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Digital Marketing for Noprofits - JPEG
DOT ORG CAFÉ

DIGITAL MARKETING FOR NONPROFITS

Most of us use digital tools to run and enhance our lives. Your nonprofit constituents do too. They search to find services and programs, make gifts, find volunteer opportunities and learn more about your nonprofit.

A strong digital presence is essential if your nonprofit wants to effectively engage with current and potential constituents. This e-book is designed to help you understand digital marketing better and how to use it to reach your goals.

Author’s note: We understand the impact of AI on digital marketing. We reference some AI tools but aren’t providing in-depth coverage in this guide as AI tools are ever-changing.


What is digital marketing?

Digital marketing uses online tools and media to promote goods and services. And for your nonprofit, it can be a very cost-effective way to reach your audiences and connect with them meaningfully and personally.

While traditional marketing relies on print, TV and radio, digital marketing focuses on email, social media, website content, SEO, streaming services and online ads. Both types of marketing create awareness and can have a place in your marketing strategy, but digital platforms often better align with the needs of your nonprofit and provide data to help you make decisions about future campaigns.

 

Benefits of digital marketing for nonprofits

As a nonprofit, you are competing with other nonprofits AND for-profit organizations for people’s time, money and energy. But that doesn’t mean you should shy away from digital. Digital marketing can provide your nonprofit with:

  • Increased visibility: You can easily leverage various platforms to reach a broader audience and spread your message further than traditional means.
  • Enhanced donor engagement: You can personalize communication and directly interact with audiences, increasing engagement and developing more meaningful relationships with your constituents.
  • Cost-effective campaigns: Most digital marketing strategies require minimal investment and can be much cheaper than traditional media, making them ideal if you have limited resources.
  • Measurability: Digital marketing offers precise tracking and measurement through analytics, helping you analyze campaigns in real time and understand what is working and what isn’t.
  • Targeting: Digital platforms provide sophisticated targeting options, helping you reach your intended audience more effectively.
  • Maximized resources: You can repurpose content across a variety of platforms, saving time AND money while delivering cohesive messaging.
  • Improved communication: You can improve response times for online inquiries, deliver personalized experiences for visitors and provide better engagement by using well-placed forms, clear call-to-action buttons and automated responses in your media.
Using content marketing to create value and engage audiences

Content is at the heart of digital marketing. So, you must deliver relevant content that resonates with audiences, increases engagement and keeps people interested. When developing content, you need to understand the types of content, the steps people take when they make decisions and the specific ways they like to communicate.

 

Inbound vs. outbound content

Not all content is created equal, so you need to write content that aligns with your goals.

  • Inbound content is designed to drive traffic to your website. It is written with search optimization in mind, often helping visitors learn more about a topic and/or your organization. In addition to strong website content, think about downloadable service brochures, “how-to” guides, e-books like this one, podcasts, videos, plan templates, etc.

  • Outbound content pushes your message to the public. It includes social media, email, paid advertising, direct mail and any other promotion you may be doing.

 

The buyer’s journey

Every customer goes through several stages before purchasing something, including making a donation or signing up for a program or service. These stages are called the buyer’s journey and your content must reflect constituent needs at every stage.

  • Awareness: Potential clients, patients, patrons, donors, etc. become familiar with your organization and your mission through online search. Your efforts should focus on creating quality web content, blog posts, social media campaigns and search engine optimization to drive traffic to your website.

  • Consideration: Prospective constituents are researching and evaluating your nonprofit a little deeper. Use email campaigns, downloadable resources and webinars to provide valuable information that cultivate deeper connections and nurture interest.

  • Decision: Prospects are ready to act and your content should focus on actions such as donate, schedule an appointment, apply, volunteer or purchase a ticket. Build user-friendly landing pages, create compelling calls-to-action and develop targeted advertising to encourage constituents to get involved, get help or contact you.

  • Advocacy/Delight: Your satisfied “customers” may become brand ambassadors, promoting your organization to their networks. Share regular updates, impact stories and personalized communication to strengthen their bond with your nonprofit and increase the likelihood of ongoing interaction.

