Author: Franz Malten Buemann

submitted by /u/outgllat [link] [comments]

Keeping donors connected and engaged can feel daunting, especially during challenging times. The good news is that nonprofits continue to show that they have captive audiences, so you just need the right approach to foster ongoing engagement with new and returning donors.
We got your back. Here’s everything you need to know to create impactful email campaigns.
Why email marketing is the right channel for nonprofits
COVID-19 upended nearly every industry, yet it emphasized the importance of empathy and humanity. Due to canceled charity events, nonprofit email marketing was on the rise. There’s been a nearly 40% YoY growth in send volume for this sector in March 2020. 
Nonprofit is traditionally one of the best-performing industries in email marketing. The same was true even during the pandemic. In March 2020, nonprofits saw an open rate of 29.3% — up 4.4% from March 2019. What’s more, click-through rates rose to 3.50% in March and 3.94% in April.
Read these actionable tips on how to engage donors and start capitalizing on increased interest for donations.
7 ways to engage donors in an email newsletter
One of the biggest challenges with nonprofit email newsletters is how to attract donors’ attention and keep them engaged without creating an email that’s too long to read. Let’s look at a few tips on how to create compelling email newsletters to boost donor engagement. 
1. Use segmentation to reach the right people
When it comes to email segments, the list is almost endless. Understanding different segments will help you attract different audiences. Ultimately, you should determine your segments based on the goals you want to reach, especially since each segment can accomplish different goals. Read on to learn about your nonprofit email segmentation options and find out which ones are right for you.
Location
Of all the different attributes that divide people, location is perhaps one of the most prominent. Language, weather, and a dozen other aspects of location play a role in our daily lives.
Because of this, sending localized messages to your subscribers can be a highly personal way to appeal to donors. Start by creating segments that group your subscribers by various geographic locales, and keep each place in mind any time you send an email to this particular group. 
Demographics
Another great way to create segments is using demographics to target people of different ages and genders. This is especially helpful for nonprofits that attract donors of a certain age or if one gender is more charitable for certain causes. 
Women donors give substantially more support for female-focused causes. According to a study funded by a grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, between 60% and 70% of women’s donations online benefited women’s and girls’ organizations. 
Adding more non-required fields on your email signup form or including a survey to find out more details about your donors can help you create more targeted campaigns. 
Email and website activity
Consider separating subscribers based on past email behavior. The behavior-based segmentation method can make your subscribers’ experience better and more intuitive. 
For instance, if you notice subscribers only open emails from you once a month, consider placing them into a segment where they only receive a monthly newsletter and the occasional donation request.
On the other hand, if you notice high engagement with every email you send, you might increase send frequency.
In one of its newsletters, charity:water used segmentation based on demographics to raise awareness of the problem women are facing and how access to clean water can change a woman’s life. 

Source: Mailcharts
2. Leverage personalization to tailor relevant messages
Subscribers of nonprofits and for-profit companies alike want relevant emails—ones that appeal to their interests and values (not to mention a genuine connection to the organization itself). Because of this, it’s crucial that your nonprofit creates relevant material for subscribers each and every time you email them.
According to a study from Campaign Monitor and Qgiv, donors prefer email over any other form of nonprofit communication. But meeting donors where they are is only half the battle. You know donors want to communicate with your nonprofit through email, but the emails have to be high-quality, thoughtfully-cadenced, and relevant.
In other words, personalization is the missing ingredient to an email strategy that works. Not only does personalized email marketing increase click-throughs, but personalized subject lines are also 26% more likely to be opened.
The question is: where to start? 
Donor personas
Similar to the demographic-based messaging we discussed above, you can create a custom segment based on donor personas. In short, you’ll need to create personas that represent different donors on your list.
For example, if you’re targeting males 25-30 who make $60k per year, you could create and use a custom segment for them. This would allow for personalized email campaigns every time.
This approach can take various forms. Perhaps you use existing segments (e.g., demographics) to create the persona, or maybe you approach it from a goals and pain points perspective.
Whatever elements you choose to build your persona, consider implementing a donor persona checklist like Qgiv:

