditional forms of marketing, digital marketing efforts, in particular, are compelling as they're measurable.

How many people you've reached, who they are, how many of them engage with your content and of course, how many essential goals your business has achieved with the budget you've set out. These valuable marketing efforts can be fed back into traditional marketing to provide useful insights into your audience.

We recommend choosing a digital marketing agency that specialises in serving and working with NGOs and CSI projects.

Why?

Well, much like taking your Ford to a BMW dealership, they'll undoubtedly know how to fix cars, but they don't specialise in your vehicle. NPOs aren't selling anything, meaning their objectives and, thus, outcomes are very different.

At Arc Interactive we have over nine years of experience serving clients in the NGO and CSI spaces. We've been able to fuse our passion for doing good with our skills in digital.

Our expertise lies in critically understanding your business and marketing objectives to put measurable marketing performance standards in place (KPIs), which allow you to benchmark your success. We're able to determine what results you can expect to see per your marketing budget.

Matching your objectives to the correct channels

I'm sure by now; you're dying to know what digital marketing channels (social media and display) your NPO needs. With budget being tight, the answer to this critical question is one you can't get wrong.

Given these unique challenges and high stakes as an NPO, I always recommend appointing an agency. By relying on the experts, you can eliminate the risk of time and money being wasted.

Secondly, finding the best digital marketing channels will depend on your business objective. Here's a comprehensive guide for matching your business objective to the digital channel best suited for it:

1. Reach, brand awareness = social media channels (the relevant channels will depend on your desired target audience).
2. User engagement = social influencers (the relevant channels will depend on your desired target audience).
3. Newsletter signups = Gmail marketing leveraged through social media marketing.
4. Donations = Google Search and Display ads driving users to a dedicated landing page on the website. Facebook "donate now" ads.
5. Awaken emotion and spring people to the desired action = YouTube, like hearing and seeing stories, is influential in evoking empathy.

Leverage the power of a recognisable face

Forming influential partnerships can expand your reach exponentially through social influencers. Noteworthy social personalities have a great reach and network that's quite hard to tap into without a large budget. Therefore, the power of social influencers is an easy win, as they can be powerhouses behind your brand.

This step requires the most careful consideration, as it's not just about the reach and network but, more importantly, whether or not they're the right fit for your brand. What message are they delivering, what's the impact thereof and which are the relevant avenues?

Despite plenty to think about and plan, influencers can be incredible allies for charitable causes and cause marketing. Their authority among their communities allows them to break through the noise and share important messages with their followers. By partnering with the right influencers, you can significantly increase your organisation's overall impact.

Non-Profits are often hit with the biggest hurdle of all, namely a lack of funds and scrutiny by their charitable donors. Due to these hurdles, it's critical to get digital marketing right and do so with quick results.

To operate, thrive, raise awareness, get funding, educate vulnerable audiences and many other goals can seem impossible in a world of bigger, louder, more financially equipped online advertisers. This makes it pertinent to hire a specialist marketing agency to ensure the best use of your marketing spend.

Do you need help launching your Non-Profit? Please read my other instalments of the #NGOMarketingSeries guide on www.arcinteractive.co. You can also follow Arc Interactive on Facebook, Twitter or on Instagram.

We specialise in making brands meaningful. For speciality, results-driven non-profit marketing, email us at hello@arcinteractive.co.

About the author

Zanthe is a former designer and HTML web developer turned digital marketer based in Johannesburg with an acute eye for detail and a creative spark, she decided to pursue a career in graphic design. After qualifying, she worked as a designer and developer for a few years and then began studying marketing whereafter she found her niche in digital marketing.

Zanthe has since been doing digital marketing work on some big brands such as ABSA, Russell Hobbs, Danone Brands, as well as non-profit organizations and now works as the New Business Manager at Arc Interactive based in Johannesburg.

When she isn't glued to her computer screen - blogging or making the digital connection between her clients and their customers, she spends time playing with her two cats, stays active, keeps her finger on the pulse regarding the latest trends in fashion and food, and tries hard not to be the worlds worst tennis player.

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Recommended reading

If you enjoyed this post and have a little extra time to dive deeper down the rabbit hole, why not check out the following posts about NPO's and good causes.

• How To Get Google Grants For Non-profit Organizations
• Why Venture Philanthropy Can Thrive In A Decentralised Economy
• Why South African Non-Profits Should Consider Accepting Cryptocurrency Donations
• 8 Worthy South African Causes Who Could Use Some of Your Festive Joy
• How NGOs Can Get Donations Via Instagram
• The Fundamentals of Non-Profit Marketing - Part 1

Tags: NGO, Marketing, Digital Marketing , Guest Post