DIRECT AND DIGITAL MARKETING

Direct and digital marketing

Direct and digital marketing

Print Media

Newspapers, journals, magazines, yellow pages, direct mail, newsletters, flyers, brochures, business cards, bumper stickers, bookmarks, temporary tattoos, et cetera, et cetera!

There are many options when it comes to printed materials in marketing a nonprofit. The options are almost endless if one sits down and brainstorms the possibilities for a mere 15 minutes. Not only can a nonprofit place a traditional advertisement in a newspaper, but also it can send out a press release to have the newspaper run a story on its organization, submit a letter to the editor, or even place an advertisement in the classifieds. The best individual to contact at a newspaper so that the press release is not buried in the pile of hundreds of releases received each day is the department editor and/or the specific reporter that covers the nonprofit's topic. A follow-up call after submitting a release is almost always necessary as well. Beyond newspapers, a nonprofit can place advertisements in journals, magazines, and even the yellow pages (Andreasen, 2005, 66).

There are also many different things a nonprofit can print its information on. The true question is whether or not there is a successful return on investment for these endeavours. While it may seem like a good idea to print thousands of bumper stickers to give out at all events, unless people attending the events actually take the stickers and place them on their cars, the nonprofit just wasted that money. A nonprofit should seriously consider which print materials it wants to make and then assess if it will be cost effective for the goals that were set in the marketing strategy.

Direct mailing is usually a big piece of the marketing puzzle for nonprofit organizations. Before a nonprofit considers a direct mailing campaign, it needs to ask a few questions of itself. Who are we? (Is the nonprofit well known and/or have a popular mission?) What is our market? (Is the nonprofit local or national, what kind of people support the organization?) How should we position ourselves? Should we offer something in return? Are we ready for failure or success? Direct mailing can be expensive, especially the first attempt, so a nonprofit needs to assess if it can handle the cost of such a large endeavour (Lautman, 2001, 85). Typically, direct mailing involves purchasing a list from a broker and “cold mailing” individuals, although this does not typically have a worthy success rate. Obtaining one's own mailing list of interested individuals is always ideal, so the nonprofit should constantly be collecting contact information at events, programs, and so on, to build on this list (Greenfield, 2001, 88).

Broadcast: Television, Radio

Most small nonprofits do not attempt to advertise on television, and this is mostly due to the cost. However, if a nonprofit plays its card right, it can get a television station to sponsor it through free airtime for a commercial. Even if this happens, the organization still needs all the equipment, time, and resources to produce ...