Why Your Nonprofit Needs a Content Marketing Strategy

As a nonprofit, caring for the needs of others is deeply ingrained into your organization’s DNA. And sometimes, to make sure the needs of others are fulfilled, your own list of essentials takes the back seat—especially when it comes to content marketing.

Why is content marketing strategy a must-have for your nonprofit? 

Nonprofit content marketing offers an amazing opportunity for your organization’s voice, mission, and values to be heard by a wider audience. And, with the right strategy, your message can go further than ever before with brand awareness. 

What is Content Marketing Anyway?

Content marketing effort is the strategic use of media to tell your unique story and excite people about your cause and services. The types of media to display your digital content vary, the most common being:

  • Social media
  • Blogs
  • Email newsletters
  • Podcasts
  • Videos
  • Case studies
  • White papers
  • Op-eds
  • Holiday cards

Basically, if you can read it, watch it, listen to it, skim it, scroll it, or screenshot it, you can content market it. 

Why Nonprofits Need a Content Marketing Strategy

Content marketing offers an amazing opportunity for eyeballs to be directed to your organization. But content marketing without strategy is like a football huddle where the QB goes, “Um… I’m going to throw the ball, I guess?” 

But with strategy, that QB will sound a bit more like this:“We’re going to do the Lindy Hop with a triple-decker fake-out plus curly fries. Then, Rogers will distract them with the angry squirrel he’s been hiding in his helmet. Got it, team? Ready? GO CONTENT MARKETING!” 

Without a content marketing plan, your campaigns run the risk of undercutting your mission. 

How so?

If your endangered animal rescue organization’s social media duties are shared with whoever has the least amount of work that day, you may get a mix of content ideas that looks like this:

  • Monday – Picture of a rescued cheetah cub.
  • Tuesday – Picture of a coworker’s dog—not a rescued or endangered dog, just you know, Barbara’s dog Dusty.
  • Wednesday – Picture of someone’s sandwich. “It’s called Food Art.”
  • Thursday – [Nothing, because everyone forgot whose turn it was to post]
  • Friday – Goofy meme with a panda in it. 

The bottom line? Erratic content marketing is ineffective content marketing.

Here’s what good content could look like:

  • Monday – Graphic showing the shrinking numbers of endangered species.
  • Tuesday – One-minute interview snippet with an animal rescue expert about the unique challenges facing a particular endangered species today.
  • Wednesday – Volunteer appreciation post featuring an image of a valued member of your team and what she loves about working for your nonprofit.
  • Thursday – Save a Species in 30 Seconds. A fun fact graphic about a small thing anyone can do to help endangered species like avoiding buying products with palm oil.
  • Friday – Picture of rescued cheetah cub—because cheetah cubs are just so darn cute.

See the difference? Better yet, can you feel the difference?

Content strategy is all about creating a narrative that your target audience can connect to. And when you have a unifying digital content marketing strategy that informs your valuable content decisions, you’ll be unstoppable.

The Key Components of a Content Marketing Plan for a Nonprofit

In order for your nonprofit content marketing campaign to truly blossom, there are four things you’ll need to do:

#1 Go Back to Your Story

Great content marketing is essentially storytelling. It’s an open invitation for a digital content user to feel connected to your message and your brand. And nonprofits know better than most how a story can help rally people to a cause. 

Distill your story down to its most important elements

  • Who – Who are you as an organization? 
  • Where/when – Where are you based?
  • What – What problems are you trying to fix? 
  • How – How are you solving those problems?
  • Why – Why are you driven to take action?

You probably know the answers to these 5 W’s, but distilling them into bite-sized answers can help inform every quality content decision you make. 

#2 Find Your Voice 

What happens when the instruments in an orchestra are all playing out of time and out of tune with each other? 

Noise.

The same goes for your content marketing. You want to ensure that the messaging of your content marketing campaign, from your email marketing newsletters to your Tweets, is crafted with the same voice in mind. Your web design should match your content efforts as well.

For example:

    • A children’s after-school art workshop might have a fun and playful voice.
    • An environmental conservancy organization might have a more polished and professional tone.
  • A society for the preservation of haunted houses and artifacts of the occult may imbue their content with a spooky and somewhat mystical voice. 

When every facet of your marketing campaign is singing in time to the same tune, you’ll be amazed at the marketing music you can make.

#3 Define Your Goals

They say that life is about the journey, not the destination. That may be true for the many adventures we experience in life, but in digital marketing, you really need to know where you’re going—otherwise, you might run out of gas in the middle of the Bermuda Triangle.

Understanding your nonprofit’s goals will help to ensure your content marketing strategy is working towards your organization’s aspirations. 

#4 Bring in Experts

Whether you’re saving little pups from puppy mills or doing what you can to stop climate change, you know the difference an expert can make in helping to achieve your goals. And since content marketing is an ever-changing beast, you’ll need an expert beast-wrangler marketer to make the most of every blog post, social media post, newsletter, or tweet.

The people, places, and creatures you help deserve the best. And when it comes to content marketing, your organization deserves the best expertise possible to help you do what you’re meant to do—make the world a better place. 

Putting the Pieces of Nonprofit Content Marketing Together

Your organization’s story deserves to be told. And with the help of a content marketing agency, you can share that story—and your mission—with new volunteers, potential donors, or other collaborative organizations with content marketing services. You’re passionate about changing the world.

We’re passionate about helping you do that.

At Puzzle Pieces, we’re pros at providing nonprofits with a successful content marketing strategy that can help them make a difference. Give us a call—let’s see how we can help you help the world today.

Sources:

Non Profit Hub. 7 Tips for a Successful Content Marketing Strategy. https://nonprofithub.org/nonprofit-content/tips-for-a-successful-content-marketing-strategy/