get heard: using online tools to inspire volunteers and donors

Get Heard: Using Online Tools to inspire Volunteers and Donors

@ctctevent on Twitter

http://www.facebook.com/ctcteventmarketing

Erik Mintz

1

http://www.facebook.com/ctcteventmarketing

Erik Mintz Director, Event Marketing Constant Contact

Blog: http://blogs.constantcontact.com/commentary/author/erik-mintz/

facebook.com/erikmintz

@erikmintz

linkedin.com/in/erikmintz

Copyright © 2011 Constant Contact, Inc.

Introduction

2

http://blogs.constantcontact.com/commentary/author/erik-mintz/

Copyright © 2011 Constant Contact, Inc. 3

Agenda

Event Marketing

Social Media Marketing

Email Marketing

Online Survey

• Why use these online tools?

• Benefits and best practices.

• Nonprofit customer examples.

• Questions after each section.


Why Use These Online Tools?

• These tools help you create a meaningful online experience about your business

• You take that experience and deliver it to an audience

• The audience might be your website, social network or an email list.

• The experience itself is in high resolution (HD), it leaves a lasting impression. It’s valuable and relevant to the recipient. It engages someone enough to take the next step; maybe to refer you within their social network, join your email list, or donate money to the causes you care about the most!


It Takes Relationships to Build a Business

Why Do We “Market”?

6

More…

• Customers• Clients • Donors• Members• Board Members• Volunteers• Brand Awareness• Sales• Website Traffic


WeWantMore!

Key InfluencersDonors

MembersVolunteers

ProspectsSuspectsDisinterested


7

Audiences

Apply New Tools To The Cycle

Start with your passionate customers and

interesting content

Email MarketingSocial Media

Marketing

Suspect

Customer

Fan Prospect

Event Marketing

8

New tools have changed the game

Focus is on Nonprofitacquisition

Revenue is generated by repeat donors and high value donors

Find

Convert

Keep

Find

Convert

KeepTraditional Marketing Engagement Marketing


9

MySpace

Meetup

Other

YouTube

Online surveys

Twitter

LinkedIn

Blogs

Telephone

Direct mail

Online advertising

Facebook

Event Marketing

In person

Email marketing

Website

0 500 1,000 1,500 2,000 2,500 3,000 3,500 4,000 4,500

4%

5%10%

16%

20%

26%

27%

29%

40%

41%

44%

51%

51%64%

88%

92%

0

Important Tools for Marketing My Businessn=4,459, U.S. Small Businesses

New Tools Have Changed the Shape ofSmall Business Marketing

10

Source: Constant Contact 2010 Small Business Attitudes & Outlook Survey, Feb-Apr; 29% sole proprietor; 62% 1 to 25 employees; 9% over 25 employees

Find Social Media Tool Important

51% Facebook29% Blogs27% LinkedIn26% Twitter16% YouTube


Levels of Engagement

11


Quality of Relationship

Events(Face-to-Face)

Email(Opt-in)

Social Media(Like / Follow / Connection)

Quotes

Forms of Permission: Attend an event | Opt-in with email address | Facebook Like | Twitter Follow | LinkedIn Connection

The Importance of Permission

12


Permission Marketing is centered around obtaining customer consent to receive information from a company or organization

Why is this valuable?Permission = ConsentPermission = IntentPermission = Anticipation

•Forms of PermissionAttendance at an Event Opt-in with email address Facebook Like Twitter Follow LinkedIn Connection

Event Marketing Prospect Study

13

Source: Constant Contact 2010 Small Business & Nonprofit Prospects Survey | July-Sept | n=3,663, U.S | 71% 0 - 10 employees | 29% 11 - 25 employees

Non-Profit Engagement• More active with events (43%) than B2B or B2C• Events are more important to their success• Have more events and more attendees per event• Charge fees for more of their events• Spend more time planning events, wider range of event types• More interested in event tools

Reasons for Events• Non-Profits rely most heavily on educational events and Fundraising

Event Frequency• Non-Profits: 31% 5 or less / year | 30% 6 – 10 / year | 25% 11 – 50 / year

Promoting Events• Event promotions: 7 methods for Non-Profits, 4 and 5 for B2B and B2C• Email is the most cited promotion, other methods include WOM (65%), mailed invitations (47%), and phone calls (46%)

Managing Event Details• Nonprofits use 3.25 methods while B2B and B2C use an average of 2.5 methods

Social Media and Events• B2C’s are more likely to predict reliance on social media (45%) vs. Non-Profits (20%) and B2B’s (19%)

Event Pain Points• Non-Profits have slightly more difficulty with event notification responses


Nonprofit Engagement vs.

B2B and B2C

• More active with events• Use more promotional tools• More events with larger turnout• More methods used to manage

registration• More likely to use an Event Marketing tool

Why events?


