You were there when your community’s needs changed. You provided food and supplies, diverse options for childcare, and other vital emergency relief for families facing tough times.
Generating more donations is vital to sustain the impact you’re able to make. But you’re also tasked with attracting members and providing an experience that keeps them coming back. You also want to get these members involved with your mission. Are they aware of the difference you make in their own backyard?
With an already full plate, it’s a lot for one team to manage.
In last week’s NOW session, our marketing masterminds Christy, Emily, and Charlie joined Stacy Laux from YMCA of the FoxCities to discuss how Mission Driven Marketing drives more conversion, retention, and revenue to fuel your mission.
As we approach a busy holiday season, make sure your mission is front and center. Here are their three steps for Mission Driven Marketing that can fuel your cause this giving season.
1. Determine Your Audience + Message
Putting your mission at the core of the conversation with members and prospects changes the perception of your organization. When people feel like they’re contributing to a larger purpose, it has wide ranging impacts on their conversion, retention, and long-term loyalty.
Drive New Memberships
We tend to think about converting prospects on the value you provide to them personally. Can Mission Driven Marketing actually drive prospects to join?
Materials targeted to typical fitness or program prospects may not be the first place we think to lead with our community impact, but it can have huge results in conversion. When you lead with the difference you make, the decision to join is not just what you offer them personally, but if they want to join your mission and fuel change in their community.
Connecting with your audience on that level changes the conversation. In all your materials and channels, how are showcasing the value that membership or program revenue contributes to their community?
Increase Member Loyalty
Once someone has joined, the job of retaining them and increasing their engagement has just begun. If you’ve put your mission at the heart of your conversation, make sure to continue to communicate to new members that they are part of something.
Segmenting your communication to different audiences is a vital component. You want to make sure everyone is aware of great work being fueled, focusing on areas that matter to them! You’ve got a wealth of information when someone joins. You can ask about their interests and their passions and make sure your mission marketing matches what will appeal to them the most.
We know our communities are experiencing financial hardship. Segmenting asks helps you remain sensitive to the fact that some members of your community are experiencing financial hardship. They may not be able to donate now, but they are able to help spread your message.
Stacey shared how the YMCA of the Fox Cities’ promoted their Classroom Connection program, a new Child Care offering to members and prospects. The materials they developed highlighted to members and prospects that they serve a full range of needs and provide an essential service, not just fitness.
2. Outline Your Timeline + Channels
Start Early
So many organizations are asking for resources on Giving Tuesday. You know your members and prospects are getting bombarded with requests for their attention, time, and money. How can you highlight your mission, so you don’t lose out on valuable opportunities to generate more loyalty and more revenue?
Start early with an education campaign! Your goal is to answer the question, “Why Should I Choose You” for your audience in advance, before you ask for a gift.
At least two weeks before Giving Tuesday, start to ramp up your education campaigns. Start sooner if you can, but have that two-week mark in mind so audience has had time to gain awareness.
If you’re a Daxko Engage customer, we have templates for these education campaigns you can easily tweak to your mission.
Choose Your Channels
Sending one message, one time isn’t going to cut it.People are bombarded with other materials non-stop, so consider the frequency of your messages and the number of channels you use.
Think about adding a mix of a few channels to make sure you have appropriate air cover:
- Outbound Emails
- Social Media Posts
- Content Marketing
- Paid Ads
- Push Notifications
- SMS Texts
- One to One Messaging
3. Easily Convert Members + Prospects
You’ve crafted your message and selected your channels, but we know it takes on average 8 outreach attempts to convert a prospect. At scale, that is a lot of effort. What if you knew exactly who was interested in taking the next step?
You deserve a tool that will help you get have efficient, scalable1 to 1 follow up. That’s why we partnered with Conversica to develop our Intelligent Virtual Assistants. Our assistants are available 24/7, message people instantly, and follow up with persistent politeness.
Now integrated with Daxko Engage, you can sync targeted groups directly to Conversica. Build a group you want to target in Daxko Engage and send them to your assistant to message.
Stacey noted, “The sync between Daxko Engage and Conversica saves us hours of time. We’re running on thin staff, but now I can easily create a group and have the assistant start messaging. OurEngagement Assistant “Taylor,” reaches out 7 times over 3 weeks. We’re seeing a 70% engagement rate and 18.5%hot leads. We’ve had over 20 new joins we wouldn’t have had without ourEngagement Assistant.”
Want a helping hand this holiday season?
This summer we announced our new Fundraising Assistant. Using the same technology, you can now build automated campaigns to target more members and prospective donors. You’ll know when they’re ready for more information so you can focus your efforts on conversion. We’re so confident in our assistant’s ability to help you drive your mission that Conversica will match up to $1000 of dollars generated from leads created from the Fundraising Assistant through the end of February 2021.