 

Constituent personas

One of the best ways to understand your audience is to have constituent personas, which are fictional characters that represent your constituents. Personas give you insight into demographic information, challenges, motivations and communication behaviors. (Think Donor Donna or Cleo the Client).

  Tip: Have several personas (around five is good).

Some may have subcategories - Planned Giving Pat and Donor Donna are both fundraising personas that may get regular donor communications but may receive different communication throughout the year. Making personas can be fun for your team. We like HubSpot’s Make My Persona tool.

Digital review

It is important to establish a baseline for your current digital marketing performance before you make changes. Implementing new digital marketing strategies doesn’t mean you have to blow up or replace all your current marketing unless it is necessary.

  • Review each marketing platform and compare to peer benchmarks. Your email and social media management tools, Google Analytics and other systems can provide you with data overtime. A quick online search can help you compare your performance to peers.

  • Also, audit your current content and marketing plans to see if you have covered stages of the buyer’s journey. Make plans to reduce underperforming content types and enhance those that perform well.

  Resource: Digital Definitions 101

Interpreting data may be difficult it you are new to digital marketing. Download our Digital Definitions 101 guide for a quick reference. Or contact us today for a complete digital audit.

Content strategy

Effective digital marketing requires a solid content strategy that makes sense across all digital platforms. One size doesn’t fit all platforms.

  • Create content themes. Look for activities and events that occur throughout the year and find common threads you can turn into themes. You may have clear content needs at certain times of year – back to school (free supplies, registrations, events) or winter (free coats/coat drives, warming centers, heating assistance). Plan themes in quarterly content blocks or campaigns and develop content that carries that theme through all digital media.

  • Develop a thorough content calendar. A digital content and editorial calendar will help you keep track of everything – and there are many things to manage with digital.
    • Separate your content and editorial by type (video, graphic, photo, social posts, emails, landing pages, web page updates, etc.)
    • Set deadlines, assign responsibility and plan for future needs. Talk about the calendar at relevant staff and team meetings.

  • Plan content needs. Use a mix of content that shows your organization’s personality and its impact. People who engage with you want to know as much about your culture as they do about those you serve.
    • Incorporate different types of media to complement written content– photos, video, podcasts, infographics, etc.
    • Encourage audiences to share their stories.
    • Invite guest contributors.
    • Be inclusive by representing different cultures, ethnicities, genders, abilities, backgrounds, etc.

  • Reuse/recycle. You probably have lots of content. Reuse it! Most people won’t remember what they have seen from you so adapt content into new forms to reinforce a topic or idea. (This is a great task for AI tools!)
    • Post annual reports, informational brochures, e-books, ways to give/planned giving information and more on your website and shared via other digital platforms.
    • Convert long-form content into infographics, social posts, web pages and email content.
Optimizing your website to drive traffic and encourage audience action

Your website is essential to digital marketing. So, it must look great AND deliver an outstanding user experience that gets visitors to act. This is called website optimization and it is an ongoing task. Every organization will have different website optimization goals. Some common goals include:

  • Increased conversion rates: Do people come to your site, but do not complete actions? You may want to focus on increasing conversion rates and get more people to donate, volunteer or complete a form.
  • Better user experience (UX): Do you frequently hear your site is difficult to navigate or people cannot find the information they need? Your goal may be to create better UX and focus on improving site navigation, layout and overall usability.
  • Improved visibility and ranking: Are you looking to be found by more people or just rank higher in search engines? Improved site SEO may be your goal to drive more organic traffic to the site.
  • Mobile optimization: Can people find you, but have issues interacting with your site? Your goal may include adding responsive design, optimizing load times for mobile networks and ensuring a user-friendly experience on smaller screens.

