Have you ever been to a movie and fell asleep or walked out of the theater because the story didn’t grab your attention? Or have you been on a date and the person kept talking about themselves instead of asking about you? Marketing is like watching a movie or going on a date; each activity is either engaging or not. People remember the engaging moments like funny sayings in a film or a great date conversation. When we watch a great film or go on a wonderful date, we feel a connection that otherwise wouldn’t exist.
By making marketing personal, you build a connection with your member. The bond will keep your audience engaged and encourage them to continue helping your mission.
Focus on Connections
Keeping members of an organization can be challenging. Focusing on making communications personal is a significant way of keeping your members and donors engaged. The more engaged members are, the more likely they are to feel connected to the organization. When we treat everyone the same, it’s easy for donors to feel like they are being treated like everyone else instead of feeling individually unique and valued.
We all want to feel recognized when we commit our time and finances to a cause that we consider important. It’s up to the organization to emphasize making their connections with members and donors personal to continue their engagement and keep them as partners for decades.
How to Make it Personal
Think about receiving a stack of mail after a long day of work or sitting down at your computer and finally going through your email inbox to look through all the unread messages. Most people are more likely to read a letter or email if it’s addressed to them instead of addressed with a generic greeting. Most people want personalization. Many people will throw out mail with generic greetings or instantly delete emails that appear to be a mass communication not related to them personally.
Making it personal can start small, like personalizing messages to donors with their name. Grabbing their attention by remembering their name is the first way to garner their engagement towards your communication. Then there are ways to build up personalization, depending on the needs of your members.
Everyone is Different
Some people can donate time. Some people can donate money. Then some people can commit to volunteering their time and donating financially. Every member is different, and communications can be personalized to meet the needs of that specific member.
For instance, if a member mainly dedicates time to helping your organization’s mission, communications can have a focus towards volunteer events and activities. Then, if someone typically donates money, their messages could focus on what their donations have gone towards to assist with pursuing the organization’s mission.
Both types of members can have some information on the reverse support method, but the focus should be around what they are currently helping with so that they don’t feel like their time is wasted when reading marketing content.
Communicate Like A Person, Not Robot
Talk to your members like they are close friends. Talking to them like a person instead of a robot will feel more personal. Sharing real, personal stories of day-to-day life at your organization and what members and donors have helped accomplish will encourage them to remain active and focused on the same goals.
People want to hear stories and experiences rather than an infinite loop of statistical information. Real stories are more relatable and allow members to have a realistic idea of what they are helping with when they donate their time or money. Stories are relatable; statistics are not.
Be Consistent
No one will stay engaged if your communications are not consistent. Consistent, personal messages will keep your donors and members engaged throughout the entire year instead of a specific season.
Engaging Your Audience with Valtim
Engagement through personalization can help increase revenue by as much as 20 percent. The increase in revenue is because the highly personalized content is more relevant to your members and donors, resulting in more time spent in front of your brand. Let Valtim help you create member and donor personas and then develop ways to engage each member in a way that will keep them engaged with your organization.