Source: Qgiv
3. Create a pleasant cross-device experience
We live in an omnichannel world. Smartphones have become an inevitable part of our everyday life. 
According to M+R Benchmarks, half of all nonprofit website traffic last year came from mobile and tablet users. Data shows that mobile users grew as a share of traffic by 11%, as a share of donation transactions by 17%, and as a share of revenue by 21%.
Nonprofits should ensure their donation pages are optimized for mobile to make the most out of this trend. Creating a pleasant cross-device experience should be at the top of every nonprofit’s priority list. 
4. Write captivating copy that tells a story
Every nonprofit has an important message to share. However, in today’s world, when people are bombarded with thousands of messages each day, standing out can be hard. 
The best way to captivate donors’ attention is by telling a story. Emotions trigger actions. They motivate us. Using the right words to paint a picture is the closest you can get in letting other people feel another person’s pain.  
Storytelling gives us the power to evoke strong emotions.
Without empathy, email newsletters are just another email in the donor’s inbox. 
Australian Red Cross crafted emotional copy, supported with pictures and a quote to motivate people to help affected communities from the volcano eruption in Vanuatu. 

Source: Campaign Monitor
5. Include social proof to boost engagement
People are more likely to engage in action if other people are doing it. It’s basic social psychology. If you want to encourage people to take part, show them evidence that they’ll be a part of a larger group that’s already participating. 
Displaying the number of books sold forces people to buy a book, showing the number of people subscribed to a newsletter, makes others click the subscribe button. It’s the same for nonprofits. 
Sharing numbers about other donors can build trust and encourage people to follow the actions of others and donate. 
Care Australia uses social proof to tap into the basic human instinct to be part of something bigger. They share results to build trust and credibility and create a loyal base of online donors.

Source: Really Good Emails
6. Decide on the frequency and be consistent
Consistency is key in every email marketing effort. Show up regularly in people’s inbox. Tell a story, share results, ask for action — communicating regularly with donors it’s the key to success. 
Your goals should be staying top of mind. So instead of reaching out only when there’s a need for donation, decide on the frequency of your email newsletter and be consistent with email cadences. 
7. Add a clear call to action
Focus on a single call to action. Instead of overwhelming readers with different links and buttons, focus on the most important goal for each email newsletter. 
Sometimes it will be taking action, another time reading a story or sharing results — but always make sure that you are giving donors clear instruction on what they should do next. 
The Royal Children’s Hospital Foundation is on a mission to improve the health and wellbeing of Victoria’s children by providing superior healthcare services for adolescents and their families. Email marketing is an essential part of their fundraising communications. With a strong message and a clear call to action, they build a highly engaged supporter base that includes some of their most generous donors.

Source: Campaign Monitor
Wrap up
With all these tips under your belt, you are ready to create a successful email marketing campaign and bring the right people. 
Attract supporters, send beautiful emails, and see stunning results with easy-to-use email drip campaigns. 
Ready to start your donor campaign? Campaign Monitor can help you spread your mission and reach your goals easier than ever. Here’s how. 
The post 7 Ways To Engage Donors in an Email Newsletter appeared first on Campaign Monitor.

Ah, Clubhouse versus podcasts — an age-old debate.
Just kidding. But, while both of these audio tools are relatively new to the business world (in fact, Clubhouse is less than two years old), they’ve both attracted large, engaged audiences.
And, even though each audio tool is vastly different, they serve similar purposes.
Hear me out: Podcasts, at their core, are meant to inspire and provoke interesting conversations around a variety of topics, including crime shows, celebrity interviews, health and fitness, or business and entrepreneurship (to name a few).
Clubhouse operates on a similar principle: to encourage lively conversations and debates around a variety of niche topics. As Clubhouse Founders Paul Davison and Rohan Seth have said, “The thing we love most is how voice can bring people together.”
That message — of the importance of voice to bring people together — is just as true for podcasts as it is for Clubhouse.
Which leaves many marketers wondering: Which one is more worth my time?
Here, we’ll explore the pros and cons of investing your time and resources into podcasts vs. audio chat rooms like Clubhouse, and which is ultimately a better long-term decision for your brand.
Since I’m no podcast or Clubhouse expert, I’ve collected the wisdom of various experts on both sides to paint the full picture.
Let’s dive in.

