Attention spans are lower than they ever have been before. You've heard it. Maybe you’re falling victim to it too. Everyone loves their nightly doom scroll routine. I know I do.
But what does that have to do with donor retention?
Simply put, you can’t retain a donor if you can’t catch their eye in the first place. With so much content out there calling for people’s attention, your organization’s digital advertising and marketing strategies can get lost in the shuffle. The process of reaching out and engaging so they remember your organization has to be short, effective, and to the point. That’s what the high performers are doing.
They know their audiences, both current and prospective, on a deep level. They tweak their digital techniques in minute, but effective, ways in order to propel forward. Here are two things to keep in mind as you work on your organization’s communication strategy:
1. Using A/B Testing
Messaging is quite important when working on your digital strategy. What is going to stop a potential donor from scrolling past yours? Your first instinct may be to change the wording and the actual message being presented. However, the highest-performing organizations prioritize the messenger just as much as the messaging.
Think about it. Whoever is delivering a message affects what the message is itself.
Now, how can you decide who the best messenger would be? You can use A/B testing on your marketing materials. A/B testing is sending half your audience one message or another message to the second half of your audience. Marketers typically use these to see which variable performs better.
Let’s use an example:
You have three different spokespeople for the same message. Your message is a video explaining your mission, and it is crafted in a way to speak to donors in a simple, meaningful way.
For this test you have three separate videos with one featuring a grateful patient, one with a micro influencer, and one using the CEO. Many email automation softwares offer split testing, so you can randomly send your audience one of the videos.
You choose the number in your test group, so it can be as small as you’d like to work within your budget and experimentation comfort level. However, keep in mind that the test group should be large enough to be confident with your test results, but it does not have to be as widespread as covering your entire audience. That way you can use the “winning test” on a majority of your audience.
At the end of the split test, you’ll have data showing you what performed well. The click rates, engagement, and other statistics can be used as you workshop more of your digital strategy.
Split testing with a randomized, select group of your audience can help you understand whether your message with your particular spokesperson was well received. Additionally, if you opted not to use your entire audience, then only a handful of testers have seen it.
You’ll still walk away with a good amount of data that can influence your communication techniques going forward.
2. Personalization
Personalize. Personalize. Personalize. Today’s audiences expect personalization, so don’t fall behind.
Think about it. When you’re scrolling through social media, are the videos random? Or are they in-tune with your interests, hobbies, and likes?
Of course, you can’t craft a specific, detailed algorithm for each of your donors. But a donor should feel that your organization’s mission aligns with their interests.
When using banners for advertising on social media or websites, you can customize them to go along with the person’s shopping behavior. You can use first party data (information that you already have about a donor like if they were one-time donor) to craft a message specific to them. For a longer-term goal, invest in donor research and data analysis to uncover donor motivations, preferences, and behaviors. This insight provides guidelines for crafting advertising banners, email campaigns, and social strategy.
Precision targeting only works if the messaging itself is rock solid, so use specific language and concrete examples when working on your communication outreach materials. In addition to being personalized, the brand messaging should be cohesive among your social platforms, website, and emails to avoid confusing your audience. This will really help that message land and stick with them.
This last tip isn’t necessarily an idea to implement, but rather something to keep in mind. If you don’t know and understand your audience on a deep level, the former tips and tricks will not be as effective. Whether that’s their current audience or perspective donors, you need to fully understand their behavior.
The highest-performing organizations in the healthcare philanthropy field understand who they are talking to. They have a highly functional team and work together internally in the organization to streamline their processes. Their internal teams and departments collaborate with each other and their partners effectively to ensure everyone at the organization is on the same page.
Whether you take one of these ideas or all, I encourage you to take a look at your own social media patterns. What sticks out to you, and what makes you scroll past without a second thought? Your donors are no different.