Now this is how you plan a successful EOY campaign

Nhu Te on Jul 10, 2024 11:17:59 AM

089: This is how you plan a successful EOY campaign 🪄

Now that you are thinking ahead to Giving Tuesday and the end of the year, I wanted to dig a little deeper into marketing pathways. I’m calling them “pathways” versus “channels” because the goal is to engage supporters and involve them in your mission in more meaningful ways.

One of the most critical tasks during the campaign planning phase is selecting the pathways that will serve as entry points to your campaign. This is when you'll want to collaborate with your team to ensure these decisions align with your brand, resonate with your audience, and match your available resources.

In this week’s brief, we’re exploring a few marketing pathways to consider and tips for creating integrated experiences.

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Snackable snippets

4 steps to planning your year-end matching campaign 📖
During the EOY season, when countless variables vie for your supporters’ attention, matching gifts can drive higher response rates. By doubling the impact of each donation, these gifts provide a compelling incentive for supporters to give.

Ready to get started? Follow these four steps from Mark Miller to kickstart your campaign.

Donors want truth from charities 📖

How truthful are you in your communications with supporters? New research from BBB Wise Giving Alliance finds that 73% of donors said it was very important that charity appeals are truthful.

To build trust, per the report, donors want to know how the charity spends its money, whether appeals are truthful, and whether the charity is taking steps to protect their information.

How using text ads impacted donor conversion 📖
Buckner International used dynamic ads on Facebook with photos of children receiving shoes. Aiming for a performance boost, NextAfter conducted a test comparing these dynamic ads with organic-style text ads, splitting the audience so that 50% saw the control ads and 50% saw the treatment ads.

By removing the visual friction from the ad, the organization saw a 111.5% jump in purchases for all traffic, but the experiment also revealed an increase in cost-per-click.

Unifying digital advertising and direct mail 📖
Direct mail is still an effective channel. Advances in digital attribution now allow for precise tracking and optimization, making the convergence of direct mail and digital essential for multichannel growth.

This is especially true for nonprofits. Creating an omnichannel experience by integrating direct mail and digital marketing can lead to higher engagement and ROI.

How to run a social media experiment 📖
Social media can significantly boost donor acquisition during the end-of-year season. By combining the power of organic posts and targeted paid ads, you can reach and engage a wider audience that matches the characteristics of your existing supporters.

Running a social media experiment is a good idea, especially when new platforms come out or the algorithm changes (again). Discover the best practices by checking out this guide from Candid.

In the news

A new study from Meta, Kantar, and CreativeX showcases the impact of creativity on ad effectiveness. Human connection, brand integration, visual dynamism, and a distinctive atmosphere reportedly improve ad effectiveness.

“Humans are hardwired to like humanity, and the algorithm knows that,” said Jimmie Stone, VP and Global Head of Creative Shop at Meta. “The study unearthed the idea of human interaction, with humans present in the ad, and especially when there is eye-to-eye contact with the viewer.”

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Findings from a new report, “Blueprint for Brand Growth,” suggest this three-pronged approach leads to brand growth: influencing more consumers towards a brand, maintaining a consistent presence throughout the consumer lifecycle, and discovering new areas for growth.

Keep these best practices in mind as you prepare for your EOY campaign. Focus on maintaining continuous communication throughout the entire donor lifecycle, not just when making an ask.

For your inspiration folder

The Society of American Military Engineers (SAME) wanted to attract new supporters and broaden its audience beyond its core community. The team decided to build out its digital advertising to increase registrations for its annual conference, JETC.

By leveraging Feathr's marketing tools, SAME achieved an impressive $143,000 ROI, secured 235 event registrations, and expanded its audience by 32,000 new members.

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