Visibility is so important in the overall growth of your organization. But how do you go about doing that in the online space? I'm giving you five ways to think about getting visibility that is long term and authentic to your audience and donors.

In this episode you'll learn:

→ Idea #1 – build out your promo kit.
→ Idea #2 – leverage your email list.
→ Idea #3 – collaborate with other business and nonprofits.
→ Idea #4 – be a guest on other people's podcasts.
→ Idea #5 – create consistent and regular content.

Want to skip ahead?  Here are some key takeaways:

[3:21] Create your promo kit. Get your fans, donors, participants to share about you and why you're amazing! Having third party validation can help move people closer to becoming donors than you reaching out cold.
[5:07] Leverage your email list. They have already chosen to interact with your organization. They are fans and can help you spread the word, or just need to be re-engaged to interact with you again.
[6:48] Sharing the load is a huge thing. Working with other organizations can help you get in front of other audiences. It also helps you with building immediate trust with audiences and being able to get your message in front of them faster. There are many ways collaborations can work – just make sure they are authentic to your audience and genuine relationships.
[10:19] Reach out to existing podcasts and offer to be a guest. This gives you a different kind of visibility because you'll be on the various platforms that Podcasts are on. This could also be guest blogging or being on someone's YouTube channel.
[13:44] Create regular and consistent content. This is definitely slow and steady wins the race. It gives you so many opportunities with organic search, social media, email marketing etc. Think about the questions your audience is asking and answer them in blog posts or whatever content you feel you want to produce. 

Resources

EP 45 | Guest Podcasting with Kelly Glover
EP 68 | Using Your Existing Audience to Promote For You

Full Transcript

[INTRO] Hey there, Sami here your host of the Digital Marketing Therapy podcast, glad to be with you today talking about five ways that you can gain more visibility for your organization online. And some of these things we've talked about before, but I kind of wanted to put them all just in one list for you guys. So as you're kind of really thinking about your marketing strategies going into 2021. And what that looks like online, maybe one of these are a couple of these will pop out at you as things to add into your rotation if you're not doing them, or just kind of remind you why those, these things can be super important. And we're covering a wide array of things, from email, to social media to outreach and collaboration. So I think you should be able to pull at least one of these, if not a couple of these into your strategies going into next year. So that's what we're going to talk about today, five ways to get more more eyeballs on your stuff, more visibility for your organization on in the online space.

But before we get into it, this episode is brought to you by our guide, “Nine Ways to Raise More Money Online”. And I wanted to bring this up again, it's been a little bit because as you start to market more and get online more, it should also lead into your online fundraising goals and strategies so that you can continue to do all the amazing things that you do in the community and for the people that you serve. So go to https://www.thefirstclick.net/fundraise grab this free guide. And you know, kind of take a look at them side by side and figure out you know, which promo or which you know, things you're going to learn from this episode, we'll go into some of the fundraising things that might make sense for you as well, so that you can leverage all of it and do it once and maybe hit multiple different areas. So again, the URL is https://www.thefirstclick.net/fundraise download that guide, it's free. And let's get into the episode.

[CANNED INTRODUCTION] You're listening to the Digital Marketing Therapy Podcast. I'm your host, Sami Bedell-Mulhern. And each week, I bring you tips from myself and other experts, as well as hot seats with small business owners and entrepreneurs to demystify digital marketing and get you on your way to generating more leads and growing your business.

[BODY] So maybe your organization isn't fully online yet, maybe you're online and doing a lot of stuff, maybe you're online and not seeing anything working, I don't know, any, any combination of these things, any situation that you're in, and these, these things will work for you. And some of them are going to take longer, some of them are gonna, you know, make a bigger impact right away. Definitely a big fan, that slow and steady wins the race, which I know is really frustrating for people that are in a situation where maybe they need to raise funds quickly. But I hope that you'll at least get some of these things going and, and start working on some of these so that you know a year from now, you'll really see that tremendous growth, I mean, you'll see changes and opportunities sooner than that. But then a year, from now, you know, you can listen to this episode again and be like, Oh my gosh, I remember where it was that and look at how far we've come now. So that's what I really hope for you with this episode. So let's just jump right into it.

IDEA #1
So the number one idea for getting more visibility for your organization is to create your promo kit. And we talked about this in depth in Episode 68. And we talk with Lily Stairs, and she helps kind of walk through the whole process for what that looks like to create a promo kit. So I'm not going to go through, you know, the step by step of that in this episode. So again, that's Episode 68. So check that out.

