Google Ad’s

The recently renamed Google Ads (nee: Google Adwords) is an extremely powerful tool. Almost everyone uses Google. And this is a very likely way many of your potential donors and supporters will find you.

As you may already know, and be using it already, Google Ad’s has a donation program. This program donates in-kind advertising to eligible nonprofit organisations. Qualifying non-profit organisations are eligible to receive up to US$10,000 per month of in-kind advertising within the AdWords search engine marketing platform. You can find out if you are eligible here: www.google.com.au/intl/en/grants/eligibility

There are a few restrictions you can only use Search (text Ads). Your click through rate needs to stay above 5% meaning your campaigns can’t be too broad and target just anyone. But with a smart targeted campaign this is basically free advertising money to help non profits get ahead.

Go to ads.google.com to sign up for your free account and you will also receive $100 credit to get you started.

If you already have a Google Ad account set up but it’s not gaining as many impressions or clicks as you would like. Here’s five simple things you could do right now to help increase your numbers.

1. Use Title Capitalisation in Your Adverts!
   (Sounds simple, but this tends to grab people’s attention).
2. Include your target keywords in your adverts.
3. Utilise all the different types of Ad Extensions to increase visibility in amongst all that text.
4. The display URL is part of your ad text, and should be utilised, but often advertisers just leave it blank.
5. Put your main keyword in your display URL. This tip is super simple, but really underutilised.

Also don’t be afraid to experiment. You can’t ‘break it’ so get experimental and try some different things. Google likes you to stand out from the crowd!

A great example is Smart Employment Solutions. 4DP is managing their Google Ads campaign which alone has generated 45k clicks to their website to date. These are 45k more people to their website than they would have reached without this essential Google grant.

Social Media Marketing

Social media is a fantastic way which allows non profits a voice. It also provides a way to communicate with donors and supporters easily and mostly for free. It helps personalize your ‘brand’ and to spread your message in a relaxed and conversational way. It’s a great way to gain supporters as it’s free to set up and use in an organic sense. This is a huge part of where you can build your brand or identity. And you keep your audience engaged.

You more than likely already know that part so now let’s talk about the fun stuff Facebook Advertising.

This can seem a little daunting at first but once you work out your strategy and SET GOALS you are well on your way to a successful campaign. Do you want more followers? Do you want more website traffic? Engagement on your Page? Facebook Ads really helps you drill down and define this. But it’s best to start by clearly working out your strategy first so you know what you want to achieve. Then choose the relevant type of ad that suits your goal.

The best part of Social Media (from a marketing point of view)

is how you can really target your audience. To do this you really need to define who your donor is. Is your favourite donor Jane? A 38 year old working mother from the Gold Coast? What is she interested in? All this helps you really define that target audience on Facebook.

You want to start off with a broad campaign to ‘collect’ your audience so you can retarget them a few days or weeks later. And if the old sales rule of 7 is true then Facebook has made it super easy to do. It allows you to target pretty much anyone who has any interaction with your ad, website, page or from excel lists. Then you can create ‘lookalike’ audiences of people who are similar to Jane above.

Storytelling is hugely important and images with people tend to get more attention. You want to use visuals that will grab people’s attention when they are scrolling through 100’s of other information in their feed. Now days you can create amazing graphics and videos cheaply and quickly today. With tools like canva.com , animoto.com and within the Facebook platform itself. If you haven’t already check out Facebook Canvas Ads as well.

So to recap, follow the steps below and you will be on your way to setting a super successful Facebook campaign.

1. Set Clear Goals for what you want to achieve
2. Choose your type of ad to match your goal
3. Define your audience clearly
4. Tell a story and use great imagery
5. Smart planned Retargeting really pays off

An example of a current non profit Facebook campaign we are running for The Mind Heart Connect Conference. This is a targeted Facebook Ads campaign. We aim help fill the conference and empower attendees in their work with trauma relief. As in most Facebook campaigns you would start with a broad campaign. Then drill down in your retargeting using a traditional marketing style funnel. MHC is a not-for-profit start-up conference targeting health and educational professionals in USA, UK and AUS who are interested in professional development for trauma relief. www.mindheartconnect.com/event-2019

Email Marketing

Content, Content, Content (and follow up). We know finding stories to tell is usually pretty easy for not for profits, though sometimes a little overwhelming. Which story connects the most? How do I choose? How do I tell it to give it justice? You’ll likely have many, many personal stories and examples of where your supporters donations are going stocked up, either on a computer or in your head. And the great thing is that supporters want to know what you are doing and also likely don’t mind hearing from you more often than other brands. Though do also keep in mind people don’t want to feel like you just need them for their donations.

A great email tool if you’re not already using it is mailchimp.com and they state that ‘Email marketing is one of the most cost-effective ways to promote your business’ and whether your goal is to build your brand or raise more donations this is a great system to help you do so. And, like any other marketing tool, strategy is key. So plan out what you want to achieve before launching your campaign.

Mailchimp is also free to sign up to (up to 2000 subscribers) and you can develop highly targeted content that reach your audiences based on their digital behaviour. For example if they open but don’t click, they will then receive a follow up email with a big button so they will click through. Or if someone has clicked on a link in your email indicating interest in a particular topic Mailchimp can automatically enrol them in an automated campaign educating them on the particular topic they are interested in. It really is a one stop shop and full of extremely useful automation tools.

A great example

Of a successful non profit we admire who runs amazing email marketing campaigns is www.charitywater.org.  This NGO was started seven years ago by Scott Harrison. And is dedicated to bringing clean and safe drinking water to people in developing countries around the globe. They have raised more than $100 million dollars and have more than 430,000 likes on Facebook. If you sign up to their newsletters you can tell straight away Charity : Water is brilliant at storytelling and their branding is just beautiful. But the most attractive quality is that they seem to truly enjoy what they are doing. We would really recommend you see what they are currently up to for inspiration.

Also please check out our free Digital Marketing Toolkit here for more support in measuring your success: 4dp.com.au/digital-marketing-toolkit

4DP Marketing Campaigns

An example of a successful campaign we have created for non profit Social Futures. One of the largest Not-for-Profit organisations in NSW with upwards of 440 Million in funds. This is where we developed an automated campaign for them targeting business owners in regional NSW. These owners want to learn about the impact the NDIS rollout will have on their region and how to make their business more inclusive.

Our main aim was to educate people on the general principles of an inclusive business, give practical advice on making a business a disability-friendly space. And give away a free eBook with more in-depth business knowledge. Finally, at the end of the automated campaign, the business owner would receive a follow up certificate from the school of inclusion. On top of that, a sticker that they could put on their front door that would show others their commitment to making their business and community inclusive and keep them engaged. Read the case study here: 4dp.com.au/project/social-futures-ndis-rollout

Non profit marketing is a passion of ours and we could talk about it all day but we won’t keep you. If you would like to find out how 4DP could specifically help your not for profit, contact us today to chat!