While it is well known that businesses and corporates engage in various kinds of marketing techniques, the end result is mostly to bring in profitable gains. But when the social sector uses marketing tools it is not just about profits but also about enabling behavioral changes to generate long-term mutual good. Social marketing uses commercial marketing strategies to achieve specific social changes. It aims to bring about social changes and usually takes longer than commercial marketing – sometimes even years.
What is the need for social marketing?
In the last two years and more, the world has shifted towards a new normal. Multiple social media platforms have made more and more people aware of social causes transcending borders – people want to help, and they want to join hands to bring about a positive change in the world.
Despite this shift, NGOs and other not-for-profit organisations haven’t realised the importance of social marketing. Let’s quickly take a look at why it is so essential in this day and age –
- Not only does good marketing encourage and motivate the existing team together, but a clearer expression, stronger identification, and brand recall will also be able to attract more like-minded individuals.
- It helps give much-needed recognition to the countless changemakers who are doing commendable work at the grassroots level.
- And finally, it helps build trust. Good marketing ensures that the messages reach the right place, right time, to the right people.
Donatekart strives to be the platform that will do all this and much more for the NGOs and individuals who have dedicated their lives to social good. In a tête-à-tête with our Senior Manager – Digital Marketing, Renjith Nair, we shall talk about the different channels that can help one promote their crowdfunding campaign and be better at social marketing.
Nair candidly points out that crowdfunding is not filled with successes. Campaigns with promising ideas and concepts are not always able to pick up traffic and get exposure in spite of their campaign page having all the elements it should.
“The major challenge is to keep engaging with our already existing donor base and also understand the point of saturation for these donors. We can’t just bombard all types of campaigns on our donors, we as a team need to personalise ads based on campaigns and our donors,” he says.
So what’s the way out?
Facebook Ads
This is one of the best platforms to begin with as it comes with an enormous audience base that can be put to good use. One can do ads before launching and during the campaign — Facebook is one place where one can actually target your audience base and customize it daily based on results.
PR Firms
One can consider working with crowdfunding-specific PR agencies. These agencies will help create the best press-friendly approach to spread the word about your campaign. A good word out there has never done anyone any harm, has it?
Google Ads
One of the most crucial factors in crowdfunding promotion is advertising well on the web. Google is the place where you need to focus on ranking and being popular among the keywords that matter. After all, this is where your customer/donor base will look you up.
Other ways in which one can promote the campaigns are Reddit, Pinterest, Youtube, guest blogging etc.
Targeted emails, regular updates including thank you messages to new campaigns and news, call to action, etc, and traditional marketing channels like pamphlets, posters, and flyers in public places can do wonders as well. Along with this, Nair also emphasises the importance of using extremely effective PR strategies.
Finally, it is safe to conclude that thoughtful marketing is essential for the success of a crowdfunding campaign and adapting to the newer channels of marketing can only increase the chances of success.
At Donatekart, we’re constantly striving to curate the most relevant and engaging content just for you. If you loved reading this, then gamming for good will grab your attention too.
