Online Marketing Strategies & Trends Kristin Rapinac, President, AF Sacramento

So what exactly is online marketing?

Online marketing is any form of marketing products or services that involves the internet. Ø Websites

Ø Search Engines

Ø Social Media

Ø Email

Ø Texting

Ø Online ads

Websites Your website is the online face of your organization

Websites Trends

Ø Clear calls to action: Classes, Events, Membership

Ø Specialized landing pages for core services

Ø Long-scrolling vertical websites, fewer pages

Ø Slide shows are out – full-width images & video are in

Ø Animation is fun, but use sparingly

Ø Pop-up windows highly effective for capturing leads

Websites Responsive websites

Websites Responsive websites

Ø On a responsive website, elements of a web page are automatically rearranged based on size of the screen

Ø 63% of all website traffic is mobile – and rising

Ø Google penalizes non-responsive websites in search results

Ø But: many use both mobile and desktop

Websites SSL certificates

Websites Why use SSL?

Ø SSL encrypts traffic between website and browser

Ø Must for accepting credit cards

Ø Users will trust your site if they see the green padlock

Ø Improves SEO and makes your site faster

Ø Check with your webhost or Let‘s Encrypt

SEO

SEO What is this SEO stuff all about?

Ø Search Engine Optimization: optimizing your website to rank higher on search engine result pages (SERP)

Ø 95% of all users on Google search click on the first page of a search result, with 33% those users clicking on the first result

Ø Good SEO will increase the amount of organic (free) traffic to your website

SEO Picking your keywords

Ø Goal is to pick popular words and phrases people enter into search engines Ø Learn French, French classes, French for kids

Ø SEO helps Google figure out which keyword(s) to use to rank each page on your website

Ø How do you choose keywords? Ø Experiment on Google

Ø Look at your Google Analytics organic search terms

Ø Keyword planning tools: Google Ads

SEO Keyword placement

Ø Page title

Ø Headings (H1)

Ø 1-2 to more times on page

Ø Don’t overdo keywords – Google will penalize for keyword stuffing. Use synonyms

Ø Title tag (up to 60 characters)

Ø Meta description snippet (up to130 characters)

Ø Meta tags (up to 10 keyword phrases)

Ø Wordpess SEO plugin: Yoast SEO

SEO Other ways to improve SEO

Ø Backlinks from other reputable websites

Ø External links to reputable websites

Ø Internal links

Ø Content marketing Ø Producing original, high-quality educational content

Ø Intent is to promote trust, and establish your organization as an expert – not to sell right away

Ø Examples: blog articles, e-papers, info graphics, videos, webinars

Ø Focus on specific keyword

SEO Analyze that!

Ø Use Google Analytics to review your website statistics

Ø Compare: Ø Site visits

Ø Time on site

Ø Referrals

Ø Landing pages

Ø Navigation

Ø Organic search keywords

Ø Mobile stats

Search Engine Marketing Google Ad Grants

Ø Qualifying nonprofits can sign up through Google Grants for Nonprofits

Ø Need to be registered with Tech Soup

Ø Up to $10,000 worth of in-kind Google Ads per month

Ø Create targeted campaigns with keywords to promote classes, events, etc.

Ø Ads show up on Google Search pages (below paying advertisers)

Search Engine Marketing Google Maps & Yelp

Social Media

Social Media Social media channels

Ø Facebook: 2+ billion monthly active users

Ø YouTube: 1.9 billion monthly active users

Ø Instagram: 800 million monthly active users

Ø Twitter: 330 million monthly active users

Ø LinkedIn: 500 million members

Ø Pinterest: 200 million monthly active users

Ø Snapchat: 178 million daily active users

Social Media Best practices

Ø Figure out where your prospects hang out

Ø Focus on one or two channels (Facebook, Instagram)

Ø Changing algorithms: Create a mix of content that prioritizes engagement

Ø Use tools to streamline your social media management

Ø Canva (images), Hootsuite (post scheduling)

Social Media What’s trending

Ø Video

Ø Live streaming

Ø Stories

Ø Events

Ø Fundraising

Ø FB Messenger

Ø Chatbots

Social Media Facebook Promoted Posts

Ø  Pay to promote posts on new class sessions, events, fundraising campaigns

Ø  Pick your budget, length of campaign

Ø Targeting options Ø Location, Gender, Age, Interests, People who like your

page + friends

Email Marketing

Email Marketing

Ø Email marketing is the most effective way to reach your customers and best prospects

Ø  RO1 4x that of other marketing methods (Statista)

Ø More and more competition in people’s inboxes means you need to fight for the attention of your users

Email Marketing Email Trends

Ø Mobile-friendly design

Ø Personalization

Ø Segmenting & customization Ø Ex: Adult classes, kids classes, events, volunteers, donors

Ø Automated emails (welcome series)

Ø A/B testing with subject line

Ø Customized “from” field

Ø Build your list with pop-up email sign-ups

Email Marketing How many? How often?

Ø 78% of consumers unsubscribe from emails because they are getting too many emails. (HubSpot)

Ø Email open rate about 24% - declining

Ø  Shorter, more frequent emails better than long newsletters

Ø Most important is that you have relevant content

SMS Marketing Text messaging

Ø SMS marketing: 82% open rate

Ø More immediate than emails, social media

Ø Use for emergency alerts, reminders (classes, events), announcements, giving campaigns

Ø Need opt-in

Ø  Low-cost providers: Ø EZ Texting, Simple Texting, Expert Texting

Questions & Discussion