 

Conversion optimization and user experience (UX)

Optimizing your website for conversions and delivering an exceptional user experience (UX) are crucial for achieving your organization’s goals. Well-optimized websites incorporate effective:

  • Page navigation: Your website’s navigation should be intuitive and user-friendly, allowing visitors to easily find the information they’re seeking. A well-structured menu, clear labels and breadcrumbs can significantly improve navigation.
  • Content: A successful website must have engaging and informative content. Write compelling, brief and easy-to-understand copy that resonates with your audience. Use headings, bullet points and visuals to break up text and enhance readability.
  • Forms: Forms help convert website visitors into supporters, whether you’re gathering donations, volunteer sign-ups or event registrations. Make forms simple and optimize for conversions. Use clear field labels, provide guidance where necessary and minimize the number of required fields so you only collect the information you really need.
  • Calls-to-action (CTAs): Proper placement and design of calls-to-action (CTAs) can significantly increase conversion rates and should be used in lieu of links when possible. Use contrasting colors, action-oriented language and prominent placement to make them stand out. Also, make sure buttons are easily clickable and responsive across all devices.

 

Search Engine Optimization (SEO)

Strong SEO helps people find you easier! Even with AI-generated answers now prominently displayed atop search results, SEO remains critical for driving website traffic and visibility.

What is considered good SEO?
  • Target keywords: These are words and phrases your audience searches for related to your nonprofit. Do keyword research and include relevant keywords in your site content to boost rankings for those terms.
  • Strong meta titles and meta descriptions: Meta titles and descriptions tell search engines what your pages are about. Compelling, keyword-optimized titles and descriptions can increase click through rates. If you don’t write meta titles and descriptions, search engines will generate them for you based on your page content, which is often less effective.
  • Page titles and headers: Structuring content with header tags like H1, H2, etc. that use relevant keywords also helps search engines understand the content. The H1 should be your page’s main title, with subheadings following in hierarchical order.
  • Backlinks: Earning high-quality backlinks from reputable external sites tells search engines your content is reputable. Look for opportunities for your nonprofit to be referenced, mentioned or linked to from professional affiliations, articles, blogs, publications, directories and partner websites.
  • EEAT (Experience, Expertise, Authoritativeness, Trustworthiness): Google prioritizes EEAT in search responses. High-quality content and downloads are essential for SEO which is now infused with AI-generated answers. Your nonprofit can build trust by showcasing well researched resources, expert authors, impact stories and informational downloads, which makes your content stand out as credible, human-driven and authoritative.

  Tip: HubSpot website grader

Use the HubSpot website grader tool to see how your website is performing!

Leveraging paid and organic social media to engage audiences and inspire action

Social media is an indispensable tool for your nonprofit. It helps you connect with audiences and is relatively inexpensive.

The key to successful social media management is intentionality. Every post should have a purpose, whether it’s engaging audiences, showcasing your organization’s personality, driving conversions or providing information and education. Once you’ve determined your goals, create a social strategy to align with them.

 

Social media engagement

Audience engagement is the cornerstone of social media success. So commit to best practices including:

  • Responding promptly to comments and messages.
  • Using polls, stories and live sessions to encourage participation.
  • Tailoring content to each platform’s strengths and audience expectations.

 

Platform-specific strategies

You don’t need to be everywhere so focus on platforms that align with your target audiences.

  • Bluesky: An emerging platform for engaging with tech-savvy and privacy-conscious audiences.
  • Facebook: Ideal for community building and diverse content types.
  • LinkedIn: For connecting with board/corporate partners, sharing impact stories and thought leadership.
  • Instagram: Great for storytelling and brand awareness – visual-centric.
  • TikTok: Perfect for short-form, creative video content targeting younger audiences.
  • YouTube: Excellent for both short- and long-form video content and educational materials.
  • X: Effective for real-time updates and advocacy campaigns.

  Tips, Tricks and Ideas

Take a look at our blog: Choosing the best social media platform for your nonprofit. 

 

Organic vs. paid social media

Both organic and paid social media have their place in a comprehensive strategy:

Organic social media:
  • Builds community and fosters authentic engagement.
  • Showcases your organization’s personality and values.
  • Provides ongoing touchpoints with your audience.
Paid social media:
  • Extends reach beyond your current followers.
  • Allows for precise targeting based on demographics, interests and behaviors.
  • Drives specific actions - website visits, sign-ups or donations.