Clubhouse vs. Podcasts: Which Should Marketers Use?
To start, let’s explore a recent survey I conducted on which audio activities people prefer — listening to podcasts, listening and participating in conversations on Clubhouse, or neither:

Data Source
As you can see, the majority of those polled — 75% — prefer listening to podcasts, or doing neither. That leaves Clubhouse as a preference for only one quarter of respondents.
To be fair, podcasts have been around longer than Clubhouse. In fact, the first podcast was created back in 2004, and as of April 2021, there are now over two million podcasts available.
Additionally, one of the major benefits to listening to a podcast is that the content is available on-demand, meaning I can choose when to download and listen — it isn’t live, like Clubhouse. This enables listeners to have complete control over what topics they consume, and when.
A listener might pick-and-choose one pre-recorded crime show episode on her drive to work, for instance, and another episode about parenting on her drive home.
There are a few major benefits to using podcast as a brand awareness or lead generation strategy. Let’s dive into a few of those, now:

Podcasts enable you to reach a younger audience. 49% of U.S. citizens between 12 and 34 listened to a podcast in the previous month — followed by 40% of people ages 35 to 54, and 22% of people ages 55 and above.

Podcast advertisements are powerful. A Nielsen report found podcast ads generate 4.4X better brand recall than display ads, and 61% of consumers who heard a podcast ad were more likely to purchase the featured product.

Podcast provides you with a major reach. 55% (155 million) of the U.S. population has listened to a podcast – up from 51% in 2019.

Podcast is long-form content. Some of the most popular podcasts are well over an hour long — Morbid: A True Crime Podcast (currently #8 on Apple’s Top Charts) episodes range between one hour and one hour, 45 minutes; Armchair Expert with Dax Shepard (currently #18 on Apple’s Top Charts) episodes are roughly one hour, 30 minutes each. This provides you with a ton of opportunity for increasing brand loyalty and, ultimately, conversions.

While these statistics help demonstrate the power of podcast, I wanted to ask a few podcast experts to hear more qualitative insights regarding the “Clubhouse vs. podcast” debate.
Let’s dive into that, now.
Podcast Experts Weigh In: Why is Podcast Better?
To start, I spoke with Matthew Brown, HubSpot’s Senior Podcast Producer.
Brown told me, “One of the key differences between live audio and podcasts are listener behaviors. Live audio is typically a passive engagement, while podcasts are more of an active engagement.”

“On Clubhouse, something might happen at any moment. On a podcast, something should happen at every moment.”

Of course, there’s something tantilizing about listening to live audio — perhaps it’s the authenticity, or the sense that you’re a fly-on-the-wall for a private conversation happening between two people in real time, without the option to edit out any uncomfortableness. But, similar to watching a long, unedited scene of The Real World, it can also get boring. Quickly.
Brown adds, “Clubhouse, and other live audio platforms, just cannot equate to highly-produced and edited podcasts. They’re too dissimilar in almost every way. You know … aside from the whole both involving audio thing.”
Ultimately, if you’re interested in testing out Clubhouse as its own potentially powerful marketing channel, Brown encourages you to consider the needs of that platform as entirely separate from podcasting: “Clubhouse is to podcasts as Twitch is to YouTube. A Twitch streamer takes the best moments of their live stream and packages it up for their YouTube channel.”
“There’s serious benefits in repurposing content. But each channel — and the expectations of creators and audience alike — is fundamentally different. So you need to understand those limitations, and make the best content you can for that given platform.”
There are also some long-term revenue benefits to podcasting. For instance, I asked Zachary Ballenger, CRO at Casted, whether podcasts can ultimately impact a company’s bottom line.
He told me, “Podcasts have the ability to drive real results in terms of leads and revenue. [But] podcasts need to be fully incorporated into your marketing campaigns and amplified across every channel to be effective — including blog posts, social media, landing pages, and ad retargeting.”

