6 Tips to Get Max ROI from Video Marketing for Nonprofits

Thinking about leveraging video to promote and educate your audience about your unique nonprofit organization? It’s a smart marketing strategy! Videos give your organization a unique ability to add a personal touch to your marketing messages and create a compelling, emotional CTA that drives actions. In fact, 57% of people who watched a nonprofit marketing video eventually go on to make a donation to the cause, making video marketing an effective form of advertising for nonprofits.

Benefits of Video Marketing Matters for Nonprofits 

With the rise of the internet and social media, video has only become more important for the success of an organization, with consumers spending up to 19 hours a week watching videos online. Including videos in your charity’s content marketing strategy will help boost your reach organically and expose a wider audience to your mission. Additionally, videos have a long lifespan, as they can be utilized on many platforms and will continue to be viewed and engaged with long after publication. 

The benefits of video go even further beyond that of social reach. While video marketing is a good tool for businesses and nonprofits alike, it’s particularly useful in charity marketing, as sharing videos may make you eligible for additional grants from businesses like YouTube or Google. 

By increasing organic growth and encouraging engagement, utilizing video content marketing for nonprofits boosts engagement, rankings, and conversions across the board. Read on to learn how to make the most out of your video marketing efforts.

Myths About Video Marketing for Nonprofits

The pandemic dramatically changed the way that nonprofits approach marketing. With the need to shelter in place, nonprofits and other businesses turned to digital video marketing as an easy way to reach audiences. Facebook marketing videos grew by 60% from 2019 to 2020, and we don’t anticipate that trend to change any time soon. 

While there are a few myths that may keep many from utilizing video as a means of advertising nonprofit organizations, it's still possible to utilize video marketing strategies. 

Myth 1: Video marketing is cost-prohibitive. To the contrary, there’s a video marketing solution that can fit any type of budget! 

Myth 2: Audiences won’t be interested in the video marketing content that nonprofits generate. In reality, audiences highly engage with educational and inspiring video content.

Myth 3: Videos take too long to make. When you leave the video production to the experts, it can be done in a cost-effective and timely manner that works with YOUR marketing timeline/strategy 

Myth 4: Video marketing lacks longevity. The truth is that content creation for nonprofits often includes “evergreen” campaigns that can be repurposed across seasons/years. This ensures an organization is able to fully utilize the time and investment they put into these videos. 

6 Tips to Get the Most Bang for Your Buck from Video Marketing 

When done right, using video as content marketing for charities is an efficient way to share your mission and core values to a wider audience. The ROI on nonprofit video production is among the highest of all marketing solutions, making it a necessary element of your charity advertising strategy. Whether you are advertising for fundraising events or showcasing success stories, video creation has the potential to take your organization to the next level. Here are six tips to help you get the most out of your marketing videos.

1. Promote Your Cause 

The best nonprofit videos are those that are engaging, shareable, and above all, promote your cause. This will look different for each organization, but may include testimonials, event recaps, and educational content about the problems your charity is working to address. 

When it comes to nonprofit marketing strategies, the most effective solutions include those that pull at the consumer’s heart strings. With a unique ability to communicate  the emotion and passion behind your charity in a way that can’t be conveyed through  pamphlets and articles, nonprofit videos can be a powerful method of promotion. 

2. Highlight Your Success Stories 

As you begin to think about utilizing video marketing strategies when advertising your nonprofit, it’s important to remember that you want to highlight your success stories. The best fundraising videos show the viewer how their donation — whether it’s time, funds, or something else —will make a difference. By highlighting your wins, you give them reason to contribute to your cause. 

Another benefit of highlighting your successes is that it can keep those within your organization and your supporters feeling optimistic even during difficult times. During the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, many organizations utilized video to connect with their audiences and share various success stories as a method of maintaining engagement and trying to lift spirits. Creating content that achieves this will increase your organic reach, engagement, and ultimately the amount you receive in donations.

3. Always Include CTAs 

While showcasing your mission and your successes is important, nonprofit videos are only an effective form of fundraising when your video includes a call to action (or CTA). Including a call to action in your video will give the viewer a sense of direction as to how they can make a difference. In fact, 68.8% of donors are more likely to contribute when faced with a compelling call to action addressing a specific need. 

By pairing your purpose and your success stories with a way for your audience to join your mission, you are opening their eyes to the problem you wish to solve and simultaneously giving them the power to do so. In many cases, such as videos shared on social media and YouTube ads for nonprofits, viewers are seeing this video as part of their daily routine. Without a clear CTA, viewers may walk away from the video wishing to help, but not knowing how to do so, making them more likely to forget to come back and find a way to support your cause. Make it easy for them to contribute by outlining the ways they can make a difference. 

4. Prioritize Social Video Marketing 

The use of social media has grown by drastic amounts in recent years, with over four billion users across the globe, making it the perfect place to reach a wide audience, as well as giving you a method to directly communicate and connect with your supporters. By selecting the social platform where your target audience spends the most time, you can build a community of people with similar goals and values who will share and engage with your content. 

Additionally, social media is an extremely effective method of inbound marketing for nonprofits because of the potential for high organic reach paired with the long life of social videos. Once shared, videos on social media platforms will continue to be engaged with long after posting, giving them a very high ROI and making social media marketing an attractive form of advertising for nonprofits. 

5. Keep It Short and Sweet 

With the rise of the internet, we have seen an increase in shorter, more concise content, which has led to a decrease in attention spans. The introduction of TikTok into the digital world has only increased the desire for shorter videos, leading to features like Reels on Instagram and Shorts on YouTube. When thinking about content creation for nonprofits, you should plan to utilize short-form videos, as this is what you’ll find a majority of consumers tend to gravitate toward. HubSpot lists short-form videos as the “most popular and effective social media format” and predicts that the popularity will only grow. 

Short-form videos tend to be a maximum of 60 seconds to two minutes in length, with 7-30 second videos being the sweet spot and vary in content. For the most part, the content within your video will depend on both your organization and your target audience. The best nonprofit videos are tailored to the organization’s target demographic, with younger audiences preferring to see relatable content, as opposed to the educational content preferred by the older generations. 

6. Give Live Streaming a Try 

There are many solutions to try when it comes to content marketing for nonprofits, and live streaming is another great option. Having grown in popularity in recent years, live streaming can help increase the level of trust your audience has in your organization through a sense of connection, transparency, and authenticity. This can be done by live streaming events or hosting live Q&A sessions with important members of your organization. In both cases, viewers will feel closer to you and your organization, increasing their trust and making them more likely to donate. 

Another benefit of live streaming is that it opens up opportunities for more individuals to participate in events regardless of geographic, financial, or personal limitations. Particularly in the case of events such as fundraisers with speakers, live-streaming gives your organization the opportunity to increase participation, further spreading your message. 

Get the High-Quality, Compelling Video Marketing Content Your Nonprofit Needs 

Content creation for nonprofits can feel overwhelming, but solutions such as video production have been proven to be effective. Despite the myths, there’s no doubt that every nonprofit can benefit from video marketing. Video marketing regularly outperforms other forms of marketing solutions, with a higher rate of engagement, organic reach, and ultimately ROI.

If you’re ready to give video marketing a try but you need a little support, consider reaching out to Charter & Co. We have you covered from concept to implementation and every step along the way, making sure you are set up for the best nonprofit marketing strategy for your unique organization. 

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