 

Social media ad campaigns

Running social media ad campaigns can be cost-effective and help you engage new audiences.

To maximize your paid social media efforts:

  • Set your campaign objectives (e.g., awareness, engagement, conversions).
  • Use platform-specific targeting options to reach your ideal audience.
  • Create compelling ad copy and visuals that align with your campaign goals.
  • Continuously test and optimize your ads based on performance data. Choose the right type of ad. Boosted and sponsored posts serve different purposes.

  Tips, Tricks and Ideas

Use the right tools to manage your campaigns. Learn more: Unlocking the Power of Facebook Business Manager for Your Nonprofit.

 

Social media fundraising

Social media can be a powerful tool for fundraising when used strategically:

  • Choose the right platforms where your donors are most active.
  • Use engaging storytelling to illustrate your impact and need for support.
  • Provide regular updates on campaigns and how funds are being used.
  • Create interactive content that encourages supporters to get involved.
  • Post fundraising needs and messages among your regular posts so you don’t look like you are always asking for money.

  Tips for social media success

  • Focus on platforms that matter to your personas.
  • Understand and track meaningful metrics beyond just likes.
  • Include clear calls-to-action in your posts, linking to specific landing pages and relevant content.
  • Use eye-catching graphics and short videos to increase engagement.
  • Post when your users are most likely to interact.
  • Think in terms of campaigns, linking ideas across platforms (social media, email, website, ads).

Compelling content

Facebook alone has more than 3 billion users. So you are competing for attention and your content needs to stand out.

  • Tell authentic stories that resonate with your audience.
  • Use high-quality visuals and graphics.
  • Experiment with video.
  • Encourage user-generated content to create community and show authenticity.
  • Share behind-the-scenes content to humanize your organization.
  • Tag people and other organizations to expand reach.

 

Performance measurement

Regularly analyze your social media performance:

  • Track metrics that align with your goals - engagement rate, click-through rate, conversion rate.
  • Use platform analytics tools to understand your audience and content performance.
  • A/B test content, posting times and ad creative.
  • Adjust your strategy based on data insights.

Effectively using paid and organic social media requires strategy, intentional content, platform-specific tactics and ongoing monitoring for optimization. Engage with audiences authentically, provide value and inspire action.

Incorporating paid digital advertising into your campaign plans

Paid digital ads can help you effectively reach and engage audiences. Understanding various platforms will help you create comprehensive campaigns to maximize visibility, drive conversions and achieve goals.

 

Google advertising (Search, Display, Ad Grants, YouTube)

Google Advertising offers powerful ways to reach potential constituents who are searching for services or other things related to your nonprofit. Google ads have many targeting capabilities to help you get in front of your intended audience.

  • Google Search allows you to bid on keywords that display text ads at the top of search engine results pages (SERPs). Search works because users generally have strong engagement intent.
  • Google’s Display Network expands reach beyond search results, placing banner ads on millions of websites, news pages, blogs, and Google sites like Gmail and YouTube. This visual format is excellent for building brand awareness and reaching audiences based on interests, demographics or browsing behavior.
  • Google Ad Grants are specific to nonprofits and provide up to $10,000 per month in free advertising on Google search results. Google Ad Grants can help your nonprofit extend its reach, attract donors and promote services or events for free.
  • YouTube is the second largest search tool behind Google, making it an excellent advertising tool. YouTube Ads leverage short video ads that appear before, during or alongside YouTube content. It can help you reach specific audiences through targeting options like demographics, interests and search behavior in a space where users already consume content.

  Tips, Tricks and Ideas:

When Google advertising is highly competitive and you should focus on keyword research, ad copy optimization and landing page relevance when building campaigns. Also, you must regularly monitor and adjust campaigns based on performance.

Over-the-top (OTT) advertising

OTT refers to video ads delivered directly to viewers through streaming video services or devices, bypassing traditional cable or satellite providers. This rapidly growing medium includes platforms like Hulu, Netflix, Amazon Prime Video and various smart TV applications.

