Non-Profit Marketing Ideas

Image by luc legay via Flickr

This past week, I was asked to assist in marketing the Cincinnati Roundtable of the Council of Supply Chain Management Professionals (CSCMP). CSCMP is a global professional organization with the mission to "lead the evolving supply chain management profession by developing, advancing, and disseminating supply chain knowledge and research" (CSCMP.org). Many colleagues in my industry are members. CSCMP exists to:

• "Provide opportunities for supply chain professionals to communicate in order to develop and improve their supply chain management skills.

• Identify and conduct research which adds to the knowledge base of supply chain theory and practice.

• Create awareness of the significance of supply chain to business and to the economy" (CSCMP.org).

After a working lunch with the board, I was asked to be their new marketing chair. At first I was a little intimidated and overwhelmed, listening to their challenges in event attendance. However, after some thought I realized I can help implement a few simple best practices to market their events. Here are some brainstorming ideas I've thought of thus far:

• Research: Find out what roundtable is currently doing. Define target markets. Seek advice from other roundtables/non-profit organizations. Discover educational institution relationship opportunities. Browse website tools available and member database.

• Social Media: Develop strategy. Choose channels. Establish usernames. Engage in and monitor conversation.

• Blog: Create platform. Assign authorship. Create, optimize, and promote content. Utilize blog as "website" in which to promote events and membership.

• Promotional Items: Develop printed marketing communication piece ideas (calendar magnets, flyers, etc.).

I'm sure this list will evolve as I dive into the position, but it's a good start. Are you involved in a non-profit organization? What have you learned about non-profit marketing? What are your best practices?

What I've Learned: 5 (Honest) Tips on Social Media Marketing

Today's post is an attempt to join the content marketing "revolution." Producing creative, useful, and shareable content is the way to an online social presence that increases brand awareness and credibility among consumers.

This "content" is from my personal brand, Kelley Dodd, and is in no way associated with any other organization. However, I have just begun some modest social media efforts for my company and feel I should share some learned "rules of thumb" on leveraging these new outlets for any brand.

1 :: Do position your organization as a thought leader in your industry.

When consumers think of your product or service offering, you want them to think of your company/organization. You can start to gain credibility in small steps. Participate in discussion forums and Q&A on LinkedIn, comment on blogs, re-tweet and @reply, generate thought-provoking, practical content and submit it to Digg and delicious, etc. (all in a non-presumptuous way, of course.)

2 :: Do be social and engage in conversation.

This overly-instructed tactic should imply the inverse - don't ignore attempts at contact with your brand. I recently @replied twice on Twitter to a hair salon in Columbus asking if they were offering any color specials and received no response. Not only was this non-responsiveness rude, it gave me the impression that the hair salon could care less about my business. Needless to say, I took my lovely locks elsewhere. If you're not willing to be social, why waste your time (and mine) on social media?

3 :: Don't send consumers on a wild goose chase within multiple social media channels.

It's fine to tweet about your latest blog post, that's social media 101. It's also fine to openly promote your Facebook fan page via twitter (as long as there's a viable incentive for the fan.) However, it is not fine to post an intriguing article link on Twitter and slyly send the reader to your "pit stop" Facebook page in order to access the article. Not only is this tactic excessive and annoying, but I see no point in measuring this empty metric as an actual Facebook page view. Other marketers may think otherwise, but that's my opinion and I'm sticking to it.

4 :: Don't be passive and assume merely creating a social media account will suffice.

This tip stems from the above #2. Situation: you're marketing an event and you want to spread the word via social media. You create a LinkedIn event page, Facebook fan page and Twitter account. Now it's time to sit back and watch the publicity and interest grow, right? Wrong. You need to constantly update and excite, invite people to connect and provide the answer to their question, "What's in it for me?"

5 :: Do meet new people and secure contacts.

This tip also stems from #2, but with a different angle. Social media is the new Rolodex. I learn from and network with people everyday through social media. You never know when someone whose blog post you commented on will think of you in the future - whether it's for a job position, product or service, industry advice, etc.

Social media is not for everyone. But with some effort and personality, it just may pay off.