digital fundraising strategies - the shorter version

Some things to think about before you build a digital fundraising strategy

Tuesday, 24 July 2012

Digital is Constantly changing Now in close proximity Better ROI Full of opportunities.

•  Don’t be afraid Digital fundraising employs the same marketing principles that you already know

Digital is not a brave new world

Test, report, optimise, repeat

Strategy  

Iden,fy  prospects  

Messaging  Conversion  

Analysis  

Digital should integrate into your existing fundraising strategy

•  Support •  Enhance •  Streamline.

Good fundraising gives the supporter options, right?

•  Different ways to donate •  A choice of communication channels •  Multiple ways to interact and engage.

Different ways to donate

More communication channels

Multiple ways to interact & engage

Just in case you weren’t sure, Digital now includes …

Email Website

Search

Social Mobile

Content

Digital media channels

Digital  Channels   Acquisi1on   Reten1on   Engagement  

Email   ✔   ✔✔   ☐  

Social  Media   ☐   ✔   ✔✔  

Paid  Search   ✔✔   ✖   ✖  

Video   ☐   ✔   ✔✔  

SMS   ✔   ✔   ✖  

SEO   ✔✔   ✔   ✖  

Display  Banner  Adver,sing  

☐  ✔   ✖   ✔    

Website   ✔   ✔   ✔  

Mobile  –  sites,  apps  etc  

✔   ✔   ✔    

Website  -­‐  eCommerce  

✔   ✔   ✔    

Of course it depends how you employ these channels

Mobile will be a must

•  Mobile is •  the future, you cannot ignore it •  highly personal and can have an almost guaranteed open rate •  always on … even when its off •  Convenient •  practical, brief & task orientated

•  Mobile includes: •  Tablets, Phones, Bluetooth, Outdoor, NFC •  Mobile websites •  Apps •  SMS •  Local •  Advertising – still very cost effective.

Mobile is NOT: •  highly visual •  long form •  complicated

.mobi or m.domain.org WEB

MOBILE

Mobi site versus Smartphone App Smartphone App Mobile Site

Not for profit Nature Conservancy WWF International

Who is doing mobile well? Mobile Banking Automotive Social Networking

Always remember for mobile

•  Must be practical and convenient •  Some people have fat fingers – make buttons and links BIGGER •  It’s about functionality, not design – help them achieve their goal faster •  Tablets are different to phones.

HOW TO DO IT

•  Figure out what mobile solution suits your organisation best •  Get a plugin for your website that detects mobile devices •  Chunk up your content – reduce & simplify (see ABC example) •  Get a mobile specialist to plan and design your mobi site.

Content is King

•  Content marketing is about expanding the telling of the story and spreading it across every (digital) channel

•  Content is •  Video •  Images •  Games •  Infographics •  Text •  Polls & surveys •  Petitions and campaigns •  And anything else you can think of.

Content comes in many forms

WWF + Ben Lee – Song for the divine mother of the universe http://vimeo.com/11127915

Content is emotional & powerful

Content gives the back story

Greenpeace – Ken & Barbie

Social media Social media is

•  An organisation wide initiative •  harder than it looks – creating a

real 2 way relationship •  an excellent PR and

customer service channel, IF its not censored

•  LIVE and Public •  creates advocates.

The power of social media is in the opportunity created by leveraging the friends of your fans. For every fan, there are 34 additional friends of fans that can be reached.

For Organisation Pages: Only 16% of fans are reached *Source: The power of LIKE study Comscore and Facebook in 2011

Social Media is a commitment, not a campaign Dermot O’Gorman is the CEO of WWF-Australia. He has been tweeting for less than a year but he now tweets up to 10 times a day, with at least 3 posts.

Cool stuff – Dalai Lama G+ Hangout

Having a cause makes it even better

36,000 people have liked the Movember Australia site.

Where to start with social

1.  Listen first 2.  Create social media guidelines & response timelines for your

organisation 3.  Outline a content plan – but don’t plan and approve every tweet 4.  Create content that will keep your stories going

•  Video •  Images •  Infographics •  Survey’s •  Games •  Campaigns, promotions, competitions

5.  Be committed – there is no start and end date 6.  Put experienced, senior staff as social ambassadors. Social media is

not just for the youth 7.  Social media is always on, it’s the front lines, full time 8.  THEN go live.

Integrating fundraising channels

Online and Offline fundraising should be complimentary

Synergies, support & enhance

•  Digital fundraising should support and piggy back off of your existing traditional fundraising channels

Offline   Online  Comparison   Online  Support  

Direct  Mail   Email   SMS  

Media   Social  Media   Website  

Face  2  Face   NA   NA  

Direct  Response  TV   Video  

Telemarke1ng  -­‐  Outbound   SMS   Email  

Supporter  Rela1ons  –  Inbound   Search   Website  

Print  Adver1sing   Display  Banner  Adver,sing  

Brochure/  Insert   Website   Email  

Word  of  Mouth   Social  Media   Email  

Integrated Fundraising Case Study: WWF Christmas Tiger Adoption 2010 Offline   Online   Learning’s  

DM     Email   Created  instant  demand  

Supporter  Magazine   Website   Consistent  presence  

eCommerce  Website   Offline  ac,vity  difficult  to  manage  inventory  

Social  Media   Emo,onal  bragging  

DRTV   SMS   Ability  to  easily  ac,on  

Display  Banner  Adver,sing   Increased  frequency  &  sales  

Search  Engine  Marke,ng   Spikes  aOer  DRTV  aired    

The online & offline campaign were perfectly aligned – except for stock control.

