There has been some discussion online about whether you can or should replace your email newsletter with Facebook messaging. I think the answer is NO — there is place for both in your marketing mix. In your target audiences some people are more comfortable with email and others are more tuned in to Facebook and other social media.
Constant Contact, an online service for managing your email newsletters and announcements, has added a very useful feature that marries the two worlds so you can reach both arenas with no more work than a click on a check box when you send your email. Add the social media links to your email and this enables your recipients to easily share it with their Facebook friends, tweet it, add it to LinkedIN or other social networks. On your control panel you as administrator can also share and tweet the email.
Your internet presence is increasingly a web of interactions. Ideally you should be driving traffic to your “Call to Action” and tracking conversion of traffic to the relationships you are developing and sales.
Denise Davies is an Internet and media consultant. She works with nonprofit organizations and small businesses to maximize their effective use of the Internet to build their organization and achieve their objectives. If you have questions or would like to learn more contact through the contact form
Your Nonprofit Website is a key component for your communications strategy. Use the Three Cs to evaluate your current website and as part of the planning process as you move ahead with maximizing the value of the Internet for building your organization.
Communications
Your website is a hub for your internet communications. In your newsletter, social media, email signatures, link back to your website to bring people to your website. Once the person is visiting your website they must see information that is engaging and valuable to THEM.
Identify your target audience(s) and their needs
Your home page must have your key message that speaks to the site visitor
Have latest updates available from the home page – leading in to the specific areas of the site
Update your website on a regular basis with news and changes. Assign someone to review the website on a regular basis to be sure that it reflects your current situation.
Consider integrating Social media such as your Facebook page and Twitter feed with your website
Provide methods for 2 way communications – see the Calls to Action section below
Credibility
You have just seconds to grab and hold the attention of the person visiting your website. First impressions DO count. The person must see in a very short time that the website is of interest to THEM.
Here are a few suggestions on building credibility:
Look professional – and appropriate for your target audiences
Provide easy navigation to all areas of the site
Proofread your content to be sure there are no typos, spelling errors, paragraph formatting errors
Check that all the internal and external links are working. Remember that in your links to EXTERNAL sites – their link may change.
Use graphics, photos, video, colors, fonts, layout for a professional look
Remember that the person is judging your organization and capability by what they see on your website. You want to create a professional and credible presence that encourages them to spend their time and engage with you in some way.
Call to action
What do you want people to DO when they see and like your website? You want the person not only to say “this organization looks like they are doing good work”. People see hundreds and thousands of websites – how do you engage them and have them return. You want to build a relationship with the interested person. Here are a few suggestions on engaging the user and building that trust and interest.
Ask them to bookmark the site
Encourage them to sign up for your email newsletter
Add a contact form to let them ask a question or ask for help
Give a link to download a report – and they give their email address to receive it
Provide a method to donate to your organization – with a variety of levels
Get them involved with information and form on how to become a volunteer
Add a RSS signup to get updates on pages that you update often
Integrate your Facebook page and Twitter feed and encourage people to join your social networks
Then be sure to follow up by
Sending them a newsletter and announcements
Provide updates on donations and how they are used
Add new reports and news
Add regular updates to the website so that a person sees new and updated information when they do return to the site
Denise Davies is an Internet and media consultant. She works with nonprofit organizations and small businesses to maximize their effective use of the Internet to build their organization and achieve their objectives. If you have questions or would like to learn more contact through the contact form
Hints about setting up and using the new customizable contact form on wordpress.
Word Press has added new functionality to the comment form builder. Try this out to add functionality and 2 way communications to your blog. NOTE – this posting is referring to your blog on WordPress.COM not on the self hosted WordPress.
You can add the form to get feedback, comments and suggestions by readers of your blog
You can set the email and subject heading that you want to use to receive the form output by email
You can also view the form results by clicking on the “Feedback” tab at any time in your Admin view of your WordPress dashboard.
To access the form builder – go to your POST or PAGE – and click on the “Add custom form” icon on the top right.
Wordpress contact form customization
The standard fields are Name, email, website and comment. You can delete, move or add additional fields.
You have the option to make fields required or not.
When adding a new field you can have check boxes, radio buttons, website, text area or drop down field.
Wordpress contact form new field
Try it out and give your readers an easy way to communicate with you.
See the Customized form on this blog and use it to send me your comments and questions. –> Contact form
Denise Davies is an Internet and media consultant with Aleph Consulting. She works with nonprofit organizations and small businesses to maximize their effective use of the Internet to build their organization and achieve their objectives. If you have questions or would like to learn more contact by email at davies@alephinc.com
