Lead generation is probably the best and most under-rated digital marketing technique used and non-profit is one of the sectors that can benefit from it the most.
Maybe your organization is already out collecting people’s details on the streets. However, your campaign ideas could also have a great potential for online leads acquisition and turn into a breeding ground of new prospects. Maybe you are considering advocating your cause through a petition; or you are organizing a series of events or a challenge and you would like people to register for them; maybe you are trying to get people to volunteer for your organization: these ideas can be the start of a nurturing campaign to establish a relationship with those people who are showing interest in your cause.
What is lead generation
According to Google, the average site conversion rate is around 3%[1]. This means that 97% of the people who come to your site will not take an action. For charities, there’s a need to build trust and credibility by showing how people’s contributions are making an actual difference to the lives of those who need it most. This can be done by establishing a relationship with your potential donors or volunteers and “nurture” them to trust that your cause is worth their time or money.
Gathering people’s details through lead generation techniques is the first step of a journey to build this relationship. Once your leads have agreed to receive communications from you, you can contact them through other digital channels. You can re-engage with them for a new cause, you can show them updates about the cause they signed for or you can contact them about your amazing charity work.
Here’s a few ideas for non-profit on how to run an online lead generation campaign:
- Have a clear campaign objective: ideally you are working on a particular cause or project and you have a clear idea of the type and scale of support you need, including target number of signatures, volunteers or donations.
- Are you organizing a petition? Petitions can be very powerful and online channels can help you reach your petition end goals: your website, online petition platforms, emails, social media and so on
- Get people to register online for your charity fundraising events or challenges: create a fundraising page on Justgiving; promote the event on social media, for example by creating a Facebook event; promote the event on local news website etc.
- Some users are just interested in receiving news updates about your work: get them to sign up to your newsletter!
- Use a quiz: if your charity provides valuable recommendations about health, safety, finance, well-being, and so on, test your audience with a quiz! Do they know how to behave in certain situations? Do they know how to check their health? Ask them through a quiz, then you can follow up by sending them the correct answers/tips via email. A great way to educate and establish a relationship with your audience.
How to do lead generation
There are many ways to gather your leads details. You can have a form on your website and drive traffic to the page through a number of digital marketing channels, like Google, Social Media, banner ads or content marketing. You can also use Facebook Lead Ads. Facebook provides an ad format that is used specifically for lead generation. Within two clicks of seeing your ad, you have the users’ details. According to Facebook, Lead ads “let people show their interest in a product or service by filling out a form in the ad with their details and allowing a business to follow up with them”[2]. This is usually a very successful strategy because users can show support for your cause and engage with your ads without effort.
These are two examples of Combined Media’s Facebook Lead Ads:
Follow Up
Now that you have your leads, you need to follow up and engage with them while they are still fresh. You can do this in a number of ways, for example:
- Create an email marketing campaign: send them updates about the cause they signed for; tell them how their contribution is making a difference; send them photos of the events they took part in. Make sure your content is relevant.
- Be present online: reach your leads on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Google and other online channels with content and ads that are relevant to them: show photos of the smiles of the people they are helping; promote a thank you video; show a message on how they can help further, for example by donating.
- Send them a text message: if your respondents agreed to be contacted by phone, why not sending them a text and make it easy for them to donate for your cause?
[1] https://support.google.com/adwords/answer/6168610
[2] https://www.facebook.com/business/help/1462876307360828
If you need help with your Lead Generation campaign, don’t hesitate to contact us!
info@combinedmedia.ie
www.combinedmedia.ie