Understand the differences

But digital does require a different approach sometimes

Understand the differences

1.  Invest in developing the right technology, systems, processes and

2.  Resources – get a digital specialist

3.  Understand the role each digital channel plays in the engagement & consideration cycle

4.  Analytics is essential. Yes, there is lots of data. But getting the tracking right takes time

5.  Usability testing and focus on the user will be a differentiator

6.  User experience is paramount 1.  Shorter copy, less formal content, chunk it up 2.  Functionality is more important than design 3.  Content is King!

1. Systems & digital infrastructure

CRM/  eDB  

CMS  +   Email  

Payment  Gateway   Analy-­‐

,cs  

3rd  Party  

Systems  

2. Skillsets and resources

•  Web Developer + Digital Producer + Content Curator/ Producer

•  Digital Fundraising Manager

•  Data Hygienist

•  Fundraising Analyst

CRM/  eDB  

CMS  +  

Email  +  

Payment  Gateway  

Anal-­‐y,cs  

3. Consideration cycle touch-points

•  Donors use search at both the beginning & end of their consideration cycle

•  Mobile is used for convenience during the day, but is more integrated with other channels & transactional at night

•  Email can also be the first &/ or last touch point for many donors

•  Social media is sometimes the first contact but is most often used during the information/ sentiment gathering stage

•  Websites are used for research, reputation and transaction.

Donor journey’s cross over channels First touch-point Message validation Follow up

& convert

User journey’s cross over First touch-point Message validation Follow up

& convert

4. Analytics is essential

Invest in some Google Analytics training •  Custom reporting

•  Track user scenarios •  Apply a value to each goal,

especially the combination of actions that show an engaged user

•  Setting goals and conversion

•  Campaign tracking parameters http://www.wwf.org.au/?utm_source=Adconion&utm_medium=CPA-Banner&utm_campaign=Adopt-Tiger

•  Understand where your direct traffic comes from (often email) •  Apply the secondary dimension metrics to find the hidden insights.

What to measure •  The days of measuring impressions and clicks are over but CTR still

shows relevance

•  Focus on conversions – but also on engagement, time spent on site(duration) and bounce/ exit rates

•  Track month on month and year on year growth & conversion rates – not raw numbers

•  Know which content engages your users most, converts them faster, compels them to share with a friend

•  Monitor how much of your supporter base is using mobile

•  Put a value on a Share or a Subscriber (non-financial supporters) as well as a donor. These are still prospects

•  Online is direct response – don’t let anyone tell you its for awareness!

5. Usability is a differentiator Usability measures the ease of use of your website by its visitors. Basically, how easy is it for your audience to achieve their intended goal? Usability looks at 3 primary areas of a website: 1.  Accessibility

1.  Page load times 2.  Colour contrast , font size 3.  Optimised for screen readers

2.  Functionality 1.  How intuitive is the process 2.  Does the website behave as expected

3.  Navigation & Content 1.  Clear & concise labels 2.  Adequate linking 3.  SEO and user friend urls 4.  Design is consistent

Usability cannot be successful if its an after though. When planning, Put the donor first.

Forrester’s are the leading usability experts globally. They carry out usability benchmarking and testing.

6. Online user expectations People behave differently online. Digital is about research, engagement & transaction. Therefore, the content must fit the medium.

•  Shorter sentences, less formal language, shorter copy in general

•  Keyword rich content for search engines – say exactly what you mean, no puns or metaphors

•  Engagement objects like games, video, infographics, polls & images help tell the story at a glance

•  Real time transactions & automated responses – users expect their receipt immediately.

The role of online

Make sure that you are using digital for the right reasons

Many reasons to go online

•  Its where people are spending more time •  Direct Response •  Personalisation •  Data is power •  Automation •  Fast & reactive •  Always on – never miss an opportunity •  Interactivity •  Customer service channel •  Multiple touch-points

•  Online will save you time and money.

But there are some drawbacks

•  Few proven models •  There are risks

•  Cluttered

•  Hard to build trust

•  It changes quickly, Innovation is a must.

Achieve your objectives

Digital  Channels   Acquisi1on   Reten1on   Engagement  

Email   ✔   ✔✔   ☐  

Social  Media   ☐   ✔   ✔✔  

Paid  Search   ✔✔   ✖   ✖  

Video   ☐   ✔   ✔✔  

SMS   ✔   ✔   ✖  

SEO   ✔✔   ✔   ✖  

Display  Banner  Adver,sing  

☐  ✔   ✖   ✔    

Website   ✔   ✔   ✔  

Mobile  –  sites,  apps  etc  

✔   ✔   ✔    

Website  -­‐  eCommerce  

✔   ✔   ✔    

Digital fundraising is not a brave new world. It’s about More options Richer stories Personalisation & engagement Automation & efficiency.

But if you’re just getting started Here are 4 things you can start now 1.  If you don’t have Google Analytics on your site, get it

added – it’s FREE

2.  Start cleansing and segmenting your email database, based on financial vs non-financial supporters and then any interest or behavioural info you have

3.  Get a payment gateway for online donations – even if its just through Paypal

4.  Identify the social not for profits and start listening.

If you have a digital problem, I will create a solution that will work for you. Call me to talk about your digital strategy.

Parachute Digital Digital Strategy Digital Fundraising Digital Training

Parachute Digital

Shanelle Newton Clapham shanelle@parachutedigital.com.au 0406 691 030 www.parachutedigitalmarketing.com.au