Jacob Penn, a Corporate Analytics Manager at iHeartMedia, agrees that podcasting is a more proven strategy for long-term ROI. He says, “Being trustworthy has allowed podcast hosts to build long-term connections with listeners and turn host-read ads into a very native experience. That’s why 53% of podcast listeners actually enjoy hearing ads.”

“Businesses can use podcasts as a vehicle to reach listeners who are in a mindset to new messaging.”

Penn adds, “As of today, Clubhouse is still in their infancy phase and we don’t know how users will interact with this platform in the long term. With podcasts, they have been around for over 20 years and brands are beginning to realize their potential as an advertising platform. That is why over $1 billion in ad revenue is expected in podcasts in 2021.”
Simply put: Podcasts have a proven track record of success for business growth, but only when done effectively. (Interested in starting your own? Take a look at Everything You Need to Know About Starting a Podcast in 2021.)
Holly Shannon, Producer & Host of the Culture Factor 2.0 and author of the book Zero To Podcast, says that podcasting is a fantastic opportunity for businesses to reach new audiences. She told me, “The question I ask leaders is, Are you your industry’s best-kept secret? If the answer is yes, then podcasting could be a way to create content that serves your business in many ways.”
“For one,” She says, “It can highlight you and your team as thought leaders. This allows you to speak authentically and bring your value to the table for all to hear globally, which can result in other keynote speaking opportunities and lead generation.”
Shannon is also a fan of podcasting as an opportunity for content repurposing. She suggests using the podcast transcripts as SEO-optimized blog posts on your website after-the-fact, as well as using pieces of that audio for subsequent social media posts.
A podcast is also a good opportunity to create a sense of community — and you can engage with that community offline, as well. As Shannon suggests, “Podcasting enables you to create a community of listeners, subscribers, and followers. This community can be served later with virtual or live conferences — thus creating a pathway to monetization.”
Can the same be said for Clubhouse? Let’s dive into that perspective, next.
Clubhouse Experts Weigh In: Why Is Clubhouse Better?
HubSpot’s Marketing Manager Chris Eberhardt is in charge of HubSpot’s Clubhouse programming for the HubSpot Marketing Club, so he’s seen first-hand the power of Clubhouse for business.

Eberhardt told me, “Clubhouse can be a good option for a company that wants to create a presence in audio but wants to avoid the saturation and production quality involved in podcasts.”

He adds, “But it’s important to understand that the use case for Clubhouse is actually different than the use case for podcasts. Podcasts are on-demand, whereas Clubhouse is live social audio. It’s an important difference: Podcasts can be scripted and highly-produced, whereas Clubhouse is closer to a live radio show.”
Eberhardt would recommend using Clubhouse for the following reasons:

You don’t have enough bandwidth/resources to create a high-quality podcast.
You want to more easily differentiate your brand on Clubhouse (since the podcast marketplace is more heavily saturated).
You want to form a space to connect with your audience directly, and open up the rooms for audience questions and engagement.
You want one of your leaders to build their brand in the space.

Eberhardt says, “It’s important you use Clubhouse as a live space for authentic conversation and connection — not to lecture. For instance, perhaps you start a reaction room for a big announcement or product launch, develop a format for a live show that you run on a consistent basis, bring on guests with large followers early to build a presence, or start a club that your brand hosts.”
Benjamin Shapiro, host of the Martech Podcast, agrees that Clubhouse is a potentially powerful option for brand growth.

