Facebook is one of the best marketing platforms available today. Shopify eCommerce accounts can see tremendous results through Facebook’s defined targeting system. Our nonprofits friends have also obtained spectacular ROI results utilizing these targeting options. You can see some of our case studies here.
While Facebook has proven to be very successful for many of our partners, it is becoming harder and harder to stand out. More marketers are flocking to the channel and taking up space which naturally increases the difficulty to be heard, but have no fear we have got your back. We will go over a few strategies to help your voice be heard and increase your organization’s impact.
1. Avoid Sounding Like An Ad
All too often we see capitalized letters that scream, “DONATE NOW,” “YOUR SUPPORT IS NEEDED.” While this certainly can be eye-catching, it also screams “I’m an ad.” This may seem a bit weird since we’re talking about Facebook Ads, but people don’t like being advertised to. We look through our Facebook feeds to see what my friends or colleagues are up to, who’s birthday it is, or the funny cat video that everyone is sharing. We do not scroll through our feeds just to be advertised to, especially in all caps.
This is where the “do not sound like an ad” comes into play. You want to engage your target audience without disrupting their flow. Focus on your impact and mission. This will increase your chances of generating a new donation and potentially a monthly donor. Use calls to action like “learn more” and try sharing your story first before remarketing the same audience for the ask. This will work much better as Facebook will likely charge you less per impression and decrease your cost per result, giving you more budget to work with.
2. Grab People’s Attention
This will sound confusing after reading the first tip, but stay with us. We want to grab the user’s attention but we also don’t want to overwhelm them and scream look at me! One way to do this is by speaking directly to the audience you are targeting. For example, if we are targeting individuals who support women’s health then your ad could start with “calling all women.” This is grabbing the attention of the demographic you are trying to reach. You also could use imagery that is personalized to your targeted audience.
Writing ads to your specific audience and knowing how to engage them is about 80% of the work. Once this has been identified your ads are much better than most of the ads users see throughout the day. No one wants to be hit with an ad that has nothing to do with their interests.
3. Storytelling
Are you harnessing the power of storytelling? Are you sharing the wonderful accomplishments that your organization has achieved? If the answer is not a clear yes, then you’ve got some work to do. Use your community to share all of the great things you’ve done. Let your followers share your story. Turn those engaging stories into ads and let the world see your impact. As a nonprofit that is solving your community’s issues, you deserve to be heard. One of the reasons why stories work so well is because they appeal to the user’s emotional side which also compliments their logical side that connects to the value and the appeal. This process happens so quickly that the user falls in love with your message and becomes not only a donor but a lifetime contributor.
4. Tracking
This is by far the most important one. Are you measuring your success? How do you know that this audience worked better than the other? Or how do you know how many people visit your website weekly or monthly? If you don’t know or have not implemented your tracking correctly, please do so. Right now. Facebook collects so much data that it can eventually paint a very vivid picture of who you should market to and when. Getting your pixel and events setup is key to understanding your audience and what makes them act.
5. Make Your Images Pop
Last but not least, use quality imagery and videos. This is especially important since we just finished mentioning how more and more marketers are coming to the platform. One of the easiest ways to stand out and be heard is by uploading high-quality content. You want your images to be bright, colorful, and relevant. This will naturally grab the viewer’s attention. I can’t tell you how many accounts we have audited to see poorly uploaded imagery next to wonderfully written missions. Many times we have swapped these images with higher quality ones and kept the text the same to see instant results.
