Getting started with digital marketing for nonprofits

The digital landscape continues to evolve, offering nonprofits like yours new opportunities to connect with your audiences and amplify your missions. So, if your organization hasn’t yet embraced digital marketing (beyond some organic social media posts), it is a great time to get started.

There are several things you can do to ensure you start smoothly and set your organization up for success.

Get leadership buy-in

Before you dive into digital marketing, it’s crucial to secure buy-in from your leadership team. This task might be challenging if they’re unfamiliar with how digital works or the value it can bring to your nonprofit. It can be extra complicated if they aren’t using digital very often on their own. So you will have to do a little extra work.

• Explain the why. Talk about how digital marketing can enhance visibility, generate revenue, engage donors and ultimately support your mission. Share some key statistics about the amount of time people spend on digital media every day. (It’s about 6 ½ hours on average.)
• Demonstrate how your digital initiatives align with organizational goals.
• Start small. Ask to move a small amount of your budget to developing social media ads or applying for and using a Google Ad Grant.
• Share insights. Use data you already have from your website or social media (or from your peers/competitors) to explain what success looks like. Use our Digital Definitions 101 download to explain what the metrics mean.

Own your digital assets

Your digital assets, including your website and social media profiles, are vital for your organization’s online presence. But often, control of these assets is in the hands of an IT provider, marketing agency, an ex-employee, an intern, or worse - no one knows!

Having control over these platforms ensures that you can maintain integrity of your brand and your messaging. And it’s essential in many cases if you want to run digital ad campaigns, make changes to your website and even add or delete users from the account.

• Use Meta Business Manager to grant access for users to your Facebook and Instagram accounts. Someone with an email address from your organization should administer your Business Manager account. This should not be owned by an outside organization or tied to someone’s personal Facebook account.
• Have administrative oversight and ownership of your website domain, website hosting and email hosting. It should not be owned by an agency or IT provider and someone within your organization should be the primary administrator. This doesn’t mean an agency or IT company cannot provide administrative support. It just helps you in case you need to make a change quickly for some reason or want to remove those companies as vendors.

Create constituent personas:

Creating detailed personas is a game-changer for your digital marketing strategy. These fictional characters represent different segments of your audience and their unique needs. For instance, "Donor Donna" might be interested in impact updates, while "Client Clara" seeks information about your services. Developing around five personas will help tailor your communications and ensure that your messaging resonates with each group.

Tip: Use tools like HubSpot’s Make My Persona to simplify this process and engage your team in a fun brainstorming session!

Set SMART goals for success

A successful digital campaign starts with clear, achievable goals. Use the SMART criteria to define your objectives:

• Specific: What exactly do you want to achieve?
• Measurable: How will you track your progress?
• Achievable: Are your goals realistic given your resources?
• Relevant: Do your goals align with your nonprofit’s mission?
• Time-bound: What is your deadline?

For example, if you're launching a new service, a SMART goal might be to drive 100 visitors to your website within 30 days and secure 20 new inquiries.

Campaign creation: planning for impact

Digital marketing thrives on a multichannel approach. Consider running various types of campaigns, such as:

• Organic social media posts
• Paid Facebook and Instagram Ads
• Google Ad Grant campaigns
• Email drip campaigns

Your campaign should have a dedicated landing page that serves as the focal point for your digital traffic, providing all necessary information and a clear path for conversion.

Develop campaign assets

Having all your campaign assets ready before launch is crucial. This includes graphics, videos and written content tailored to each platform. Remember to keep your messaging concise and clear—avoid jargon that may alienate potential supporters. It’s always good to test those assets on mobile. So before you approve them, check them in a smaller format.

Monitor and optimize

Once your campaigns are live, use tools like Google Analytics to monitor performance. You need to regularly assess what's working and what isn’t and be ready to change strategy as needed. That’s the nice part about digital marketing. You can adjust and improve as you go to maximize your impact and return on investment.

Take the leap

Digital marketing offers cost-effective opportunities for your nonprofit to reach its audiences.

Don’t let the complexities of digital marketing hold you back. With the right strategies in place, your nonprofit can thrive online and make a meaningful impact in your community. Stay connected with us for more insights and tips in our digital marketing series!

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