Fine-Tuning Your Audience

Whether you are starting an organization or you have reached a slump in your marketing, there is always one place to turn to start working on a solution: your audience. Taking the time to learn about your audience goes a long way. It helps you craft marketing materials that will actually work. Our process works if you are just starting off, or if you have been an organization for 100+ years. Audiences naturally go in waves, so it is generally good practice to study your audience regularly.

Step one: Start with a two sentence elevator pitch to define who you are as an organization.

What would you tell someone if you only had them for 15 seconds?  That's how long someone usually stays on your website, social media post, or anything online. Set a timer for 15 seconds and get typing.

Step two: Who is your audience?

What is their age? Where do they live? What is their education level? What is their career? What is their home life like? What do they like doing in their free time?

Step three: What are your organizations goals and desires?

Look at this in two ways. What do you wish people will get from your organization? What do people wish to get out of your organization?

Step four: Needs and Demands

Again, look at this in two different ways. What do you need? What do people need from your organization? What are their demands?

Step five: Where does your audience hang out?

Sounds weird, right? But this simply means where they go, and how they can find you. Is it Facebook? Instagram? Linkedin? Google?  Fundraisers? Online listings? Coffee shops?

Step six: Figure out the Hashtags they are searching or what phrases they're using.

Think of it in this way. If you are looking for a Nonprofit to volunteer at, what would you put in a search engine? How would they find you and how can you use this language in your marketing?

After following these steps, you should have a good understanding of who your audience is. You'll know how you want to serve them, and how to connect. Write all your answers down. You can make a graphic or you can simply keep a document for reference. With this all, comes successful marketing. You should see more engagement and more interactions in time. Get out there, Nonprofit marketers!