You Are a Marketer (Yes, Even You)

Before breaking a sweat over your next Tweet, Facebook post, or email subject line, take a step back to make a few key decisions that will improve your chances of succeeding, however you’re measuring impact.

The search for the perfect subject line that will persuade readers to click through. 

Debating whether Israel flag emojis in a social media post are unprofessional or appealing. 

Sending email after email trying to get bodies in a room for your Purim program.

If any of these scenarios seem familiar, you’re not alone.

We live in a day and age where digital marketing is all encompassing. According to Tech Times, more than 46% of Americans will check their smartphone before even getting out of bed. 79% of people online use Facebook. (Pew Research Center, 2016) 1.9 billion logged-in users visit YouTube every month (Hootsuite, 2019). Whether we like it or not, the strongest connector to the outside world is the internet.

The idea of conjuring up grandiose marketing strategies everytime we want to get the word out there about an event is daunting. And as nonprofit professionals, we seldom have enough time, resources, and/or self-confidence to evaluate why things aren’t working the way we’d like.

Digital marketing is not as scary as it sounds. Before breaking a sweat over your next Tweet, Facebook post, or email subject line, take a step back to make a few key decisions that will improve your chances of succeeding, however you’re measuring impact.

Figure Out Your Audience

You can’t be everything to everyone – nor should you. The first step to launching a successful marketing campaign is figuring out who you want to reach. Is it teens, who prefer Instagram to emails? Is it Jewish nonprofit professionals, who frequent LinkedIn or Facebook groups? Once you define your audience, you’ll be surprised how much easier it becomes to reach them.

What Is Your Call to Action?

Now that you’ve found your audience, what exactly do you want them to do? Do you want them to register, sign up, share, or learn more? Make sure your call to action is front and center and leaves no room for guessing.

Do Market Research

As the famous saying goes, “It’s not what you know, it’s who you know.” Once you figure out your audience, where you could potentially find them, and what you want them to do, it’s time to field test to figure out how best to reach them. Are you running a program for elderly women? Ask Bubbe where she reads her news. Trying to put together resources for Jewish LGBTQ teens? Reach out and partner with a local organization and put together a small focus group.

Strategize

You have your audience, where you can find them, and your call to action. Now what? Put together a very basic plan that outlines the audience, where you can find them, the call to action, a timeframe, budget, and tangible goals.

You don’t need to spend a million dollars for a boosted Facebook post or ad. Start small and keep checking on its progress – you may find that you only need to spend $20 to get your intended reach. Digital marketing is very much “pay to play” but a local event won’t need the same monetary resources as say, a Pepsi campaign.

Goals may include link clicks, video watches, or registrations. Setting goals is a good way to see if your campaign was a success.

You Got This

The dawn of the internet has given everyone the capability to extend their digital reach beyond their personal circle. If you can craft a visually appealing and creative email, make a concise, exciting Facebook post, or post a beautiful picture on Instagram with popular hashtags, you’re more than halfway there.

If you’ve ever done any of the above, you are a marketer.

(Yes, even you.)

Keryn Warren is the Marketing and Communications Manager for The Jewish Education Project, and manages marketing for The New York Teen Initiative and FindYourSummer.org. 

This piece was first published in eJewish Philanthropy and is posted with permission.