I’ll cut to the chase. I’ve worked with non-profits and with agencies that create brand and content for non-profits. I have also seen many a well-meaning team attempt to force-fit performance marketing in brand building campaigns. I can tell you from experience (and save you a lot of time) – digital ads don’t work for brand-building when your organization story is more important than what you’re selling.
Whether you’re an in-house marketer or a C-level executive hiring an experienced agency to tell your org’s story, the only thing you should focus on is the story. And at the initial stages of brand building, digital ads are seldom able to achieve the result you’re looking for.
Imagine you have this cause you’re so passionate about. You’ve poured your heart and soul into crafting the perfect message, perhaps asking your audience to get involved. But your audience is scrolling Instagram and Twitter in their leisure time, already inundated with the shiny new thing someone is pushing them to buy with the promise of ridding them of their existential dread forever!
A seasoned scroller will agree that “Buy Now” is the more compelling CTA. You’re not likely to have any success winning them over on an extremely crowded screen with the “Learn More” button you paid good money for. That’s not to say social media is a bad place to be for your brand – you’re simply going to have to use the platform in a different way. We’ll discuss this in a minute or two.
Instead, I would posit that your solution rests in simply telling your story – several times over, on many platforms, at different depths, using both visual tools and good ol’ text. Getting your message across in spaces that your stakeholders occupy is akin to getting a foot in the door and staying top-of-mind for the people who have the potential to transform your work.
By thinking deeply about your message and disseminating it widely, you not only attract potential donors but also people who will work, volunteer and advocate for you. It’s very important that these stakeholders buy into your message, mission and future.
You’ll say, well okay, but how do I get all this messaging together in an effective way? How do I reach my audience and convince them of my message? Thankfully, we’re in the era of what I like to call Information Everywhere.
Your audience (to a large extent) is already perceptive and looking for messages. Digital natives more so. So your job at this stage is to ensure your message reaches your audience wherever they are, and in the format they are most used to by being as authentic as you can.
If your non-profit is a fledgling, your brand team should ideally focus on building small chunks of content on social media and LinkedIn that new stakeholders can quickly skim. Instead of spending precious funds on ads that will show up on platforms (such as Instagram and Twitter) that you’re already using anyway, you can control your brand perception by posting your message mindfully and consistently. Like I said, social media isn’t all bad.
You would then want to scale to regular blogs, topical newsletters, white papers and case studies. Once you comfortably get to this stage – you guessed it – condense your content back down to digestible chunks to share on social media and LinkedIn (blame our diminishing attention span, not me).
The content engine for non-profits looks very different from a regular for-profit organization. You’re not exactly selling anything. You will be, however, working on making your message so compelling that it inspires your audience to get involved, advocate for your work and give to your cause. And this content engine framework will ensure that your brand continues to stay top-of-mind and also tell your org story in a compelling way to your stakeholders.
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