Recent reports show that organic (that’s unpaid) Facebook reach is an average of just 2.6% for Facebook pages. And yet, Facebook remains the number one social media priority for nonprofit organizations.
What does that 2.6% mean for you? Well with a following of 1000 fans, roughly 26 of them will see what you post, and those 26 will be chosen by Facebook, not by you. Unless, of course, you choose to pay to have a higher percentage of your fans see that content. Outraged? Annoyed? Surprised? As Unmarketing’s Scott Stratten, puts it: “You built your house on rented land. Now you’ve got to pay the rent.”
The recently released Salesforce report, ‘The 2015 State of Marketing’, showed that, globally, for profit marketers plan to reallocate resources from traditional media and marketing into the digital space, in some instances up to 42%. That is a lot of competition for your audience's eyeballs, a lot of noise to cut through. Do you have a strategy and a budget to be able to compete? Have you even thought about it?
At Socially Good, we talk to many nonprofits every week who are frustrated with their social media results. Some call it a waste of time, some say it’s not worth it. Our questions back to them are always the same: What were you expecting? Do you have a strategy? Have you allocated a marketing budget to your online marketing activities?
You get what you pay for
With donor engagement and retention top of mind across both the Nonprofit Communications Trend Report, and the NTEN Digital Outlook Report, it’s clear that digital strategy can work, and IS working - for some. However, the reality is that the money spent on digital communications and marketing is still way too low to be able to meet expectations.
The 2015 Nonprofit Communications Trends Report states the main challenges nonprofit staff have with their digital work are:
When we talk about ‘spend’ we are not just talking about how much your social media advertising budget is. We are also talking about the answer to the above challenges, which ultimately boil down to one thing: the need to build capacity. Solid, results driven online activity is a full time job, that can have a huge impact and deserves the appropriate resources against it.
A digital return on investment
In the 2015 Nonprofit Communications Trends Report, published in January, Communications & Fundraising leaders reported the most important communications channels for them, in order of priority are websites, email marketing, social media, in-person events, print marketing, and media relations/public relations.
If the three biggest digital tools in your communications arsenal are also your least funded, you are setting your organization up for failure.
Some numbers to consider:
- The fastest growing demographic on Twitter is the 55-64 year age bracket. (source)
- For every $1 spent, $44.25 is the average return on email marketing investment (source)
- Interesting content is a top 3 reason people follow brands on social media. (source)
The Content Marketing Institute’s 2014 Non profit Report stated that non profits who self identified as successful with content marketing (that is, creating their own unique content such as blogs, infographics, and videos) had someone dedicated to that role. Those same successful nonprofits spent 30% of their total marketing budget on content creation and marketing. This includes all digital platforms from blogs to social to email.
Your digital checklist
The simple truth is, you won’t find success in the digital world unless you are willing to invest in the capacity to be successful.
Clare McDowall (that’s me!) is the owner of Socially Good, a digital communications and marketing firm based in Toronto, with a track record in working with nonprofits to improve their digital strategies. When Clare is not working on communications and marketing strategies, you’ll find her on the dance floor competing as a West Coast Swing dancer around North America. You can connect with Clare on Twitter at @Socially_Good.
