Nonprofit Video Blog

Nonprofits: Use Internet Marketing like Businesses Do

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If you're a nonprofit, you understand that you must use the Internet to connect with donors and supporters. But how, exactly, should you do that? One place to start is by understanding how businesses use Internet marketing in their sales process.

Companies that do a good job marketing themselves on the Internet do this:

1. They make it easy for people to find their website. They use a variety of tactics, including email newsletters, Social Media, and Search Engine Optimization (SEO, which is configuring a website so it's top-ranked when people Google those particular products).
2. When people get to the website, they find rich content that engages them and teaches them more about the company and the product. Blog articles and videos are especially powerful rich content.
3. Businesses then capture people's contact information through compelling offers for things like webinars, eBooks and free trials.
4. Once businesses have a person's contact information, they nurture that person through their sales process until the person becomes a customer (when nurturing continues through customer relations programs).

For nonprofits, the process can work in roughly the same way:

1. Use a variety of tactics to help people get to your website. Good tactics include email newsletters, videos on YouTube, and interactions on Facebook and Twitter. Sound SEO practices are also important.
2. Once people land on your site, you can engage them with rich media that teaches them about the work you do, and helps them understand if they would be a good fit as donors and supporters. Videos are the most compelling way for you to tell your stories, so make sure that when people get to your site, there's a video for them to click on. You should also engage people in conversation on your blog.
3. Capture people's contact information (email address, phone number) by offering them something. For example, you can offer to send them your newsletter, or you can offer to notify them when you make more videos. 
4. Once you have their contact information, nurture them through your ‘sales process' until they become donors (when you'll continue nurturing through your donor relations program).

For businesses, the key to successful Internet marketing is to make it very easy for people who are interested in their products to find them, and then to capture contact information so they can nurture those people through the sales process.

For nonprofits that process is similar: use the Internet to find and connect with people who care about the work you do, and then capture their contact information so you can nurture them through your sales process.

The difference is that for businesses, the goal is more customers. For nonprofits, the goal is more donors and supporters.

To learn more about how to use video for your nonprofit, download our free eBook: "Internet Video Campaigns for Nonprofits"