Top Tips for Content Marketing That Will Make You Stand Out

Creating and distributing compelling content that informs, educates, and tells your story can encourage supporters to take action, says Lali Wiratunga, National Marketing Manager with Westpac Social Sector Banking.

The key is to be strategic. Here are Lali Wiratunga’s top tips for small and medium Not for Profits on how to move from simply creating content, to using content marketing to get noticed by prospective supporters.

1.   Understand Your Audience

Your audience may be corporate sponsors, volunteers, or individual philanthropists. Knowing your audience means having a deep understanding of their needs, wants, fears and desires. Aligning your goals with theirs means delivering content that meets their requirements.

Westpac Foundation grant recipient, Milk Crate Theatre, a Sydney arts program for people who have experienced homelessness or social marginalisation, takes a person-centred approach when communicating with long-term donors.

“The type and depth of communication is tailored to what each donor needs from us,” Siena Balakrishnan, CEO/General Manager says.

Communications from the CEO can be face-to-face meetings exchanging information about Milk Crate’s program and the arts scene, or sharing of images and stories from performances that donors are unable to attend.

“We make time to understand how each donor wants to connect with us,” explains Siena.

2.   Be Clear About Your Goals

Know what success will look like for your organisation. Before creating and distributing content, an organisation should drill down to the core reasons they are reaching out to the community – it might be to engage more young volunteers, to have more corporates attending your event, or to raise public awareness of a topical issue.

The process of defining goals will direct what content to produce, to whom, and how it should be delivered. By knowing your measures of success before you start, you can map a path to achieving your goals.

Importantly, all your staff should know the goals too, so they can direct new enquiries to the people in your organisation who can capitalise on this fresh interest.

3.   Make the Most of Your Distribution Channels

You need to know where and how your target audiences receive information in order to distribute your content to them– are they watching YouTube videos, reading broadsheet newspapers, or dealing in the boardroom? Does your content need to be a video, an article in the Sunday paper, or a compelling speech?

Rethink how and where you can deliver the content you routinely create – turn your thank you letter to donors into a thank you video that can be shared online; enrich the case study featured in your donor letter by including extra photos and follow-up on your blog.

4.   Engage Your Storytellers

Your organisation has a great story to tell; remember, you’re not the only one who can tell it. You have volunteers, clients, donors, staff, and partners whose own story is a part of yours.

By co-creating content with them, you share the many facets of your organisation with potential new supporters. Social media is a great platform for encouraging user-generated content.

By creating a hashtag that can be proliferated, your supporters create content for you.

When people who are already engaged with your organisation become your advocates, it is a great testament to the trust and reputation you have earned – and worth more than paid advertising can buy.

5.   Align Your Activities

Create a calendar for content that aligns with your broader marketing strategies. Bring together all the aspects of your organisation that strengthens the story you are communicating.

For example, if you want to position your organisation as having expertise in your area, send speakers to symposiums, write editorials for the newspapers, provide experts for commentary to the media, curate and distribute the latest research from your field, set a goal to achieve a national first, and apply for awards.

For example, Westpac Group proudly creates content about finalists and award winners in our annual Westpac Community Leaders Awards. It can really lift the profile of a small or medium Not for Profit when a large organisation like Westpac celebrates their achievements.

6.   Test and Learn

Gather data about what content works and what doesn’t. Establish the reasons that people disengage with your content, and do more of what your audience loves. Investigate what other organisations are producing in terms of great content and whether or not that could work for your organisation. Come up with your golden rules. And keep testing to see if they remain valid!

Honest and strategic content delivered in a timely manner to the right channels, can drive engagement with your organisation and build community regard. And that can only benefit your social mission.

Westpac Social Sector Banking provides a customised range of banking solutions to suit Not for Profit organisations, charities, associations as well as single-interest and community groups.

For more information, visit Westpac Social Sector Banking.