He adds, “While the interactive social features are unique to the times, my belief is that live-streaming audio services will settle into a medium of content distribution that is most relevant during real-world events.”
Additionally, Krystal Wu, HubSpot’s Social Community Marketing Manager, is a fan of audio spaces as the host of a weekly Twitter Space, and she does see plenty of benefits to audio spaces over podcasts.
Wu told me, “I host weekly Twitter Spaces to connect with marketers. I love it because it’s more of a feature to an enhance a product, versus a product in itself. I’ve found I can have short, random discussions or longer, more in-depth discussions.”

“Either way, it’s real, in-the-moment content that podcasts otherwise can’t offer.”

Wu adds, “I think podcasts is more of an opportunity to educate and listen to other people’s stories while multitasking on other things. Looking to clean my house for 30 minutes? Great — I’ll play a podcast for that 30-minute timeframe so I can match it up … Spaces, on the other hand, is more in-the-moment communication — you don’t exactly know what you’ll get, and that’s what’s neat about it.”
If you’re interested in testing out Clubhouse for your own business, take a look at How to Use Clubhouse: A Step-by-Step Guide.
Why not both?
Of course, there’s one other option we haven’t yet considered: Should you try both?
Any good marketer knows the importance of testing out various channels and iterating on a marketing strategy over time based on those results. So, if you’re unsure whether your audience prefers Clubhouse or podcasts, you might want to test both.
You might even find that both tools work well together to create a more cohesive, powerful marketing strategy. 
For instance, Asad Zulfahri, a Principal Marketing Manager at HubSpot, told me: “I run a weekly room on Clubhouse, and then that session gets recorded to form a podcast. Those who attend live can also participate in the Q&A at the end. I then summarize the Clubhouse content into a blog post as well, for an additional distribution option.”
“Clubhouse can be an easy entry-point to those who are thinking about podcasting. You can practice speaking publicly and then record the session (with permission, of course).”
For instance, take a look at Asad’s Clubhouse live room:

… And then, Asad’s post-Clubhouse podcast episodes:

You might try this for a few weeks, and then iterate if you feel the majority of your audience prefers one channel over the other.
Shannon agrees, saying, “Clubhouse to me does not have to be a zero sum game. I believe it’s highly complementary.”
For instance, she suggests trying to record your podcast interview live on Clubhouse, which enables you to host a Q&A post-interview and engage with your community. (Plus, if you’re not happy with the Q&A portion, you can always cut it post-production.) Alternatively, she says you might do a pre-show where you speak with your audience to crowdsource questions for your podcast guest.
Shannon told me, “Today, you need to be open to where you can find your audiences. Algorithms within each platform fluctuate, and thus change when your followers see your posts. So if you can jump onto new platforms as an early adopter, you get traction. I’m a big advocate of cross-pollinating audiences, and diversifying where your brand shows up.”
Ultimately, Clubhouse and podcasts serve different purposes and meet the needs of vastly different audiences.
As Shapiro asserts, “There will be scenarios where live broadcasts are going to be the most relevant way to engage a community (i.e. interact with a MarTech conference live from your desk). There are also scenarios when on-demand content will be the more relevant medium (i.e. learn about MarTech by listening to a podcast on your morning commute).”

“There is going to be a place in the world for both live and on-demand content in audio, just like with text (blogs versus Twitter) and video (TV versus Netflix).”

If you’re unsure which is best-suited for your brand, consider a few important factors — including your team goals and priorities, the amount of resources you have available for audio recording, and whether you can test Clubhouse or podcasting on a small scale before going all-in on your audio tool of choice.
Listen, learn, and grow with the HubSpot Podcast Network. HubSpot Podcast Network is the audio destination for business professionals who seek the best education and inspiration on how to grow a business.

Start improving your email list management and get more value out of your email campaigns in 2021. Here are 12 ways, examples, and tools to get you started.

Summer is great for a lot of things, including long days at the pool or beach, boisterous backyard barbecues, and catching up on all the sunshine you missed over the winter months. What summer is not so great for, unfortunately, is sales. The reasons for the summer sales slump vary but seem to boil down…
The post Stop it Before it Happens: 8 Tactics to Avoid Declining Sales appeared first on Benchmarkemail.