OTT includes precise audience targeting, engagement tracking and a way to reach cord-cutters who have abandoned traditional television. Targeting can be based on demographics, viewing habits and even specific shows or genres.

High-quality video content that resonates with audiences is essential for success with OTT. You must also understand the viewing habits of your target demographic and choose appropriate platforms and programming for ad placement.

 

Ad retargeting

Ad retargeting or remarketing helps advertisers re-engage users who have previously interacted with their website or mobile app. Retargeting is effective because it focuses on people who have shown interest in your organization and often leads to higher conversion rates and return on ad spend.

Retargeting can be implemented across platforms, including Google’s display network, social media and specialized retargeting services. Advanced retargeting strategies can segment users based on specific actions on your site, providing a highly personalized ad experience.

Using paid digital ads requires strategy that leverages the strengths of each platform while maintaining a cohesive brand message. Combining search, OTT, social media and ad retargeting provides your nonprofit with a comprehensive campaign to reach your audiences at various stages of the buyer’s journey.

  Tips for creating compelling ad content

  • Know your audience: Tailor your message to resonate with your target demographic’s interests and pain points.
  • Use strong, action-oriented headlines: Grab attention quickly and encourage engagement.
  • Clearly communicate: What sets you apart from other nonprofits? Can you solve a problem?
  • Use high-quality visuals to complement your message. Include photos, graphics and video.
  • Keep it concise: Craft clear, concise copy that gets your point across quickly.
  • Include a clear call-to-action (CTA): Tell users exactly what you want them to do next.
  • Create a sense of urgency: Use time-limited offers or scarcity to encourage immediate action.
  • Ensure ad relevance: Match your ad content to the targeting criteria and the landing page experience.
  • Test and iterate: Continuously test ad variations to identify what resonates best with your audience.
  • Stay compliant: Adhere to platform-specific guidelines and regulations to avoid ad disapprovals.
Making the most of your email marketing

Email marketing is still relevant when you have strong content and use it for more than a newsletter. It is cost-effective, can be personalized and is a preferred communications tool for most people.

Email compliance

In February 2024, Yahoo and Google announced changes that affect how email is used for marketing and fundraising. Organizations must now comply with three major rules for Google and Yahoo:

  1. Authenticated email domain
  2. Easy-to-unsubscribe links- Users must be able to unsubscribe with one click and you must honor the request within two days.
  3. Email spam rates of <0.3%

Organizations who don’t comply will be penalized by having emails sent to recipient junk and spam folders, which will lead to decreased delivery and open rates. Read more about these changes in our blog.

 

List management

Email list management is time-consuming and frustrating. But cleaning lists removes invalid addresses and unengaged subscribers, reducing bounce rates and spam complaints. Clean lists also help improve your sender reputation and domain trust with email providers.

Schedule regular list maintenance
  • Run your emails through a verification tool at least once a year or before you run a major email campaign. We love Kickbox. It’s pretty cheap, easy to use and you get results fast.
  • Delete bad addresses: Most platforms charge for active email contacts. Delete the bad records or mark them as “non-marketing” emails.
  • Review email analytics to check engagement, bounce rates and spam reports.
Segmentation and targeting

Dividing your audience into constituent personas helps you deliver relevant, personalized content which leads to increased engagement and conversion rates.

  Tips for additional email segmentation

  • Segment donors by giving history and frequency.
  • Segment by interests based on past interactions and event attendance.
  • Create segments for different age groups or geographic locations.
  • Develop separate lists for volunteers, donors and newsletter subscribers.
 

Automation

Automated emails help you deliver timely, personalized communications without constant manual effort. These pre-programmed emails respond to specific triggers or donor actions, ensuring prompt acknowledgment and nurturing relationships throughout the buyer’s journey.

  Tips for getting started with email automation

  • Create an email welcome series for new subscribers or online donors.
  • Set up personalized, automated thank-you emails for donations in addition to the system-generated emails.
  • Set up automated emails to notify leadership of donations of specific sizes or type.
  • Send personalized content based on supporter interests or actions taken on your website.
 

