Jump into 2024 by Putting Your Audience First
A new year offers a fresh start and an opportunity to reconnect with your audience and create an even bigger impact. We know you’re likely slammed with strategic planning, budget calls, and everything else under the sun, so here are some great ideas to make 2024 a comms and marketing year to remember for your nonprofit!
Reconnect with Your Community
If your organization took a well-deserved break during the holidays, a "Welcome Back" event, either virtually or in person, is a great way to express your gratitude for your community's support, share updates on your organization's progress, and give a sneak peek of upcoming projects. It’s also a chance to ask your audience for feedback on what’s important to them right now, what they’re looking for from you, and how you can collaborate this year. They might appreciate a real opportunity to speak with you.
If the idea of hosting an event is giving you a panic attack, pivot to similar digital content; share content that reminds your audience that you’re hard at work and invites them to give input. You could do a series of Instagram Stories highlighting what your team members are prioritizing right now, or share a sneak peek into your strategic planning. Audiences value transparency and authenticity more than ever, so lean into that.
Refresh Your Mission Statement
Revisit your mission statement with a fresh perspective. Is it aligned with your current goals and aspirations? Does it capture the current spirit of your staff and organizational culture? Use this opportunity to refine and clarify your mission, and bring your current staff members into the process… especially if they came on board after your brand’s core messaging was already done and dusted.
Remember, a killer mission statement clarifies why an organization exists, specifies whom it serves, and details how it does it. A clear and resonant mission statement aligns your team and supporters toward a shared vision. Need help? Check out our guide to an effective mission statement!
Celebrate Milestones with Impactful Highlights
Recap your nonprofit's journey throughout the past year with headlines/clips of key events, success stories, and moments that define your mission. This recap can be anything you’d like to highlight from the past few months. Our client BrightNight did this perfectly by creating a photo collage of headlines from 2023. You can draft this content as a blog post, and repurpose it across platforms both as long-form content and as social media bytes. (Just don’t spend too much time dwelling on last year; couple this content with current updates and urgent posts, too.)
Some other nonprofits we admire did a beautiful job putting this kind of content together!
Embrace Video and Live Engagement
Lights, camera, action! Consider live video to bring your audience into your work. Engage your supporters in a live Q&A session where you respond to their questions and reflect on the past year's achievements, challenges, and the exciting roadmap ahead.
If you’re new to live streams, we have a few helpful guides to help you through the process. For a breakdown of the livestream process across many platforms, check out this blog on how to use live video to establish a devoted audience. And before pressing that Live button, work out all the logistics and be fully prepared.
Involve Your Supporters
Foster a healthy level of engagement by incorporating interactive polls and providing a designated hashtag for your audience to express their thoughts. Ask your audience about the initiatives they'd like to see, events they're excited about, or causes they feel strongly about. The Instagram ‘Questions Sticker’ (which can be found under ‘Stickers’ when you publish a story post) is another way to foster a sense of community and involvement. Let their input shape your plans for the year, and take their input seriously.
These tactics are mutually beneficial, allowing you to genuinely connect with your community and gain ideas for what to focus on while making your audience feel special and heard. Depending on the responses, you may be able to turn this into user-generated content to use in future months, too, and share the insight with your broader team. Remember, you are the link between your audiences and your organization!
Use Analytics for Resourceful Insights
We’d be remiss if we didn’t touch on the impact of analytics. Before and after implementing any of our suggested strategies, make it a priority to check out your analytics this year. Understanding what resonates with your audience is key to refining your strategies and ensuring that every effort aligns with your overarching goals. Even if your initial numbers appear modest, remember that every piece of data contributes to your organization's long-term success!
Here at TGL you know we always have you covered, check out these blogs on what to look out for analytics-wise on platforms like Instagram, Facebook, and LinkedIn.
Now let's break down which essential metrics are worth tracking for each goal:
For brand reach goals: views and impressions - These analytics are the backbone of brand awareness. Measure if this type of content reached more of your audience than other posts, by tracking impressions (how many times your content was displayed). High impressions indicate increased visibility, but that’s only the start.
For engagement goals: likes and link clicks - Likes, shares, and clicks are quick and positive affirmations that your audience is interested in this content enough to act on it. Likes won't give you all the answers you need, but by monitoring likes, you’ll better understand which content types tend to resonate with your audience. Link clicks monitor the number of clicks on links within your content, versus clicks on something else (like a Like button), so if you’re sharing blog posts or links to your website that’s an important metric to track.
For conversion goals: website clicks and form fills - Go to your Google Analytics to take a quick peek at how your audience is getting to your website. (In GA4, follow these steps.) of your web traffic. Was it a link in your Instagram bio or a Facebook post promoting your content? Form fills tell you how many visitors completed forms on your website, such as surveys or quizzes, so that’s a straightforward way to gauge if your interactive content is actually gaining traction.
For brand value goals: comments, saves, and shares - Comments, saves, and shares assess the impact and value of your content. Comments show personal insight into how your audience perceives your social brand, and often how they’re reacting to it in the moment. Saves indicate users find so much value in your content that they wish to use it for future reference. And sharing means that your content is so valuable that a user wants their network to know about it; this is something to strive for!
Here's to a transformative and impactful 2024 for your nonprofit – a year where your mission is more relevant and necessary than ever, your community is thriving, and your influence is building even more.