The majority of non-profits that I’ve had the pleasure of working, or volunteering, for don’t have large budgets.
As the former Marketing Director of The Senase Project (a non-profit with a small team of hard-working volunteers,) I know first-hand the frustration that comes with wanting to make big waves but having little dollars to work with.
With the endless stream of information that floods your social media pages, it’s hard to grab people’s attention organically.
More companies are resorting to paid advertising in order to get the word out about their product or service.
This is where blogs come in to play.
WordPress and Blogger are just two platforms available for non-profits looking to create a blog.
Each platform is extremely user-friendly and easy to navigate, so you don’t have to worry about having a dedicated marketing professional, or “IT guy,” to create (or manage) the blog.
Regardless of how small your team is, given the wide number of blogging tools available that ease the burden of brainstorming and creating content, there’s no excuse anymore to not have a blog.
Below are three simple, straight-forward reasons why your nonprofit should launch a blog today:
- Spread the word: your blog is a great place to discuss, and showcase, what you’re working on. Launching a new product or program? Write a blog post about it and send it out to your network! Blog posts help keep your fans in the loop on the projects you are working on, as well as the opportunities you have to connect and collaborate with fans.
- Start a conversation: by blogging, you create another avenue in which you can engage with your fans. Your blog should be set up to allow likes and comments, and each blog post should end with a call-to-action that encourages your audience to do something after reading the post. Maybe you ask them to share the post on social media or leave a comment sharing their opinion. Whatever it is, adding calls to action help increase the level of interaction between your content and your target audience.
- Save money: tired of pouring money into paid social media advertising and seeing little return? Instead of putting money behind boosting posts or creating Twitter cards, a blog is a free way to reach your audience. You should place a link to your blog right on your homepage next to your social media icons to draw attention to it. To really engage your audience and keep them coming back for more, consider setting up a content calendar. Creating an “appointment” with your audience (for example, publishing a blog post every Friday at 9 a.m.) is a great, free, way to generate a loyal following. In time, if you stick to your calendar, your audience will become familiar with your blogging schedule and start to actively seek your content.
While the recommended frequency and topics for posts for your blog will vary based on your goals and industry, there is no reason to delay starting one today.
As I’m sure you’ve heard, content is king.
Launching a blog is the first step to set your company up for success in today’s content-driven world.