59% of marketing professionals worldwide consider live events to be the single most powerful tool in their arsenal The International Experiential Marketing Association (www.ixma.org) / 2008

Event Marketing Is…

• Promoting your events to look professional

• While capturing online registrations and payments with ease

• To working smarter by tracking event progress


Benefits of an Event Marketing Service


• Promote• Reinforce Brand identity• Brings awareness to your events• Encourage attendance• Fill seats• Social Proof

• Capture• Know whose attending• Collect fees in advance

• Track• Reporting and results• Keeps you organized


Social Proof

The basic premise is that people will do things they see other people doing.

• In the case of events, showing a list of attendees during the registration process can help drive attendance and fill seats at your events. People may recognize attendees they know or want to know!

• In the case of surveys, it's your opportunity to reach out and get information, then feed it back into the community or population. Each time you ask for someone to take a survey, give back some of the survey information about what you're finding out even while the survey is live.

• Social Proof gets people interested, involved, and excited.

Quotes

"I used your Event Marketing tool to promote a wine festival to benefit charity. We ended up attracting 7800 attendees and raising $150,000 for cancer research. With Constant Contact, this cost me $30. If I’d done online registration with the other guys, I (or my attendees) would have paid thousands of dollars in fees - instead, that money is going to fight cancer. It was a no-brainer to choose you."

– Roland David, Chesapeake Virginia Wine Festival

Customer Quote


Chesapeake Virginia Wine Festival: Event Email


"Message to registrants that talks about the weather forecast, provides links to documents that allow them to see who else will be attending, and gives a glimpse into the kinds of food that will be served."

Chesapeake Virginia Wine Festival: Event Email


"Message to registrants that highlights the merchandise that is available

for sale online at the event. All of the proceeds went to charity."

Chesapeake Virginia Wine Festival: Registration


Online registration form


Poi Dogs & Popoki: Event Marketing Campaign

Invitation

Registration

Homepage

6 Great Ways to Maximize Attendance at Your Event


Face-to-face meetings are an effective way to build relationships and trust with your customers. It’s the many intangibles you experience when interacting with people in the same room that make hosting an event such a worthwhile effort. 1. Consider Your Audience

* To maximize attendance, find the optimal date, time, and location.

2. Set GoalsThere are three key questions to ask yourself:

a. What do you want to achieve by hosting this event?b. What topics do your attendees want to see?c. What will your attendees achieve by attending?

3. Send Personalized EmailsPersonalized email invitations makes your event feel more special.

4. Include Social MediaInclude social media should as part of the before, during, and after your event.

5. Make Registration SimpleKeep the registration form short and to the point. Ask only relevant questions and avoid asking for information you don’t need. Collect fees during registration. There is plenty of evidence to show that the word "Free" may communicate a lack of value!

6. Get Feedback with a Post-Event SurveyAt the end of your event, seek feedback in the form of a post-event survey. This will surely help make your next event even better.

NOTE: Data based on ~57K RSVPs

• ~60% of declines were due to date / time / location!

The solution to this problem is to send a pre-event survey in advance of your event.

http://blogs.constantcontact.com/commentary/consider-your-audience-when-scheduling-your-next-event/

http://blogs.constantcontact.com/commentary/6-great-ways-to-maximize-attendance-at-your-next-event/

http://blogs.constantcontact.com/commentary/make-your-event-invitations-sizzle/

http://blogs.constantcontact.com/commentary/live-tweeting-shares-your-event-with-more-people/

http://blogs.constantcontact.com/commentary/online-registration-is-an-online-conversation/

http://blogs.constantcontact.com/commentary/4-things-to-do-after-your-next-event/

Event Marketing Questions?


What is Social Media?


Social Media refers to a collection of technologies. It enables people to connect to one another via the internet in order to discover and share useful information and… sometimes mindless banter.

• Social media isn't a fad, it's a fundamental shift in the way we communicate!

What is Social Networking?


Social Networks are groups of people or communities that share a common interest. Social networking sites like Facebook and LinkedIn are the places where these social interactions and conversations take place.

What is Social Media Marketing?


Social Media Marketing lets you purposefully tap into the conversations happening online to promote your business, to engage with your customers, and to drive word of mouth. Don’t forget, social media is just technology, social media marketing is the process of using that technology to connect with people and build meaningful relationships.

Social Media is Today’s WoM


Ultimate goal of the Social Media Marketing is to get the people that matter to your business or organization to connect, to engage, and to share your message with their network of friends.

Before the days of the internet, we simply called this word of mouth marketing

75% of people are somewhat or highly likely to share content they like online with friends, co-workers or family.

*CMB Consumer Pulse 2010 (n= 1504)

• If done thoughtfully, your fans take on this responsibility!

• Social Media Marketing is a business development activity

Social Media Landscape


We’re going to focus on the three most likely to impact your business: Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn.

Set Your Goals


Before you begin using social media, you need to know what you are trying to accomplish. Here are some of the goals that social media marketing can help you achieve.

• Increasing Brand Awareness by informing customers and prospects about who you are and what you can do for them

• Providing Great Customer Service by listening and responding to what your customers are saying to you and about you

• Driving Sales by providing compelling offers that will inspire people to participate and share with their friends to generate new customers

• Improving customer retention by developing relationships so that people will know, like, and trust you.


Who is on it? Over 500 million people! And most likely many of your customers and prospects. Facebook’s user profile cuts across ages, races, and locations making it the best known and most used social network in the world.

