Using Blogging & Email Marketing For My Nonprofit

Last week we looked at how Facebook, YouTube and Twitter fits in with your organization’s overall marketing strategy.

This week we’ll take a look at how blogging and e-mail marketing fit in with your plan.

Do I need a blog for my nonprofit?

The first question that you probably have on your mind is, “Do I need a blog?” The answer depends upon what resources you have available, and what goals you have for your organization.

How Blogging Gets Your More Traffic

Google prefers content that is highly specific and fresh, and the best tool to consistently create this type of content is a blog.

Blogging also gives you the ability to increase the number of inbound links to your website, which will boost your site’s ability to appear on page one of Google.

Should I use WordPress.com or WordPress.org?

WordPress.Com vs. WordPress.Org

WordPress is the number one blogging platform on the planet and comes in two flavors:

WordPress.com is the free version that’s hosted on WordPress.Com, and WordPress.Org is the self-hosted version that’s hosted on your domain (which you have hosted on a server at a hosting company).

The difference between the two are pretty straight forward:

3 Things to Consider Before Starting a Blog

1. What will you say?

Before you go out and start a blog (which is pretty easy) spend some time researching what other similar organizations are doing with their blogs. Ask yourself what you will say that is both important to your supporters and different from what the other blogs are saying. Also make sure that what you plan on saying will be consistent with your organization’s messaging.

2. Do you have an SEO strategy?

It goes without saying that if you want to get found on Google with a blog, you have to have a plan and a good understanding of how search engine optimization works. Do you know how people are finding your website right now? Do you know what the prevalent keywords are for your cause? Don’t rush this part.

3. Do you have resources?

A blog is not twitter. A blog requires a considerable amount of time and resources to manage.

Do I really need email marketing for my nonprofit?

If you want to raise money online, you absolutely have to have an e-mail marketing strategy. Research shows that e-mail is one of the most effective media to handle the transactional part of fundraising. Granted, getting people to pull out their credit card is just a part of online fundraising, but it is an important part!

Where does email marketing fit within my online strategy?

It’s important to understand that the people on your email list are generally more committed to your cause, than, say, the people who’ve liked your Facebook Page. But the people on your email list aren’t as committed to your cause as someone who has donated multiple times or volunteered. An email subscriber fits somewhere in between.

When you understand where email marketing fits within all of your channels, you’ll know when and where to ask for people to join your email list, and you’ll know when to ask your email subscribers to take action on Facebook or donate to your cause.

What is list segmentation and why should I care?

List segmentation is a process of grouping people into various different email lists based on the types of actions they’ve taken. For example, an email subscriber who has never donated to your cause versus an email subscriber who has donated repeatedly. These two people are very, very different from you in terms of their relationship to your org. Being able to segment them into different lists allows you to send them emails that speak to them more effectively.

Next week, we’ll get into the nitty gritty on list segmentation and messaging.

How does your org use blogging and email marketing?

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