The line between marketing and non-profit organizations is thin, yet crucial. After all, the majority of the funds that support non-profit organizations come from businesses – either directly or indirectly. So how can you effectively market to/with these businesses in a way that helps your organization and its programs?
The following seven tips will help you create an effective email marketing strategy for your next email campaign with a non-profit organization:
1. Know Your Audience
The first step to creating an effective email marketing strategy is to identify your audience. Take some time to get to know the people you’re trying to reach and what they want. Then, you can design your strategy to address their needs. For example, if you are trying to get donations from alumni of your college, you might choose to send an email asking if they are still supporting your alma mater. Designing your strategy around a clear understanding of your audience will make it much easier to get results.
2. Build Trust
People are much more likely to be persuaded by an individual they trust. When you communicate with others on a regular basis, they begin to see you as a safe source of advice and information. This makes them much more receptive to your messages. You can utilize this truth to your advantage when trying to market to/with non-profit organizations. For example, if you are trying to get donations for your college and you want to send a fundraising email to alumni, you might want to put a face with the name. That way, your donors will know that they’re supporting a good cause – someone they know and/or trust. In other words, build trust by associating yourself with an established group – like an alma mater. Doing this will also make your alumni much more receptive to your email.
3. Test Your Subject Line And Message
Your subject line and the body of your message will form the backbone of your email campaign. These components are vital in getting the attention of your subscribers. It’s also important to test different subject lines and messages to see what works best for your specific audience. While you’re at it, you can also use software like HubSpot’s Mailchimp integration to create and send test campaigns quickly and easily.
4. Measure The Success Of Your Campaign
Every marketer worth their salt will tell you that you cannot determine the success of an email campaign based on any one metric. The truth is, you can’t. Yet, you must continue to measure the results of your campaign. Without these measurements, you have no idea if you’re on the right track or completely off-base. Luckily for you, we’re data-driven people here at HubSpot and we love collecting numbers! In fact, we have an entire section in our analytics tool that tracks the performance of your email campaigns – including open rates, click-throughs, and conversion rates. With this information, you can easily gauge the effectiveness of your strategy and make necessary adjustments as you go.
5. Consider The Timing Of Your Campaign
When you send an email campaign, you need to consider the timing of your efforts. Let’s say that you are trying to increase store visits to your business’ website. You might choose to send an email marketing campaign in the afternoon, while your target audience is checking their email. The best time to send this campaign is while they are still fresh in your mind. Then, of course, you’ll want to follow up with more targeted/personalized emails.
6. Tailor Your Content
Your content is arguably the most important element of your email campaign. It is vital to ensure that the information you provide is relevant and useful to your subscribers. The content of your email will not only have an impact on the success of your campaign but it will also form the basis of future marketing efforts. Keep in mind that your audience is constantly changing and evolving so you must keep your content fresh. Sometimes, this can mean creating new content or re-purposing existing content to fit your brand.
7. Promote Your Campaign Throughout The Year
Each year, we seem to hear about the email campaigns that were successful and those that were not. If you want to really maximize your impact, you should consider sending out a series of emails each month throughout the year. Doing this will not only help you create sustainable awareness but it will also expose your efforts to more people each month. If you’re worried about your lack of resources, consider reaching out to local non-profits and corporations who might be willing to partner with you on a promotional campaign.
While the line between marketing and non-profit organizations is becoming more blurred, there is still a clear distinction. Your job as a marketer is to raise money for your college’s endowment and generate interest in your organization among potential donors. As a non-profit marketer, your mission is to raise awareness about the issues that your organization is working to address.