Many organizations may be hearing about the importance of content marketing, but may not know exactly what it is. Content marketing is the creation of written and visual content to be posted and distributed on online channels that work to attract donors, followers, and supporters. Content can be informational, entertaining, or both, but the goal is that it serves to keep your organization top of mind when donors are looking to open their wallets or volunteers are searching for a place to spend their time. But how does a nonprofit effectively market content to supporters in a way that will keep them engaged? Check out these tips.
- Have a Content Platform
- It is important that your organization utilize a content management platform, like WordPress, for ease of publishing pre-scheduled content. This means that you can save posts to be scheduled at a later time, allowing for better time management.
- Create Regular Content
- Now you can write blog or social posts that discuss what your target audience wants to read. You can ask yourself what supporters of your organization or industry might be interested in, what news will affect them, etc.
- Create Evergreen Content
- Evergreen content is content that will be relevant to your audience year-round. This will help to fill your content calendar during times of less regular, relevant content.
- Incorporate Hooks to Grow Your Audience
- Use your content to offer your audience something that they might want in exchange for their contact information. For example, tell them that they can receive news on fundraising events or volunteer opportunities by submitting their email address. You can then create a database of contact information to use when soliciting volunteers, donors, etc.
- Content Distribution
- Now that you have created the content, you can distribute it using SEO (search engine optimization) and SMO (social media optimization). Platforms like Social Report and Hootsuite allow you to schedule your content to appear on your organization’s social media channels ahead of time, which, again, is great for time management.
- Measure Content Effectiveness
- It is ineffective to continue putting out content about your organization without knowing if your audience is actually engaging with it. This is where analytics platforms like Google Analytics come into play. You can analyze the effectiveness of various types of content and adjust your strategy accordingly.
The Foundations of East Chicago (FEC) works to support nonprofits that do good work for the community. For more information on marketing your nonprofit, visit www.FoundationcEC.org.