What do they do there? Facebook makes it easy for people to share news about their lives, photos, interesting articles, and mindless games with their friends.

Why you should care? The sheer volume of Facebook usage makes it important to know about, but more importantly, people are doing more than connecting with friends, they are connecting with businesses and non-profits and sharing the news, deals, and interesting content they get from each other and from the organizations they connect with.

Chesapeake Virginia Wine Festival : Facebook Page



Who is on it? Twitter is ranked as one of the 10 most visited websites and enables all types of people to share and consume information they find interesting.

What do they do there? Twitter users post news, articles, promotions, and jokes all in 140 character chunks. By “following” someone on Twitter you can see all of their posts and easily share them with the people who “follow” you. For many, Twitter is a great source of real-time news and insights about the things that matter most to them.

Why you should care? Twitter gives brands a voice and is another fast and easy way to share your messages and get feedback from your customers and prospects in real time. And because it is so easy for messages to spread quickly, Twitter can bring your message to new audiences that you might not be able to find through traditional marketing.


Who is on it? LinkedIn is the most widely used social network for connecting people professionally (e.g., based on their business profile, not their personal life.)

What do they do there? LinkedIn users create professional connections based on their interests and experience, often participating in group discussions relating to their industry or areas of expertise.

Why you should care? LinkedIn is a great way to create professional connections that can give you ideas and advice for running your business and help spread the word about the value you are providing to your customers.

Linkedin Profile


Social Media Marketing Questions?



Email Marketing Is Not…

Junk email

Unsolicited and unwanted email

Email from an unknown sender

Dubious opt-out (if any)

Why Email?


1 Sources: eMarketer

2 Forrester Research, Inc.

3 Direct Marketing Association

Almost everyone your business needs to reach reads email

It’s Cost-effective: Direct Mail vs. Email

91% of Internet users between the ages of 18 and 64 send or read email 1

For the same response, direct mail costs 20 TIMES as much as email 2

An even higher number of users ages 65 or older do the same 1

Email ROI is the highest when compared to other internet marketing mediums 3

147 million people across the country use email, most use it every day. 1

Email Marketing Is…

• Delivering professional email communications

• To an interested audience

• Containing information

they find valuable


Benefits of an Email Marketing Service

Standard Email Programs(e.g. Outlook, Hotmail)

• Limited # of emails sent at one time

• Limited formatting control

• List break up more susceptible to filters

• No cohesive branding

• No tracking and reporting of results


Email marketing services automate best practices:

• Provide easy-to-use templates• Reinforce brand identity• Email addressed to recipient only• Manage lists• Include social share• Include Join My Mailing List (JMML)• Include social media sign up icons• Improve email delivery and tracking

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Email Basics Checklist

Ask yourself before you begin email marketing…

• Do repeat and referral customers help your business?

• Do you have a plan for delivering multiple communications?

• Is your audience interested in your message? Is it valuable to them?

• Can you make your emails look professional and reflectyour brand?

• Do you have an Email Service Provider to help manage your strategy?



Email Tracking CodeESP Interaction

+

How Tracking Works

Chesapeake Festival: Monitor the Impact


Chesapeake Virginia Wine Festival: Email Marketing


Chicago Humanities Festival : Email Marketing


Chicago Humanities Festival: Email Marketing Results


Email Marketing Questions?


Online Survey Is…

• Collecting feedback about your business

• To improve your product and services

• From an interested audience


Benefits of an Online Survey Service


Online survey services automate best practices:

• Provide easy-to-use templates• Reinforce brand identity• Manage lists• Reporting and results

Best Practices of an Online Survey


• Keep you surveys short• Response rate decreases as the length increases

• Try to keep it 10 minutes or less

• Segment your lists to avoid burnout

• This will help you achieve a better response

• Good questions help meet the objective

• Ask what you need to know, not what you want to know• Resist the temptation of "Just one more question"• Every question should support to your objective

Chesapeake Virginia Wine Festival: Survey


Chicago Humanities Festival: Survey


Chicago Humanities Festival: Survey Results


Resources – Local Seminars


We're in your neighborhood and we're here to help you.http://www.constantcontact.com/local/index.jsp

http://www.constantcontact.com/local/index.jsp

More Resources


Live & Recorded Webinarshttp://www.constantcontact.com/learning-center/webinars/live/index.jsp

Product Tutorialshttp://www.constantcontact.com/learning-center/tutorials-guides/index.jsp

Constant Contact Blogshttp://blogs.constantcontact.com/commentary/

Hints & Tipshttp://www.constantcontact.com/learning-center/hints-tips/index.jsp

http://www.constantcontact.com/learning-center/webinars/live/index.jsp

http://www.constantcontact.com/learning-center/tutorials-guides/index.jsp

http://blogs.constantcontact.com/commentary/

http://www.constantcontact.com/learning-center/hints-tips/index.jsp

get heard: using online tools to inspire volunteers and donors

Education

event tools

events event promotions

event optin

b2c events

marketing professionals

educational events

events b2cs

new tools