MARKETING ON A BUDGET

STRATEGIES FOR PROMOTING ORGANIZATIONS WITH LIMITED RESOURCES

Elizabeth O. Romaine

WHY IS MARKETING IMPORTANT?•Publicize Your Mission•Craft Your Reputation •Identify Potential Audiences and Supporters•Learn About Other Needs of Your Supporters

THE MARKETING CYCLEUse the RACE MODELResearchActionCommunicateEvaluate

RESEARCH•Who is your audience?

PICTURE YOUR ‘TYPICAL’ SUPPORTER

RESEARCH•Who is your audience?

•What else do you need to know to communicate your message?• Primary: Be a scientist! Observe your audience in their “natural”

environment. • Secondary: Read what they read, watch what they watch, look at

your competition, look at existing research on your audience

ACTION•Or, PLAN your next course of action•Use your research findings•Compare your plan against available resources – is it

do-able?•Get ready to implement your plan

COMMUNICATE•Or, IMPLEMENT your plan•Take advantage of all of your channels to deliver your

carefully-focused message•Reach your publics, or supporters

THE 4 PILLARS OF SUCCESS

Your

St

ory

Audi

enc

e

Publ

ic Re

latio

ns

Digi

tal

YOU ARE YOUR STORY•What is your story?•What are people surprised to know?•How are you different from similar organizations?

BOILERPLATE EXAMPLEAbout Alex’s Lemonade Stand FoundationAlex's Lemonade Stand Foundation (ALSF) emerged from the front yard lemonade stand of cancer patient Alexandra “Alex” Scott (1996-2004). In 2000, 4-year-old Alex announced that she wanted to hold a lemonade stand to raise money to help find a cure for all children with cancer. Since Alex held that first stand, the Foundation bearing her name has evolved into a national fundraising movement, complete with thousands of supporters across the country carrying on her legacy of hope. To date, Alex’s Lemonade Stand Foundation, a registered 501(c)3 charity, has raised more than $120 million toward fulfilling Alex’s dream of finding a cure, funding over 550 pediatric cancer research projects nationally. For more information on Alex’s Lemonade Stand Foundation, visit AlexsLemonade.org

Mission

•To raise money and awareness of childhood cancer causes, primarily research into new treatments and cures.

•To encourage and empower others, especially children, to raise money for childhood cancer by holding their own lemonade stands.

WHERE TO PUT YOUR STORY

USING YOUR AUDIENCE• Brand ambassadors – represents and promotes your

organization• Humanize your brand• Increase your social media reach• Provide positive word of mouth• Increase web traffic• Increase awareness in regions you are not present• Communicate with them on a personal level• Give them content (and free swag!) to share and talk about• Ask them for feedback and use it!

PUBLIC RELATIONS•Sign up for Google Alerts•Create a list of media contacts •Anyone can write a press release, but can you ‘pitch’ a

story?•“Product placement”•HARO – become a resource/expert

PUBLIC RELATIONS - HELP A REPORTER OUT•Register as a ‘source’ for free•Get emails 3 times a day•Look for requests relevant to your organization or issues

you address•Pitch the story. If they are interested, they will respond

DIGITAL STRATEGIES – SLIDESHARE.NET•Owned by LinkedIn, top 100

visited websites in the world• Instead of scrolling through pages

of text, the user flips through the deck and absorbs the same information in a fraction of time

DIGITAL STRATEGIES - BLOG• Boost SEO• Develop Relationships• Establish Org as a

Leader/Expert• Show Personal Side• Create Opportunities

for Social Media

DIGITAL STRATEGIES - VIDEO• Improved SEO• Tell your story in a unique way• YouTube is 2nd largest search

engine• Short form videos are perfect for

social viewing & sharing• Don’t need fancy equipment to

create great video

DIGITAL STRATEGIES – SOCIAL MEDIA•Choose 1 or 2 social media platforms that you can manage well• The best social media platforms are ones that post consistently and

interact with their audience•Reuse content created in other areas of the organization•Utilize your brand ambassadors to gain audience and share content• Join local community/interest groups and engage

DIGITAL STRATEGIES – WEBSITE•Is it mobile-friendly/responsive?•Is it easy for supporters to sign up for your emails?

•Are your social media links easy to find?•Is your blog in a prominent place?

IF I HAD…$5, I’d boost my Facebook post

$50, I’d spend it on Facebook advertising

IF I HAD…$100, I’d invest in a social media manager like Hootsuite

HOOTSUITE•Track and manage your social media channels

•Monitor what people are saying about your org

IF I HAD…$500, I’d test Google Ads…Or better yet, apply for an Ad Grant

GOOGLE ADS FOR NONPROFITS

GOOGLE ADS FOR NONPROFITS•Grants empower nonprofits through up to $10,000 per

month of in-kind AdWords

•Create text ads and choose keywords or phrases related to your organization

•When people search using one of your keywords, your ad appears next to the search results

• You’re advertising to an audience that’s already interested in you

IF I HAD…$1,000, I’d spend it on an experienced, quality auctioneer for your next event

EVALUATE – HOW TO MEASURE SUCCESS•Set clear objectives upfront – SMART goals•Use tools like SurveyMonkey to conduct easy quantitative research

•Harness the energy of local college students to conduct focus groups/interviews

THANK YOU!