Drip campaigns

Email drip campaigns are sets of pre-written, scheduled emails sent to your constituents with a goal of getting someone to act. They help you nurture relationships by delivering relevant content at strategic intervals and guide recipients through a planned journey.

Drip campaigns can educate new supporters, cultivate donors or re-engage lapsed members. They keep your organization top-of-mind and encourage deeper involvement without overwhelming your audience. And when automated, a drip campaign will stop midway if an individual completes an action (i.e. donate, subscribe, schedule, etc.)

Examples of drip campaigns:
  • Introduce local corporations and businesses to your organization and highlight potential collaboration opportunities.
  • Develop a donor nurture campaign to move one-time donors toward recurring gifts.
  • Design an educational series showcasing different aspects of your programs.
  • Implement a re-engagement campaign for inactive supporters.
  • Recruit volunteers by using testimonials, impact stories and benefits.
  • Create a major donor prospect campaign with personalized emails based on charitable interest.

When scheduling drip campaigns, especially cold outreach emails, emails at least five-to-seven days apart unless there is a specific urgency. Include clear calls-to-action, personalized content, an offer and an easy-out option.

  Email tips

  • Write awesome subject lines. Use tools like subjectline.com to test your subject lines and get suggestions. It’s FREE!
  • Use a “Friendly From” address. Learn what it is and why it’s important!
  • Make emails personal, simple and relevant.
    • Use personalization tokens. (ex. Hi [First Name]!
    • Send personalized copy based on audience.
    • Keep copy light so people can skim it and click on what is relevant to them.
    • Use bullets, short paragraphs and phrases when possible.
  • Always have calls-to-action.
  • Drive people to your website for more information and for conversion
    opportunities.
Developing successful digital marketing campaigns

Digital marketing works best when you use a variety of tactics simultaneously. This multichannel approach helps you reach your constituents and prospects at various stages of the buyer’s journey.

You may want to run campaigns around a particular need:
  • Fundraising
  • Stewardship
  • Event promotion - online events and webinars
  • Service or program promotion or enrollment
  • Recruitment – volunteers, staff
Or your needs may be more general:
  • Brand awareness and management
  • Lead generation
  • Community building
  • Increased website traffic
  • Improved website conversions

 

Campaign mindset

Think about your digital efforts in terms of campaigns. Link ideas, thoughts and platforms together as much as possible through social media, email, website and ads.

Every digital tactic has its own unique place in the process. Therefore, it is important that your digital marketing channels support and complement each other. Strategically rolling out campaign elements over time and across platforms helps avoid oversaturation (aka annoyed constituents), maximizes budget and reach, connects with people at different stages of their buyer’s journey and gives you room to pivot if necessary.

  Campaign tips

  • Plan your campaigns at least 90 days ahead of time.
  • Create a solid content calendar with links, social posts, photos, videos, etc.
  • Stagger campaign rollouts – i.e. organic social rolls out before paid social, search runs the entire campaign, email drip campaigns are placed throughout the campaign, etc.

 

Campaign assets

Your campaign plan will tell you what assets you need to develop. Have all assets complete before you launch a campaign. You can add more if needed.

Curate and clean lists
  • Update your data and create segmented email marketing lists to ensure the right messages are going to the right people.
  • Pull donor lists if you choose to do social media campaigns that are targeting these audiences or creating look-alike campaigns.
  • Run email lists through an email cleaning tool – we love Kickbox!
Develop campaign landing pages

Every digital campaign should have a dedicated website landing page as the go-to location for your digital media traffic. All social media posts, email links, ads, direct mail and QR codes should drive online traffic to this page.

Note: A landing page is different than a standard web page. Landing pages are campaign specific and display content based solely on the campaign you are running. The goal is to provide all relevant information to someone visiting the page and give them an easy conversion path.

Develop content and creative
Digital campaigns require quite a bit of content, and each platform requires different writing, graphic and video styles. Your campaign theme must be carried across all platforms, but the way you write and display graphic/video content must be platform specific.