But basically, when you take a look at your existing base, and you take a look at the fans, your board members, your staff, the people you serve, whatever it might be, and take a look at all of those people and you know, really identify who are the ones or maybe it's all of them, but who can you really reach out to and have them share about you on social media, to their friends and families and, and creating that promo kit really gives them the tools to be able to do it quickly and easily. So it gives them the graphics, it gives them the copy, it gives them exactly kind of what you're asking, or what you're trying to get them to share. So creating a promo kit and then pushing that out to the important people in your network that you know you can trust to also start to share, and then you just build on top of that, right. And then you kind of have that multiplying effect of more and more and more people sharing about your organization.

And when I hear about something from the standpoint of a loved one of mine or somebody that I trust, I'm probably going to check it out a little bit more. Even if it's not a cause that I've necessarily thought about, it still might be something that I take a look at because if somebody that I know and trust is really interested in trust and and is giving to your organization or participating in some way, shape or form then I might want to check that out too. So it's a great way to leverage that. Social proof and, and your existing audience. So that's number one, create your promo kit.

IDEA #2 
Number two is to leverage your email list. And I talked about this a little bit in the first one. But your email list is probably going largely untapped. Most of the time, I see nonprofits using an email list to send them a reminder or to send them the receipts like, Hey, thank you for your donation or to send them an appeal or to send them you know, we have an event coming up by tickets, but hardly rarely are, are nonprofits using their email list to really nurture and grow and build that deeper relationship with their donors to get them more engaged on their own. So instead of asking for money, you know, when you're pushing out things on a regular basis, and we'll come up, come out to your email list a little bit, come back to Hello, come back to your email list a couple times here, throughout these different ideas. But I really want you to make sure that you're putting in your regular emails to them and ask to share this with their friends, if they think that this is impactful, or to share it on social media, if they think that it's impactful, because again, we're going back to that social proof and help us grow. This is one way you can do it. Or even if you can't give to us right now, this is one way you can make a big impact for our organization by by letting people know that we exist by sharing with people in your circle that you know, would participate and appreciate this and all that good stuff. Okay. So leverage your existing email list, because you're probably not using them as much as you possibly could. Using is the wrong word, maybe utilizing communicating, I think you know what I mean? Okay, so that's number two.

IDEA #3 
Number three is collaborate with other businesses and nonprofit organizations. So collaboration is really key. And you're going to notice with a lot of these, this is really about leveraging relationships that other people already have. So that you're not just a cold audience, you're not reaching out just to cold audience, like they're already going to less than a little bit more, because they trust the other party that's bringing you to the table. So collaborating with businesses and other nonprofits can look like a lot of different things. They could be collaborating with a nonprofit, another nonprofit on an event to share resources and expenses. And you know, then again, also leveraging each other's audiences. Maybe it is, you know, you're a animal shelter, or you provide resources to for adoption, or whatever. Maybe you're partnering with a local pet, pet food store, or another business that provide maybe it's a vet that provides services to give them more visibility with your audience is like, Hey, this is an organization that's helping us right, maybe it's a vet that does all of the spaying and neutering of the animals that are in your shelter editor, but come up with a way to make it a more like public, you know, creative collaboration that gets people engaged with you. So it could be something like hey, if you go get your for every pet that this that x spays and neuters they do one of hours for free. Right. So what are some promos? What are some ideas that you can do that then become newsworthy, that then become ways that you can share? You know this information with your list or share with whomever. And again, I really want to make sure to say here that these need to be genuine collaboration.

So we're not looking for the spammy things we're not looking for, you know, ways to just kind of have quick wins, we're looking for genuine true connections that people will cause will cause people to get deeper with your organization, feel more about what you're doing. And really trust that you are doing what you say you're going to do and that you are who you say you are. Maybe if you're a school, it's partnering with a local retail shop that's helping provide materials or you see this a lot with Toys for Tots around the holidays, right? They have boxes that a lot of retailers or people can drop off things, or, you know, canned food drives, you know, at different grocery stores. So those are just collaborations and ways to get more visibility. So you don't need to do it on such a large scale. But it could even just be going back then to your promo kit, you have an online collaboration with another nonprofit. You guys both create a joint promo kit both push it out to your audiences and have them share like, Hey, we're partnering with, you know, we have all these women who are knitting. I shouldn't just say women, we have all of these humans that are knitting and blankets for the holidays. And this is what we do year round to support the hospital. But now we've partnered with you know, this women's Shelter. And so we're going to be needing blankets for women's shelter for the month of December, you know, just things like that. So be creative, think about it, and then get up there and support each other collaborations are my favorite, I love collaborations outside of email marketing. Okay. So that's number three, collaborate.

