With people spending a fourth of their time watching videos on their phones, there's no doubt that video marketing is important. Nonprofits should develop content that not only meets their audience preferences, but also stays on brand and helps people to give, volunteer, and stand for a cause.
Video marketing can be a simple way to build trust between your nonprofit organization and potential donors and volunteers. Including an introductory video in an email or web page can help to engage viewers in your work. While text and images make an impact on your audience, videos tend to make more of an emotional connection to a viewer.
Besides educating your audience on your mission, and raising awareness, you can build trust with testimonials or behind-the-scenes stories of how donor money is being used.
If you're looking to leverage video marketing, here are some tips for incorporating video content across your digital communication strategy.
Nonprofits with consistent branding are more likely to have a higher "donate rate" than nonprofits that don't. If your nonprofit has a YouTube channel, for instance, you should use branding that is consistent with your website, landing page, or other social media channels.
Look to other nonprofit organizations that consistently stay on brand and follow their lead. You'll notice that they have a small selection of fonts they use across all channels, a color scheme, and a consistent style of art or imagery.
Keeping the attention of your audience should be at the forefront when crafting a nonprofit video marketing ad. Keep in mind that distractions are all around us, and keeping your audience's attention is important to the success of your video campaign. Let us take a look at some successful video marketing campaigns and what makes them successful.
Video can be used to raise awareness and show viewers your mission as a nonprofit. Videos allow you to tell the story of your nonprofit, in a way photos and words cannot.
Videos allow you to incorporate some of the nuance and personality that can be lost in writing. Here are some ways to make your videos personal to your audience.
Nonprofit organizations can also use videos to help educate and build awareness about their mission. Show viewers how your organization has impacted its community with donations from people like them. Everyone wants to feel like they are making a difference, and sometimes seeing the impact can be powerful.
Your audience might be interested in who is behind your organization. By showcasing your staff, you're humanizing your nonprofit too. Try showing interviews with your staff, what drives them, and why they work for your nonprofit.
Gating content, or putting high-value content behind a form, is an excellent way to drive more leads into your ecosystem. These leads can be enrolled in email workflows to nurture them into supporting your organization.
Lead capture forms for nonprofits should be kept simple: first name, last name and email should be your most important fields. Long lead capture forms might drive away potential donors if they take too long to fill out. At the end of the day, you want to know more about the visitors to your website — why they are there, and how you can further contact them or enter them into an email life cycle.
So you have successfully created a strong, compelling, and effective video for your nonprofit. What now? Most nonprofits are funded by donors and volunteers. A CTA at the end of your video is an imperative part of a nonprofit video marketing campaign. Be clear and simple when choosing wording for your CTA, keeping your goals and needs in mind. Using words like "donate," "act," "give," "change," and "transform" will encourage action from your donors.
Leveraging videos in your nonprofit marketing strategy is a compelling way to raise awareness and connect and build trust with your audience. With these guidelines, you can begin finding creative ways to use videos to drive engagement. The TechSoup Digital Marketing Services team specializes in full-funnel marketing strategies to drive more engagement. From video strategy to editing, to promotion, the TechSoup Services team is here to help.
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