3 Interactive Marketing Strategies to Increase ROI

In today’s evolving online industry, companies of all types and sizes are looking to take further advantage of the Internet to reach the widest audience possible. In recent years, nonprofit organizations have vastly developed their marketing efforts on the Internet. In 1999, less than 15 percent of nonprofits had Web sites, and now almost every nonprofit has basic online marketing capabilities. Funds raised online by nonprofits have grown from $250 million in 2000 to more than $5 billion in 2006, and, it’s estimated that 30 percent of all fundraising — online and offline — this year will happen online.

The level of competition to differentiate a nonprofit organization on the Web has greatly increased, requiring a higher level of sophistication for online initiatives. Nonprofit marketers need to optimize their Web sites and implement strategic interactive marketing strategies to gain traction on the Web and increase overall ROI. Here, a few tips on doing just that.

1. Optimize your Web site

Optimizing content for your target audience is a critical factor and most likely the first natural step in the success of your online initiatives to acquire leads and generate donations. Consider your target audience when building, optimizing or enhancing the interactive component for your organization by meeting its expectations. Build the site based on personas and create a solid online component that is updated, relevant and viral. If, for example, your typical user is a mother of young children and you know this demographic would best be targeted with photographs of children and items they can connect to, be sure to incorporate these graphics on the site. Also identify whether you need a special page or special features on your site for ethnic or foreign language groups, community groups, or the elderly and, if so, implement specific design elements that would appeal to these groups.

Additionally, consider the user’s level of sophistication when it comes to Web use and make basic navigation, functionality and design user-friendly for your audience. Capture each visitor’s attention by using benefit-oriented headlines, offer content that is optimized to your target audience’s buying criteria and persuade them to respond through specific calls to action. Ensure your home page clearly conveys the benefits of your organization for donors and clients, and be sure to make the Web site SEO-friendly with content that generates traffic through search-engine visibility.

2. Identify business objectives

A powerful and well-designed Web site is only useful if you have identified your business objectives and recognize what you’re trying to do, who you’re trying to reach and what you want them to do, and combine these objectives with what people are expecting from their Web initiative. Decide right away how much your organization can spend on the overall interactive marketing strategy, including site design, maintenance, Web server costs and calls to action to gauge the scope of the online component.

3. Incorporate Web 2.0 initiatives

A very powerful and cost effective approach has been emerging in the online marketing industry. Just as any other organization seeking to broaden its reach on the Internet needs to take advantage of Web 2.0 initiatives, nonprofits should use tools such as blogs, social networks and viral components to communicate the philosophy of the organization to its members. Allow your users to communicate through your Web site using interactive features such as blogs, document sharing, newsletters, surveys, etc. and provide users with self-service features such as profile updates, online event registration, and online donations and sponsorships.

My company recently worked with the San Diego Chapter of the Make-a-Wish Foundation on a complete Web site redesign (www.makeawish-sd.org). We incorporated Flash components to make the site more attractive, created a Content Management System component to allow the Make-a-Wish team to update the site with offers, promotions, information, news, etc., and created a back end that is password protected and has volunteer forms and other confidential information for volunteers to retrieve.

The “Wishes” page of the site has a viral component that allows users to send stories to friends, creating a channel for them to connect with one another. These components increased ROI for the Make-a-Wish Foundation by allowing it to constantly update the Web site, reach its target audience through various touch points and have a Web presence that is not only visually appealing but current, relevant and informative.

The bottom line for creating a valuable online presence for nonprofit organizations lies in providing visitors with the information they’re seeking in a personal and non-promotional manner. Advanced interactive and tracking software allows nonprofits to encourage an instant donation, add valuable names to its database, remember visitors when they return and link visitors to counseling resources on their Web site.

New technology, the Internet and the principles of one-to-one marketing allow nonprofits to establish and protect donor loyalty, while still reducing costs.

Andreas Roell is president and CEO, Geary Interactive, an Internet marketing firm. Visit www.gearyi.com