IDEA #4
Number four is be a guest on other people's podcasts. Now. This is something that I think can be hugely impactful, because I've talked about this before podcasts live on on multiple platforms for a long period of time. Like I think I mentioned, we had a podcast that we put together, for my daughters, that was about back to school activities. And when back to school season came around, again, we got a lot of traffic on that same topic. Again, we hadn't recorded it in a year, but it was just something that was relevant. So think about your organization, think about the people in your organization, that would be good speakers for you. And it just get out and do a little bit of research and find out you know, who's talking in this space? And who sharing information and and how can you get your name and visibility out there. And this works, whether you're small, like local, or if you're national, you'd be surprised how many podcasts are being done in your local community. And it could, you know, it's the same as getting a guest spot on the radio, right. But this lasts longer. And it allows you to talk about your mission. And often they'll allow you to talk about your ask.

In fact, we feature podcast, guests on this podcast, nonprofits that can share. And you'll see more of this going into 2021. But that are sharing their experiences and how they've gotten online, like real case study type things, so that it makes it a little bit less scary for some of you that are not quite ready to dip your toe in the water, but thinking about it. And so yeah, I mean, people like me are looking for guests, and we're looking for guests all the time, it's a lot of work to have guests on your podcast on a regular basis. So don't be afraid to pitch yourself, you know, create a great idea of what you can talk about and reach out to the people that are having holding or hosting podcasts that you really like.

We talked a lot about this on episode 45 with Kelly Glover. So if you are wanting to add that to your mix, then definitely check that podcast episode out Episode 45, where she talks about what to pitch, how to pitch you know, kind of things like that. So that's a great episode. But I love podcasting. So I'm always gonna bring that up, it could also be guest blogging, it could be being on other people's YouTube channels. But again, you're having that third party and put you in a position with their audience where they're building trust already, because you know, they are already fans of whatever it is that that podcast, YouTube channel, whatever is about. So it's a great, easy way to kind of get things out there. And if you're a guest on someone's podcast, it's pretty easy, at least for me. What I really like about it is, you know, we just hit record, we already have kind of our predetermine topics figured out and we just have a conversation. So if I'm if you're a guest on my podcast, it's literally maybe 45 minutes out of your time. And you're getting in front of a whole new audience. So think things to think about that. So that's number four. Oh, and then the other benefit of being a guest on people's podcast that sometimes people don't think about is oftentimes their show notes. So we do show notes for every episode. And we include links, and we include resources. So that's also giving you more visibility and backlinks to your website, which is an SEO thing, which we're not going to get too into. But it's also a benefit for long term organic reach to your website.

IDEA #5
Okay, so then the last one, number five, and is create consistent and regular content on your website. Now, this is definitely the the longest term strategy for sure. But something that can be super impactful. So again, like we talked about with podcasts, that information lives out there forever, it's searchable, and especially podcast, you're on platforms, like usually it's Apple podcast, or Stitcher or Google Play, Spotify, like you know, even audible has podcast episodes or have podcasts on their platform now to so you know, you're getting out there in a way that people can find you where they are and creating consistent regular content is just another one of those and so I like to think about it from the standpoint of thinking about all the questions that people ask you know, so let's go back to the animal shelter example and this is fresh on my mind because it's you know, we got our dog that's where I think we're pretty close to the anniversary of when we got our dog from the shelter here locally, but regardless, um, so thinking about things like how much does it cost to adopt a dog? What is the upkeep like once I have adopted the dog? What breed is the best breed for me? You know, All those kinds of questions that you probably get asked all the time in your day to day, you know, the phone calls that you get creating content around those, you know, minimum of 450. I like at least 700 words, if you could go up to 1500, that's even better. And I know that that sounds crazy, but just trust me on that.

