Westpac Social Sector Banking speaks to Zina Kaye, partner at Holly, Sydney’s first digital media agency, to get her top tips on how to illuminate advocacy using digital media.

With the lure of high visibility for low costs, Not for Profits are increasingly including digital media as a critical component of their marketing and communications strategies. But is the community sector using these platforms strategically to generate returns?

Set Clear Goals

The aim of digital marketing and communications is to maximise your reach and build community and high regard with your supporters, Kaye says.

“Importantly, you should always aim to add value to your supporters' lives when you create digital content,” she says.

Set a goal that is specific and measurable; it will help you to align your people, messaging, and digital platforms so your audience is guided towards a clear call to action.

A great feature of digital platforms is that almost anything can be measured: use the knowledge you gain from analysing your campaign to gain a deep understanding of your supporter’s online behaviours.

Make it Systematic

Often, small Not for Profits rely on a combination of limited staff and volunteer time to manage social media accounts, yet to the public, that is the “voice” of the organisation and they expect that you know and respond to their preferences.

Invest in training for your social media hires and volunteers, so they are attuned to the culture and expectations of the organisation, and enabled to make quick content decisions within the scope of their expertise.

Have systems in place like a Google spreadsheet and a social media scheduler like HootSuite to allow multiple users to write and schedule communications in advance.

Stay Agile

Due to rapidly developing news cycles, the evolving behaviours and preferences of supporters, and the ability to collect real-time data on campaigns as they unfold, organisations need to stay open and flexible to manipulating their strategy to align with the overall goal.

This means your team is communicating fluidly, you build the expertise to shift gears based on the news cycle, and you keep your supporters at the centre of your design process.

Craft Timely and Targeted Content

Well-written digital content is created with three things in mind: your audience, your channel, and your call to action.

“There is an art to writing a message that gets a return on investment,” Kaye says.  

While the call to action may be the same across different mediums, the audience and the platform itself will guide your messaging.

For example, using a video or image can effectively engage people on Facebook, composing an attention-grabbing headline can get attention on Twitter, or presenting a case study of your campaign could draw interest from your professional network on LinkedIn.Great content compels people to spread it to their networks. Timely content proliferates.

Map Pathways for Engagement

Content alone won’t result in increased engagement or donations. Your  content should map a pathway for people to connect – via a website with more information; a group to join; a donate button to click on; a calendar entry to save; an email address to message. Once engaged through initial contact, you should enact a retention strategy to deepen the connection your supporter has with your organisation.

Future Trends

Mobile platforms are by far the fastest growing channel, Kaye says.

Organisations should design their content to be optimised for mobile devices like smartphones and tablets.

Integrating traditional media platforms with your digital platforms can also improve your efficiency and broaden your market.

For example, consider re-using appeal promotions as a short advertisement on YouTube – ad rates are much cheaper and segment targeting is maturing.