What is the third sector? Well, a quick search on Google defines it as such:
Voluntary and community organisations (both registered charities and other organisations such as associations, self-help groups and community groups), social enterprises, mutuals and co-operatives.
We work with a number of charities and associations and feel we intrinsically understand their pressure points and challenges. Perhaps one of the most common challenges the Third sector faces are limited resources; in terms of both time and money.
So in this months blog we thought we share some of our tips and tricks to make your marketing budget stretch that little bit further.
Compiling a marketing plan for a not-for-profit organisation is a crucial piece of the puzzle. By implementing a strategy that increases awareness and engagement for your organisation without taking away from the efforts you need to make in other areas, you can apply a logical and systematic approach to your marketing. Here’s where you can start:
- Clarify your objectives
Being a public sector organisation, your primary objective will likely be centred around serving the community and ensuring the services you offer are as efficient as they possibly can be. Your marketing objectives should focus on these goals. Your SEO keywords, the content you offer and your social media posts should all relate to your goals and objectives.
- Define your target audience
Being in the public sector, the needs of society as a whole as opposed to specific targeted segments will likely be your focus. As such, marketing in the public sector tends to be driven towards a much broader and diverse audience. In spite of this, creating a profile of the type of person who may be interested in your services will help you tailor your marketing content to make it as relatable as possible. Keep this profile in mind when considering your marketing strategy; your schedule, the channels on which you publish and the type of content you serve.
- Create content that adds value
Infographics, industry statistics/trends and newsletters updating your audience on projects and developments within your industry are all great ways to engage and educate your audience. The content you transmit should always be focused on achieving your initial goals and objectives, and so if your aim is to educate and inform your audience, give some thought to how your content will be found by your audience (specifically SEO and search behaviours).
Once you have implemented an inbound marketing strategy that you are confident will reach your target audience, you can dedicate some time to planning your outbound strategy to supplement your inbound efforts. Detailed analysis on Bizo and Epsilon data carried out by the Direct Marketing Association found that Direct Mail’s response rates are anywhere between 10 and 30 times higher than digital communications. With these kinds of figures, it’s clearly an area you should pay some attention to as a public sector organisation looking to engage with your target audience.
Below we look at some of the key benefits of Direct Mail:
- Its versatile
Brochures, letters and postcards are just a small selection of the relatively inexpensive and simple formats you can use for your direct mail campaign. Promoting events or free trials for your services add impact.
- Direct mail supports other marketing efforts
Brand enhancement and awareness through other media channels can be supported by direct mail. An integrated marketing campaign that includes direct mail can dovetail with your online efforts to reach members of your target audience who may prefer more traditional marketing channels, whilst ‘handholding’ them on the journey from offline to online.
- Direct mail is… Direct
In a world flooded with digital communications, Direct Mail cuts through the noise and lands right on the doorstep of your target audience. It’s read, it’s kept and often its shared with others. Research carried out by Royal Mail found that 38% of those surveyed said the physical properties of direct mail influenced how they felt about the sender. It’s great for brand engagement.
We’ve only looked in very brief detail at both inbound and outbound marketing strategies, to go into any real depth on a blog may be too much for even the staunchest of attention spans. What’s clear is that a marketing strategy that is well planned and thought out, with your aims and goals at its core along with a good understanding of who your target audience is, will undoubtedly be successful in promoting your brand and the services your offer.
We’d be happy to talk through the pro’s and con’s and the do’s and don’ts of both inbound and outbound marketing in greater depth and assist in your marketing efforts in any way we can.
Thanks for taking the time to read this blog, happy marketing!