But getting all of those posts on your website that give that people are asking those questions anyway, can be really important. And then as you continue to add that content, your website will start to rank more and more. Well, I mean, I don't want to say it's a guarantee because obviously, SEO is SEO, but it just, you know, increases the likelihood that people are going to find that information organically and that you're going to get people's eyeballs on your business, and especially if you're local, including some local information in there. So like, let's say it's a, what are the grooming? What are grooming? ideas? Or how often should I be groomed by dog? Let's start with that. Right? So now we can kind of start to put together a lot of these things that we've talked about, into that one blog post. So we could talk about basic grooming, what does that look like for animals, maybe you can even break it down into like, you know, short hair, long hair breeds. And then you have an opportunity to include some of your resources. So maybe it's, you know, we really our number one favorite groomer in town is local shop, you know, puppy love, I don't know. And so then you can have a link in there. And then now you're working on another way to collaborate with people to collaborate and say, you know, okay, this is this is somebody that we trust, and maybe somebody already goes to that groomer for another dog. And so they're like, Oh, yeah, I've heard of that. We use that groomer, too. So if you guys working together, then I kind of want to dive deeper and, and figure out if I want to adopt a pet from you guys. And then you can leverage your email list with this too, by saying, hey, okay, maybe maybe that hairstyle or that grooming salon salon, they call them salons, anyway, maybe that groomer is going to give you a short term discount for people. So then once that blog post comes out, you send it to your email list to say, Hey, we just wanted to let you know, you know, thank you so much for being supporters of us. This groomer is giving just our email lists, you know, X amount of dollars off, and you can share it with a friend. So share this email with a friend. And they can get it too. Right. So now you're encouraging them to share about your organization in a way that is like, happy beneficial for them. And not necessarily just saying, Hey, give us money, which will eventually turn into them giving you money. So I hope that makes sense.

So thinking about the questions that people are asking right content around it, post it to your website, I recommend you know, weekly. And then you know, making sure that you're including all of those elements, as best you can to continue to drive people through. Remember that with every single piece of content that you put out every blog post or podcast or YouTube, whatever it is, make sure there is a single call to action. So what I don't want to see is, hey, buy tickets to our fundraiser and then hey, donate to our annual fund. And then hey, make sure you sign up to come to our facilities to see if this is the right you know, for the right space for you. Right We don't want to bombard people with with too much too many options. They're likely to not take any of them. So with each one figure out what is the most important call to action that you could have in there and include that. So if it is, let's say, it's like, you know, I need information about spaying or neutering and you want people to understand that information. Yes, maybe you do share that your favorite vet is bla bla bla bla bla. But maybe your call to action in there is, you know, help, don't help, you can help by donating $25 which will allow us to spay or neuter eight animals, whatever, something specific like that can be really impactful. And it's in line with the content that you are creating and in line with what you're the information that you're sharing.

CONCLUSION
Okay, so those are the five ways that you can get more visibility online, so I'm going to run through them really quick. Okay, so promo kit, put your promo kit together and share it with your existing base so that they can start to talk about you and listen to Episode 68. For more on that, leverage your email list and we talked about several ways that you can do that. Collaborate with businesses and nonprofits, guest podcast, or guest beyond people's YouTube channels or guest blog, whatever, whatever makes the most sense for your organization. And then create consistent and regular content that answers the questions that people that are interested in your product service or are your donors will be asking. Okay, so those are five things, I hope that you'll pick one and start with it. Or if you were doing one before and you just kind of stopped doing it, then start doing it again and pick another one.

And let me know what you do and if you are nonprofit with a great story For how you started taking your organization online and you're interested in being a guest on this podcast, send me a DM but app on Facebook or Instagram at the first click marketing. And we would love to chat with you to see if you'd be a great fit. Because we know you guys are doing some amazing things out there. And we want your stories of how you're continuing to fundraise and grow and scale your organization in light of COVID. And we know that it will inspire a lot of other organizations who are also doing amazing work in this community, or in their communities, but just maybe don't have the resources or the tools or the staff to kind of sit and brainstorm and think and process you know, we all kind of sometimes need to take that space for ourselves and sometimes it's hard.

Anyway, enough rambling for now. I hope you enjoyed this episode. Thank you so much for being listeners and share this with a friend or another organization or somebody on your team if you think that it would be helpful and make sure you subscribe wherever you listen so you don't miss out on a single episode. For now, I'll see you in the next one.