  Campaign asset tips

  • If multiple people are writing, use a consistent style. We recommend AP style.
  • Repurpose content. Don’t be afraid to use content twice or recycle relevant content from other campaigns. Repurposing content helps ingrain your message.
  • Write for the proper platform. What works for Facebook doesn’t always work for LinkedIn. What works for email doesn’t work for social.
  • Keep content concise and clear.
  • Don’t use jargon that is only known in your industry or to your organization. It is confusing to those who aren’t familiar with you or your nonprofit.
  • Properly size graphics for platforms.
  • Test graphics in the platform you will be using. Reduce social graphics to the size people will see them on mobile.
Understanding your data and measuring your ROI

Digital marketing gives us access to LOTS of information. The data can tell us how people are engaging with content, visiting pages and converting on our calls-to-action so we know what is working and what isn’t.

What to measure


Measuring digital success for your nonprofit should at the very least include: reach, engagement, conversion and cost. These metrics help you understand the effectiveness of your campaigns and help guide future strategies.

  • Reach indicates how many people your content or message has potentially reached. It represents the size of your audience and the extent of your digital footprint.
    • Key metrics: Delivery rate, impressions, frequency, traffic, visits
  • Engagement measures how people interact with your content. This metric varies by platform but generally includes actions such as likes, comments, shares and clicks. High engagement rates suggest your content resonates with your audience and is fostering a deeper connection with them.
    • Key metrics: Bounce rate, click-through rate (CTR), click-to-open rate (CTOR), clicks, content performance, engagement rate, interactions, likes, open rate, reactions, shares, time on page, unique link clicks, sessions
  • Conversions directly relate to achieving your goals and occur when an individual takes the specific action you’re aiming for, such as donating, registering for an event, scheduling an appointment, purchasing a ticket, or completing an application.
    • Key metrics: Acquisition, conversions, conversion rate, leads
  • Cost metrics can tell you more than just about what you spend. Combined with industry benchmarks, you can use cost to determine the overall campaign effectiveness. For instance, if the average cost-per-click for a Facebook ad is $1.68 and you are only spending $1.25, you know your campaign is performing well.
    • Key metrics: Ad spend, cost per click (CPC), cost per 1000 impressions (CPM), cost per view (CPV)

 

Measurement tools

There are many free and paid tools to help you track your digital campaigns. Select tools that align with your organization’s needs and set them up correctly so you’re collecting the most relevant information.

Email

Email platforms like Constant Contact, HubSpot, Mailchimp and others offer great analytics, including open rates, click-through rates and conversion tracking. These tools can help you segment your audience, personalize content and optimize your email campaigns for better engagement.

Social media

Each major social media platform provides analytics tools in its platform:

  • Facebook Insights offers detailed data on post reach, engagement and audience demographics.
  • Instagram Insights (for business accounts) shows follower growth, post reach and story views.
  • LinkedIn Analytics offers data on post performance, follower demographics and engagement rates.
  • TikTok offers four primary analytics tabs - overview, content, followers and LIVE.
  • X Analytics provides information on tweet performance, audience growth and engagement rates.
  • Bluesky Meter shows a heatmap, engagement, content, post types and activity.

Most third-party scheduling tools can aggregate data across multiple platforms, saving time and offering more comprehensive insights.

Website analytics

Google Analytics and Google Search Console are powerful, free tools that every nonprofit should use:

Google Analytics:

    • Tracks website traffic, user behavior and conversion rates.
    • Offers audience demographic data.
    • Allows you to set up custom goals to track specific actions like donations or newsletter sign-ups.

Google Search Console:

    • Provides insights into your website’s search performance.
    • Helps identify technical issues that may affect your site’s visibility in search results.

When set up properly, your digital data tools will help you:

  • Determine campaign and platform effectiveness over specified periods of time.
  • Evaluate campaigns holistically across all digital channels.
  • Understand user/visitor behavior to drive future marketing decisions.
  • Track the effectiveness of online ads and specific messages.

*Note: If you are just getting started, the free tools are completely fine, but you need to get information from each platform and perform your own analysis. More sophisticated, paid tools such as HubSpot can help you manage and group your data by campaigns. As a HubSpot Solutions Partner, our Dot Org team can help you set up and leverage HubSpot’s platform to maximize your campaigns. Contact us today!

Data interpretation

Apply the “measure what matters” mantra to interpret your digital data and give you the best campaign insight. It is easy to get excited about vanity metrics such as impressions (a bunch of people had our ad in their feed or on a page), or low cost-per-click (CPC) (we didn’t spend too much).

Focusing on metrics independently doesn’t tell the whole story. You may have a ton of impressions, but no one clicked the ad and got to your website. Or your CPC was low, but no one converted once they got to your site.

To truly understand the effectiveness of your digital marketing efforts, you must look beyond surface level metrics and look at data that aligns with your organization’s goals. These metrics may include conversions on your donation page, volunteer sign-ups or people being connected with your services.

 

Data dashboard

Creating a data dashboard will help you combine those important metrics in one place to provide a comprehensive view of your campaign’s performance. A dashboard could include:

  • Engagement rates: How many people are interacting with your content through likes, shares and comments?
  • Click-through rates (CTR): What percentage of people who see your ad or content are taking action?
  • Conversion rates: How many website visitors are completing desired actions, such as making a donation or signing up for a newsletter?
  • Retention rates: Are supporters returning to engage with your organization over time?
  • Cost per acquisition (CPA): How much are you spending to acquire each new supporter
    or donor?

Analyzing these metrics together will help you gain valuable insights into the buyer’s journey and identify areas for improvement. For example, if you have a high CTR but low conversion rate, you may need to optimize your landing page or simplify your donation process.

Remember that context is key when interpreting data. Compare your current performance to historical data, industry benchmarks and your specific campaign goals. It will help you set realistic expectations and identify trends over time.

And don’t be afraid to A/B test ads, emails and other tactics to refine your strategies. Sometimes you just need to see how two things perform against each other to see what works best. But be clear on what you are testing. Are you testing a photo vs. a video, a red donate button vs. a green one, the location of a CTA button on landing page A vs. landing page B? A/B testing works best with specific goals and tests.

Committing to the process

Digital marketing is complex, takes time to learn and implement and is an investment that requires ongoing planning and reporting. But, when you commit to it in a thoughtful and strategic way, it will pay off for your organization and help you meet your goals.

 

Your success will be driven by several factors.

Measuring digital success for your nonprofit should at the very least include: reach, engagement, conversion and cost. These metrics help you understand the effectiveness of your campaigns and help guide future strategies.

  • Goals and solid plans: Decide what you want to achieve with your digital marketing, set SMART goals and develop plans to meet those goals. Include a comprehensive content calendar with links, social posts, photos, videos, etc.
  • Quality content: Quality content is one of the most important investments you should make. Build and understand your constituent personas so you can develop content that is relevant to them. And make sure you have content that is important at various points of the buyer’s journey.
  • Website updates: Great design and website bells and whistles are great, but your website visitors are looking for more than just a nice-looking site with fancy features. They want quality content and if they can’t find it, they will leave and go somewhere else.
  • Data and measurement: Digital marketing gives us access to lots of important data to inform our marketing decisions. Set up your measurement tools (Google - Analytics, Search Console and Ad Console; social media reporting, QR code tools, etc.). Use benchmark data to understand how your campaign is performing. Have a process to regularly monitor your campaigns.
  • Partnerships: You may not have the team, knowledge or bandwidth to embark on large digital efforts on your own. That’s okay. It is often cheaper to outsource these efforts to an experienced marketing team (like ours at Dot Org) to help you implement the technical parts of the campaign so you can focus on the content. If that sounds like your organization, contact us today for a free consultation.

The future of digital marketing for nonprofits is evolving and will require you to embrace innovation and new technologies. And those who incorporate it into their overall marketing goals will see great benefits and better engagement with their audiences.

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